September 21

Hmm. I'm pretty sure that today wasn't a good day, despite a few good parts.

It started out well enough - Daisy slept until after 9:00, so Caleb and I were able to enjoy a lazy morning together. Then Caleb made poopy on the potty again (two days in a row!). But things went downhill when we called Chris to tell him the happy news. I have a picture of Chris on my shiny new phone, and it displays his picture when I call him. So when Caleb talks to Chris on speakerphone, he is looking at Daddy's picture. Apparently Caleb likes this, because when Chris had to end our phone conversation, Caleb had a major tantrum. MAJOR.

Twenty to thirty minutes long major.

Throwing himself on the floor major.

 Wandering into the kitchen and banging cabinet doors major.

It was intense. Finally I got him calmed down enough for us to go for a run in the BOB. The storm had passed - temporarily.

During the calm, these things happened:

Caleb fed Daisy her paci. I just started keeping an extra one in the diaper bag, and Caleb realized this very quickly. His new favorite game is rooting around in the bag until he finds it, then taking it to Daisy and forcing her to take it. He talks to her in a high-pitched baby voice, and says, "Heeere, Daisy! It's ok! Here baby sisser!" It's pretty funny.

He also likes to bring her dishes. By the time I got to her today, Caleb had transferred half of the dishes in his drawer onto her playmat. Bowls, cups, and spoons. Lots of spoons. Daisy didn't mind. She likes the attention.

(Also, I think her shirt today is funny. It says "BABY" on the chest. You know, in case someone encountered  her and was confused. "What is wrong with this miniature human? Why is it not answering me? Why does it need to be cared for? Oh, wait! I see. It's a baby.")

Then naptime. Oh, naptime.

I put Caleb down for his nap late, at 1:22. I nursed Daisy and put her to sleep. Caleb was still awake. At 1:42 I got in the shower. Halfway through my shower, I heard a loud THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. It was Caleb, kicking either the wall or his bed. It was 1:50. Dripping wet, I went into his room, and he said, "You all done. You all done with nap."

I responded, "Oh, no sir. You are not done with your nap. It is naptime."

I returned him to a proper sleeping position, and finished my shower.

At 1:58, he was still awake. I went into his room, scooped him up, and rocked him in his chair. Four minutes later, he was sound asleep.

After naps, we had outside time.

My big boy on his bicycle.

Then my mom and Ryan came over to watch the kids so Chris and I could go out to dinner with a colleague of Chris'.  We had a lovely evening at a great little Italian restaurant. Normally Mom periodically sends me text updates when she babysits. But bedtime came and went, with nary a text from my mom. 8:30. Nothing. 9:00. Nothing. At 9:24, we left the restaurant. Still no news. I called Mom. No response. I called Ryan. Nothing. I called Mom again. Still no answer. That's when I knew things had gone awry. Unfortunately, we were 45 minutes from home, so Chris and I worried the whole way home.

We returned to a silent and darkened house. I turned on the light, and found Ryan asleep on the couch, but no Mom. I went upstairs, and Caleb's door was open. Weird. I looked in my bedroom, where Daisy sleeps, but it was empty. Then I peeked into Caleb's open door. Caleb was asleep in bed, and Mom was sitting in the dark, rocking Daisy.

Apparently things didn't go so well. Caleb cried that he wanted Daddy all evening and refused to go to bed; they had to put Cars on TV to calm him down. Only they couldn't figure out our sound system, so they watched a soundless version of it. Daisy wouldn't go to sleep, either. The two took turns crying all evening. It wasn't until 9:30 that Caleb fell asleep, and Daisy conked out soon after that.

Something tells me we've lost our go-to babysitter. At least our last date for a long time was a nice one!

And now I'm going to bed. Let's pray that God looks kindly upon me and makes the kiddos sleep late in the morning, since they were up an hour and a half past bedtime.