Lulu!

Last night we were trying to round up the troops for bed time, dragging them unwillingly from the basement. Gabey was, surprisingly, the most resistant for once, so I just sauntered upstairs and left him alone to contemplate being by himself. He, of course, started to follow me, but was lagging behind. I ended up all the way upstairs setting up toothbrushes without him, and decided to investigate what the hold-up was.

As I went down the hallway to the steps, I heard him chanting Lulu over and over. What the heck? I heard Auntie Lulu on the answering machine as I got closer, so that mystery was solved. How cute that he was waiting, listening to his favorite Aunt! I rounded the corner to something more than a doting, starry-eyed nephew thinking fond thoughts of fun times with Lulu. Instead of that angelic scene, I found him mid-hallway, naked, with one hand on his diaper, the other on his, erm, unmentionables, looking down at both with a confused/amused look on his face. The diaper was wet on the outside, and behind him (no idea exactly how that happened) was a puddle. :i

He continued to chant Lulu while I grabbed the diaper, absorbed the puddle (hey, isn't that what they're for?) and scooted him into a new diaper.

Once again, I remember that too much time (in this case, less than a minute) alone and the children get in far too much trouble.

Butt MoooOOOOoooom

Potty humor is so great. I think I've never heard the word butt more than I have the last couple days, except for the last time it was the buzz word in our house, which was, what, a month or two ago? Did it stop being the buzz word since Alex learned it? I guess not. I mean, guess what? Chicken butt. *sigh*

Alex decided to display her distinctly Daddy-like social charms yesterday by making it National Call Everyone *insert name here* Poop Day. And then just randomly saying butt while up in their face. Charming, my little angel, just charming. I'm so glad you don't know how to expel gasses at will, or our past and future play dates would be even more awkward for Mommy.

I actually struggled with letting her do her rude little thing yesterday, because of course, my mommy instinct is to help her out with her problems, even the ones she doesn't see she has. Because, of course, she didn't seem to care that everyone was a bit put off by her language and behavior - at least from my point of view. I realized after a few "Alex, be nice!"s that she should probably do this social thing on her own. After all, I'm her mom, not her handler, and I've done what I can do. I can only assume that someday soon, in school I guess, she'll find a few social graces that no one knew she had and her friends will forgive her for all the butts.

In vaguely related news, I also realized yesterday that Gabey is truly the pesky little brother and needs to be removed from play dates at the expense of his (and my) sanity so Alex and her friends can play uninterrupted. We had to flee to the basement yesterday, leaving big sister and a friend all by themselves in Alex's room, presumably to talk about butts. More for the friend than for Alex, but still, it was his first taste of true isolation from the fun, and he did pretty well. I, on the other hand, worried about upstairs goings-on while simultaneously trying to pry crayons out of Gabey's gaping maw, so it was less than relaxing for me. Somehow, everyone ended the play date alive and happy, if with multicolored teeth for at least one person, and I've realized that it's going to be heavenly around here when both kids are old enough to play alone with a friend. And not eat crayons. Or markers.

Rainy Day Plans

Well, I'm hiding in the basement as Gabey tries to tell me (via monitor) that he's awake. It's just before 7, and I'm just not ready. It's a rainy day, so I'm guessing there'll be a visit to the library. Here's how it'll go down.

After several hours of build-up - because we don't do anything without eagerly anticipating it for far too long first - I'll force the kids into clothes. Child abuse to make them have both tops and bottoms on, but I'm just that mean of a mommy some times. Anyway, then we'll pile into the car after Gabey inspects the entire garage for interesting things and rings the bell many times on the tricycle. While balanced precariously on the seat and almost falling head first on the concrete, of course.

Then, once in the car, the instant requests for music begin. That's before I've sat down in my seat or even gotten the keys in my hand to start up the car. Why wait for power to the cd player when you could nag ahead of time just to be sure? So, miraculously, the music will come on when the car starts, and peace will reign. Sort of, because the entire trip must consist of dueling conversations between the three of us. It's always debatable whose conversation wins, but there are always three competitors.

We'll get to the library, and Alex will be occupied with whatever menagerie of toys she's brought, so she'll sit in the car playing instead of getting out, then I'll tell her how it's a parking lot and she can't wander away from the car to which she'll respond by wandering away from the car just slowly enough that I can catch her. We'll toddle in, letting Gabey walk until he gets frustrated. I'll heave him in my arms, and when we get to the door someone will be leaving and they'll hold the door, most likely, or almost as likely, they'll rush out and let the door slam into our faces.

Then, the fun begins as I try to look at books and the kids try to look at the same books by stealing them from me and running away to either look for pictures (Alex) or eat them (Gabey). Then, off to run in circles after Gabey in the children's section as Alex picks oout the strangest possible cds and tries to convince me that the video tapes are ok to check out despite our stark lack of a vcr. She'll then grab the closest books on the closest shelf and say they look good and can we read them in their entirety as Gabey runs up the ramp and out of sight for the 17th time. We grab those books, unread, and the crazy cd, and likely a dvd I've picked out that Alex will "never watch" and check out, Gabey balanced on the edge of the checkout desk and trying to grab the librarian, other books, the scanner, the monitor, pencils, pens (ooh, they're the best) and anything else in his path.

Then, books, dvd and cd in a bag, we'll toddle back out and get distracted by something epic like a piece of paper on the floor or a book with a fish on it, and finally back to the car. We must listen to the new, truly awful cd (or maybe it's not - sometimes it's good and I have to add it to the must-buy list. Though mostly they end up on the must return as soon as it's due list.) Then home.

Throw in a bathroom trip where Gabey splashes in the toilet and Alex gets soaked, and that's what we've got on tap for -part- of today. Oh yeah, in the rain.