First, today is Dave's 40th birthday. Happy Birthday! Middle age suits Dave, as he's always been a bit curmudgeonly. And I say that with the greatest affection.
This morning, I spent some time with Julian before music class, then went to music class. I considered blowing it off, as I have a lot to catch up on and had arranged for him to be at Tonya's all day, but my lack of one-on-one time with the boys has really weighed on me lately.
First, Julian had to play with a very soft bear that Beth brought for Katrina.
I'm glad we went to music class, Julian had a great time and sang the songs in the class all the way home. On the way to class, Julian was singing a song he made up: "I am a pizza."
Katrina, who stayed awake for about 45 minutes after each wakeup last night (urgh), managed to sleep through the utter racket of music class though!
After music class, I took Julian to Tonya's, went home and had lunch and talked to a carpenter, then picked Gabriel up from Kids Inc. I'd considered finding him a playdate today, but again thought he needed some home downtime and some mom-alone time, if baby would permit that.
Gabriel was great, singing a storyline about trains while building a track, then let me take a much-needed nap. He helped me wrap a present for Dave, cutting a very straight line in the wrapping paper, cutting the ribbon, putting scotch tape down just so.
Then I set him up with a Stacey-inspired project while I tended to Katrina, of cutting bits of wrapping paper and ribbon and pasting them to a piece of paper. He really liked this project and very proudly showed me his work. I imagined he'd do a more random collage sort of thing, but I keep forgetting who I'm dealing with! We had some hot chocolate, sat and talked, and overall had a very nice afternoon together.
Then it was time to pick up Julian. When we got home, Katrina was awake, tired, and not happy. No chance at all to get started on dinner, which meant the boys started falling apart fast, with Julian being the primary perpetrator. He still screeches a horrible high-pitched sound when he's mad, which now means an instant trip outside. I had to confiscate toys, grab them apart from each other, scold them for throwing, kick Julian out, all with a fussy baby on me.
Meantime, I tried to soothe Katrina by dancing her around in the pouch, which calmed her for a very short time.
And Julian has suddenly gone way backward in his pottying. Sunday, watching Thomas, he peed on the couch and didn't tell us. Then Tuesday at Tonya's he did it again, then again today when I picked him up. At home, he had another accident just an hour later!! I got to take care of that with one hand and crying baby on me too.
The good news in all this is that I'm far more physically capable now than I was even a week ago. I found myself trotting down our porch stairs today, and later, going upstairs two at a time, carrying a kicking screaming Julian. Being able to stand up and dance a fussy baby around for half an hour without my postpartum rear end throbbing in pain is also a huge improvement. I still have a ways to go, but I'll be ready to start exercising next week. Yay!
Finally the boys settled down and conspired to set up a play bed right in the kitchen (I think because I had to put a pajama top on Julian after he wet his T-shirt), so they were good while I was making dinner. But Katrina still wouldn't let me off the hook -- everything I did while making and eating dinner was in quick 10-minute snippets between her needing more attention.
Then Julian spoiled what should have been a nice, if brief, birthday celebration for Dave, getting himself sent to his room for the rest of the evening. Which meant, no cake! Boy was he bummed about that. I hope this lesson sinks in, but I have my doubts.
Gabriel, meantime, was great, and sang Happy Birthday with me (though I was very sad that Julian wasn't with us). I couldn't sit down with Dave and Gabriel for cake though, since Katrina called once again. We never did get to open Dave's gift that Gabriel had so proudly helped wrap.
I'm still sorry Julian was such a pain tonight, but glad I had a lot of good one-on-one time with both boys today, especially Gabriel. I don't want Katrina to grow up too quickly, but things will be a lot easier when she can be awake and not demand my full attention and both my hands too. Just a few minutes here and there of being happy so I can throw some frozen food in the microwave would be a big help!
After an afternoon and evening of waking up soon after falling asleep, and waking up tired and cranky every time, I gave her a bath and she settled right down. It was the calmest bath she's had yet, and Dave got her to sleep afterward, which is why I'm able to write right now at all.
Still, despite the hectic and demanding evening, at least it has a semblance of normalcy, and can only get better from there. I'm so grateful and excited to be physically recovering and regaining strength and energy to deal with all this. I have to. There is no other way.
10/19/06
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