A Rollercoaster Day and It's Not Even Noon

Easter egg hunt at the Rowley's on Saturday

'Cute Face' eating berries on Easter Sunday

We had a lovely Easter with the Rowley's on Sunday with a potluck brunch and Easter egg hunt. Sunday was low-key with church, nap and a walk around the neighborhood.

However, this morning I woke up feeling like I could seriously kick some @$$. Not a good omen for the rest of the day. It could've been the dream I was having where somehow our pending vacation to Puerto Vallarta turned into a trip to Baghdad and a guy with a handgun jumped into the front seat of our rental car. Or the fact that the cats seem to think we still need to get up at 5:20 am when Clayton has once-in-blue-moon decide to 'sleep in' to 6:00 am. The cats like to awaken us by scratching vigorously in the litter box and leave a most demonic smell behind. This morning Bo got tired of the meticulously wrapped baby shower gift I have had on my dresser for the past two weeks. He thought he might bite into it and see how high I would jump. Have you seen a cat fly across a room? Had you been in our bedroom this morning you would have been witness to black and white streaks of feline aeronautics. Not really, but close. At this point I am still mystified that I haven't heard a peep from Clay, except for a 5:00 am cry that quickly died down. I can hear Dave in the other room exercising and then the faucet in the guest bath turned on. I'm assuming he's using that one as to not wake me but Clayton can somehow sense body heat within six feet of his bedroom door and he is now awake. It's time to get up anyway, I've slept until 6:45 for the first time in six weeks or longer... who knows, I try to block it out. Any day I do not have to get up while it's dark outside is a fabulous day. That is something I will never get used to – getting up before the sun.

I get the coffee going while Clay makes a b-line for his newest toy – The 'Gagi'. Gagi is Clay's word for anything trash-related. The trash truck that comes to our house, a trash bin, the can you wheel to the curb, it even crosses over to regular trucks we see on the road. At Toys R Us they sell a 'Gagi' for toddlers. Clay loved it from the moment he laid eyes on it and I couldn't resist feeling the joy vicariously through him. Little did I know this thing would turn out to be the most annoying toy I could imagine. There's a little trash bin that comes with it that you hook on to the side of the truck then push a switch and it goes up the truck and dumps out the trash. When you get to the top or the bottom it makes the most horrid grinding sound. How is a toddler supposed to have the dexterity to know when to stop it before the horrible grinding sound? I'm sure on the part of the manufacturer there was little incentive to pay the extra costs to add a kill switch to the mechanism but I can assure you I would have never bought it had I know that grinding sound would drive me this crazy. In addition, it's Clay's current fixation. When he can't get the bin to hook on to the truck … crying and screaming ensues, totally typical and appropriate behavior for a toddler but quite difficult for a pregnant, hormonally-charged mother to handle. We've had to 'put the Gagi down for a nap' several times already and the thing hasn't been in our house a full 24 hours.
Luckily we were able to have a good breakfast and eventually get on our way to Stroller Strides this morning. But after all the screaming and whining cause by the Gagi I was expressionless by the time I got there. I just thank God that exercise stimulates the release of endorphins or I would be in a world of hurt by now. Clay settled in the stroller with his Snack Trap packed with freeze-dried strawberries, his cup of water and his stuffed monkey. We were on our way. The group was huge this morning, like 15 moms and their kids. Amanda was teaching so I knew I' was going to get the beating I needed. I ran 100 feet before I had to turn around to go to the bathroom. I eventually caught up to the group and still couldn't stop from hating the world and everything in it. I was still ready to kick some butt but Kerry is there. She is a relatively new friend but we are completely simpatico. She is also from the Central Valley, we're close in age and just 'get' each other. The workout was great as usual and we all let the kids out on the playground afterward. I typically stay to the side and hawk-eye Clayton while he explores the slides and hops off rocks. I felt so proud watching him while he handled the balance beam with such ease when a kid who looked about a year older came up behind him and pushed him to the ground just as he was getting to the end of the beam. It was the first truly Dirty Harry moment I've ever had. I thought 'Watch out kids this is really not your day'. I mustered all the self control I could not to touch the kid, I told him to take it easy and asked where his mother was. She was just off to the side holding and infant. She grabbed her punk-kid's arm, looked at me and said 'he's just having an off day' as she moved him to another part of the playground to continue playing. I looked at her in my found-in-a-parking-lot genuine Chanel sunglasses and said 'I understand' hoping she got my other meaning like, "I understand why your son is an opportunistic bully - He has no consequences to pay!" I returned to my conversation with Kerry and she said what I was thinking, “That's it? That mom in the purple shirt didn't do anything else? That's not enough. That is really unacceptable.” I completely agreed and I felt like if I had had a better handle on my emotions today I might have handled it differently. I certainly don't want Clayton to think he should just take stuff like that. Not surprisingly a little later, Clay wandered into the area where that kid was playing and punk-kid went after him again! Seeing what was coming I swooped in and grabbed Clay. Again the mom was oblivious, perhaps it is by choice.

This was also a Lean Mommy day, it's a nutrition program (not a diet) I've started doing after our Thursday workouts to successfully avoid gaining the 60 lbs I did with Clay. My doctor only wants me to gain 20 lbs and I am in total agreement. It was the last day of the 8-week session and this past week with Easter I sort of felt like the scale was going to confirm what I hoped wasn't true. But I had only gained a half a pound from the week before which was my target - to gain the baby weight slowly - and I met my goal for the entire 8-week session! To top it off, my body measurements were all leaner except for my belly of course!

Feeling encouraged Clay and I went home to have lunch and then nap. As much as possible we try to wash our hands first-thing when we come into the house. I got Clay onto his step stool, pumped some berry-scented soap into his hands, turned the water on and left to go start his lunch. About two minutes later, it was like a punch in the stomach, 'It's been too long,' I thought 'He usually comes out by now'. I returned to the bathroom and the worst was confirmed. He was taking cups of water and dumping them on his shirt, the counter and the toilet next to him. Not a big deal, I have a stack of old towels for just this type of occasion.
I stripped him down out of his sopping wet clothes and Clayton moved on to playing with the Gagi while I continued to fix his lunch. He was sufficiently hungry and tired which manifested itself into a full-blown meltdown when I tried to get him in his chair to eat. This is where God stepped in a took over my body so I could actually stay calm. Nothing would soothe him except for Baby Music which has saved my life and protected my psychological health a couple of times now. It's the best classical music DVD set to an animated baby in dreamland. After a run through Baby Music, Clay was collected and calm. Hallelujah. We tried to have lunch again, this time with a little more success. I stepped away for a minute and when I came back he was taking individual peas and dipping them in his hummus - adorable. Miraculously he actually ate three bites of a chicken nugget, I will not be surprised if this kid ends up a vegan.

Now it was nap time and I got Clay into a new outfit and zipped up his sleep sack. He giggled with joy and said 'cozies, cozies'. We shut the door, turned off the lights, closed the windows, got his bunny and I always say 'have a wonderful nap and I love you' when I put him down. I could be mistaken because his thumb was in his mouth but I believe it was the first time he said 'I love you' back to me. I sure needed that.