3 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour.

i can’t help but wonder, is this what regular people do?
h. woke up at 4:30 coughing and demanding a show and for mommy to do work in the sunflower room. (to call her willful is an understatement.)
t. took care of her until he had to leave for work at 5:30 as i am under the weather.
way under.
like, i can’t even see the weather.

anyway, we hung out for awhile until h admitted she was hungry (also a struggle-always) and then she threw up. four times in 7 minutes. i exaggerate not. prolly from all the coughing. otherwise, she was fine. acting herself, cracking jokes, making deals etc. but i didn’t think school would be the best place for her today, so i kept her home.

we went instead at about 9 (after a delicious breakfast of peas and a banana) to target. i figured i’d cave and buy the dora soup which she requests every time since the one time i was able to find it.
(“use your brain mom and keep trying and try to find it” [in the pantry])

i figured she would sleep on the way back from the store.
now if you don’t know h, she doesn’t sleep during the day.
you: “whaddya mean she doesn’t sleep?”
me: i mean, she doesn’t sleep. i mean by age 1, she gave up all naps. sure, she’ll sleep in the car, even now if i don’t time my lesson properly, but by age 1, that was it.
which isn’t so bad b/c she goes to bed at 6 for the nite.

and her brother is falling into the same patterns. meaning, no sleep til brooklyn.
you: ” how can he not sleep? he’s only 6 months old!”
me: i’m aware. i pushed him out of my body. i remember his age.
he will sleep when he is on me. like now, he is in the sling on my lap and stirs not.
you: “well, did you try……….” insert dumb suggestion here.
me: no. i put him down in a brightly lit room and scream as loud as i can but he won’t fall asleep. go figure.

i’ve tried it all, and will continue to do so, but they just are not big sleepers. apparently, my brother nor myself were big sleepers as babies either. my mother probably put some sort of sleep deprived curse on me or something.

anyway, back to Normal People.
i thought she would fall asleep on the way back from target and she did.
i properly executed the dismount and got h from the garage to my bed–and although she woke up, i used the “i’m just gonna go get j” stall technique and she fell back to sleep for three hours. i put her in my bed b/c i though i could perform a second properly executed dismount, but alas, no dice.

so me and j had some time alone.
until, one hour later, he was ready for sleep. i slung him up and whammo! the second child was in my bed.
and now me.
i crawled in with the two centimeters left on the bed and after 20 minutes of looking at my beautiful babies, i slept. for about 45 minutes.

but we stayed in bed for 2 hours. i relished just lying there even before i fell asleep. i listened to them breathe, i stretched out, i closed my eyes, i thought about all that i “SHOULD” be doing, but amazingly put it out of my head.

and then, i fell asleep.
a nap midday.
what could be more exquisite?

i woke up before they did and examined their little fat hands and the jerks while they slept (they are not jerks–their movements) and couldn’t help but wonder–

IS THIS WHAT NORMAL PEOPLE DO?

do they get a chance every day to nap or clean or cook or just recharge their battery?
i promise, if i can get these kids to nap, i will nap every day.
promise.

so if you know a secret sleeping spell, gloria or anyone else, feel free.

now because of the 3 hour nap, when will the child go to sleep tonite? and what kind of wake up call will there be in the morning? and will i ever see my husband again?

only time will tell.

and btw, if you read this, send me a comment. i’d like to know of others reading this besides pete and glo.

the little things

i haven’t been blogging because we’ve all been sick. basically, holly went to school three times and came down with bronchitis. so the family has been taking turns being sick since jan 13. now it’s my turn again. yay. the joy of school germs.

speaking of school, holly is adjusting well. she cries when i drop her off (“i’m gonna miss mommy and daddy and jack!”) but is happy when i pick her up. i ran into her teacher in the supermarket today and she said that holls cries briefly, then is quiet for awhile, and then gets right in there.
it breaks my heart to drop her off, but you wouldn’t know it looking at me. i’m basically like, “LATER!” and i walk out and don’t look back.
why prolong it? it’ll just make it harder for the teacher. and we all know that holls IS the stall queen.

today was a productive day. mondays usually are. it started well with all of us dressed by 8am. we had hit the post office, the dry cleaner and atm by 9. we were done with walmart by 10 and shop rite by 11.
this may not seem like much, but with two small ones, it is quite an accomplishment.
it gets better.
i remembered to bring the green bags into both shop rite and walmart and to use coupons in both of the stores. i did not leave holly’s sippy cup anywhere and remembered a snack for her. at no point was jack hungry although there was some screaming when he was tired; not too bad. when i got home i realized EVERYTHING was purchased on my list. whoo-hoo! i even found some spring jammies for hollister for a buck. is it sad that the little things make me so happy??
and then, all of a sudden, my runny nose was not just a runny nose and i was SICK. and the day dragged. and i feel like poop on a stick. but the day is done now. jack is sleeping and holly will be soon too and i will be able to perhaps watch some of my few shows tonite–secret life and how i met your mother. we’ll see.

the big news though is that jack started solids on saturday. he is quite enjoying his oatmeal cereal, but i think the guy wants a hoagie. and to be fed faster.
i would love a hoagie myself. i’m going on a hoagie search. however, i did the food shopping and i fear i’ll only come up with some healthy crap. dammit.
and he’s teething. poor guy. holls didn’t go thru this. i wish i could make it hurt for me instead. but i guess that isn’t how it works, huh? check out those red cheeks.

last week was cool b/c i spent some time in the hood. i got to hang with liz and lele anne, alyse and the magpie. it makes me want to move back there.
almost.
it’s great to be able to see people and have the distance not matter, nor the amount of time since we last spoke, nor the vastly different places we are in our lives. all the women i saw are embarking on new journeys and i wish them all luck in the near future.

and i wish myself luck. this is my year you know.

Friends

The end of the year brought great loss to our family. we lost two grandmothers and a cousin, and while this blog is not an appropriate place to discuss this, i just would like to say that these people are missed and their lives touched so many.
Loss always makes you think about what you have. I have a great family. I am lucky. i never realized how much my parents love me until holly was born. then every moment of my upbringing with my parents made sense.
except the phrase, “the fun starts when you start listening to your mother and father.”
that one still doesn’t make too much sense.
Having children brings you closer in so many ways to those who you are related to and while ideas often clash between generations or even siblings, love is at the root of it all.

but besides a great family, i have great friends. friends who are from all phases and stages of my life. the end of the year allowed me to see three of them. one was my first best friend, connie. i haven’t talked to her since i was……..22ish? she moved away when i was in 6th grade. connie, did you ask your mom how the miss hooks thinkg turned out?and the beauty of facebook brought us together. then there was mad flirbage who i was able to catch up with the day after christmas. why anyone who lived with me in college would still want to talk to me is beyond my comprehension. i forgot to take her picture. dammit.
and christine, my friend across the pond. i coached christine so we are nine years apart and i think in many ways she is more mature than i am.
so i am blessed that these three women who are so busy during the holidays took time out to see me! it was a month of reunions and it was great. it’s amazing how so much time can pass and you pick up right where you left off. i love you and you are great and your visits meant so much to me.
and lastly beth.
just when you were having an AWFUL moment today, we were thinking of you! love you and think you are great.(obviously. i am allowed to add you to the blogroll so everyone ELSE can see how awesome you are?)

and she growns up…..

…and she growns up and she growns up…….”

i just dropped my baby at school. now what?? her quote all week has been,”but i’m really gonna miss mommy and daddy and jack.”
but she is there now.
doing what?
who knows?
i don’t know.
do you know?
i don’t.

when we arrived, she met a little chatty girl named maddy who immediately chatted her up. holly wanted to go into the classroom with her, but maddy was older and not in her room.
so then she was sad.

another boy named sam started in holly’s class today too. he SCREAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so maybe holly was crying too, but i just couldn’t hear her over sam.
sam followed his mom out of the building. as in, he got away from the teacher, ran out of the room to where i was chatting with his mom and the director tackled him.
but holly didn’t want to go in, the assistant kind of dragged her in, (that’s when i saw her crying)
and from what the other moms said, she was ok once she was playing. Teary, but ok.
Jack is waking up now.
good.
now i have a distraction from my sadness about my big girl!

Nine years late………..