Oh My...

I have been on my own with both kids several times now, and I thought things went pretty smoothly. But today has been... different. Not only did Maya pick today to be awake and hungry most of the time, but Nikos thought today would be ideal for being a teething, cranky mess. Aack! Gus has been working out in the front yard all day, so I've been on my own with them both. And believe me, nap time couldn't come quickly enough!

First, Nikos wanted to go outside to play. I definitely wanted to take him, but needed to finish feeding Maya first. After whining by the back door for a few minutes, he came over and sweetly handed me one of Maya's pacifiers. Aww... And then he grabbed it, along with another one nearby, and ran off down the hallway. A few seconds later, I see the two pacifiers go flying out of the hallway and into the kitchen, one at a time. Nice!

So I finished feeding Maya, and went to put her into her car seat so I could bring her outside with us. "Noooooooo!!!!!" Nikos decided that this was not okay, though I have no idea why. He tried pulling her out of the seat by grabbing onto her onesie. He stopped as soon as I told him to, but then ran back to the back door to whine some more.

Finally, we made it outside. Nikos decided that he wanted to play with his watering can, and asked me to fill it. Well... Gus was working on a sprinkler line, so the water was shut off. Good luck explaining that to a toddler! So he threw another little whining fit. Which then upset Maya, so I needed to take her out of the carseat and hold her.

Next, Nikos grabbed his inflatable duck tub and dragged it out onto the grass. Naturally, he wanted the hose so that he could fill it up. Once again, there was no water, so he got pretty ticked off. Suddenly, I realized that we had a package of unopened bottles of water sitting by me (they've been there for months!). He is obsessed with water bottles! So, in a moment of desperation, I gave him one. It kept him busy for a few minutes, until he realized that he could dump the water into his duck tub. So he did. And then he came to me and asked me for another bottle of water. He even said "please"! So I gave him another... and another... and then he was happy, I guess, with the water level in the tub.

We had maybe 10 minutes of peaceful playing outside, while I held Maya. Then she pooped, a LOT, and wanted to be changed. I got her inside first, then had to drag my kicking-and-screaming toddler inside (after explaining that we were all done, which he refused to accept). He stood at the back door, screaming, while I went to change Maya's diaper. But then it got quiet. TOO quiet. So I rushed to finish changing her to see what he was up to.

The little booger was SITTING IN HIS HIGH CHAIR! All casual and pleased with himself. He has never even attempted to climb into it before, and it really is pretty high. What a little monkey!!! I tried pulling him down, but he held on tight, saying that he wanted "dinner" (lunch, really). I looked at the clock and, sure enough, it was lunch time-- noon on the dot! So I plunked Maya in her bouncy seat, strapped him into his chair, and he proceeded to eat a huge lunch. By the end, though, he was whining about something unintelligible and rubbing his face a lot, so I decided it was nap time (half an hour earlier than usual). I also gave him some ibuprofen. Luckily, Maya decided to finally take a nap not too long after he went down. Hallelujah!

Seriously, I love both my babies to death. But I feel old and tired today. I'm crossing my fingers that everyone wakes up in a better mood, and that Gus finishes his yard work soon! This is HARD!!!