Ahh, Toddlerhood...

Today has been a complete rollercoaster.

It started at 6:15 this morning when both kiddos decided to wake up for the day-- 15 minutes EARLIER than they usually do on weekdays. Someone really needs to explain to them the concept of "weekend," but that's beside the point. It was hard to be annoyed, because they were both in fantastic moods. Maya was smiling and giggling and rolling like a little log around the living room (from back to tummy, AND from tummy to back-- she does it all!). Nikos was playful and cuddly and just an all-around happy guy.

At one point, he wanted to color. We were going to sneak into the master bedroom to get the crayons from their hiding place, but then we realized that Daddy was awake and watching TV. Of course, Nikos wanted to climb up on the bed and cuddle with him, so that's what he did. He was being silly and flopping around on the bed when *CRACK*-- his head hit Gus' nose. And Gus' nose started to bleed profusely. Somehow, he managed to get into the bathroom in time and didn't get any blood on the carpet or bed linens. I quickly gave Nikos the crayons and got him started coloring at his table, then went back to check on Gus/clean up the mess. The good news is that he seems to be fine now. No more bleeding, and no real swelling. But it definitely made a sickening crunching sound. Not good!

After that, Nikos had an appointment to get his hair cut. The entire drive there, I was trying to get him excited about it. He kept saying, "Nope. No hair cut." So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he started screaming bloody murder. He was so angry that he was literally shaking. After the world's fastest trim, we got back in the car. He announced (in between shaky breaths) that he was feeling better. I asked him if he wanted to go and get lunch, and the answer was yes! Yay!

I had errands to run at our local Walmart, which has a McDonald's inside it. I wasn't sure if the McDonald's took credit cards, and I had no cash. I decided to make a quick stop at an ATM, just to be safe. I parked the car, got Nikos out, ran to get the cash, ran back to the car, and... so began our Battle Royale. He would NOT go back into the car seat. No way, no how. He screamed, he arched his back, he went completely rigid, he contorted his body. The more I tried to get him into the seat, the more impossible it became. I closed the door and sat with him and tried to give him time to calm down. It didn't work. We tried calling Daddy. It didn't work. He was screaming that he wanted lunch, but didn't seem to understand that we had to drive the car someplace else first! Ugh, I wanted to pull my hair out!

Finally, we just walked over to Petco and spent some time looking at the various animals inside (he was happy as a clam). Then we tried again. He started to get mad again as we approached the car, but after 40 minutes, I was done. I was too fast for him, and managed to get him strapped in before he could really get going again. And even though he started to throw a tantrum again, he stopped as soon as we got going again.

Once we got to McDonald's, he was happy as could be. He got a Happy Meal that came with a HotWheels car. He loved his food (as junky as it was). He fed me french fries and talked about everything he saw. Really, he was a very pleasant little lunch companion. It was the highlight of my day! It was actually the first time I have ever been out to lunch with him, just the two of us. It was some quality mommy-son time!

After that, it was time to shop. Putting him in the cart was not easy, because he'd much rather walk than ride in the seat. But having the new toy car helped-- he forgot that he was mad pretty quickly, and then was totally fine for the remainder of the shopping trip.

On the car ride home, he announced that he was tired, and that he wanted a nap. Sure enough, he went and climbed into bed almost as soon as we walked in the door. And he has been asleep ever since.

Some days, it's just not easy being (almost) two!