4/12 [round two]

Oh, hello last day of April. I don't even think that April was a thing. Just like a day we had between the last day of March and now the first day of May. I actually spent this last week home alone with Maddox while Evan traveled to Rhode Island for a youth conference with the youth pastors from our church. I decided it was a good idea to paint our living room and you are correct if you are assuming that it did indeed take me the entire week. Evan landed at 4:45 on Tuesday and I was finishing everything up at 11 that morning. High five, self!

In other news, I plopped my hair today. Well, last night. All night and it wasn't dry when I unplopped it at 8 this morning. That is a sign that I have too much hair. If you're wondering what plopping is, it's basically rolling your hair up and tying it in a cotton t-shirt to make it curl. You do it when it's wet and then let it dry in the t-shirt for an hour or two. I laughed at the two-hours because even when I blow dry my hair it takes longer than two-hours. So, like, whatever ploppers. I have more hair than all of you combined probs. You obviously cannot tell in this picture because it looks like a hot mess, but it really did curl and it even reverted to its triangle-ness. I mean, I almost took the scissors to it this morning but then tried out some bobby pins instead and the verdict is still out but Evan thinks it's fabulous and it took me 12 seconds to blast it with some hot air and pin it back. So, I'm considering trying it again with different product to reduce the triangle but keep the curl. We'll see. I like that it's called "plopping" and I love saying that I plopped my hair and people are just like WUT. So, that's fun.

We sure missed this guy last week and I sure missed having a diaper changing buddy and a car seat buddy (in and out of the car seat is just the worst for me) and a talking buddy and a laughing buddy. And Maddox missed tackles and tickles and just his dad in general. Never leave us again, EPC. ;]

Today I watched my sweet little nephew Hason. He's four months older than Maddox and they have a lot of fun together. It is funny to hear Hason talk in full sentences; like, "What happened?" when Evan stops to tie his shoe and Maddox just say, "Uh oh." to everything. They entertained each other all morning and I thought to myself, "Wow. This was easy. Self, you should have another baby. They could entertain each other all day long and you could read books and drink mimosas." And then Maddox bounced his face (eye, mostly) off of his bike chain and Hason cried for some unknown reason at the exact same time and they were both scream-crying at me and I didn't know who to pick up first but then Maddox was jealous and mad that I was holding another baby and both their noses were running like rivers and there was snot and tears and drool and chocolate and spilled milk all over me and I was like what is my life?! So, perhaps not another baby just quite yet for me. The boys did kindly draw me pictures of dogs and cats in chalk on my driveway and Maddox colored on Hason's face with a blue piece of chalk and they colored me a new welcome mat and there was a lot of sweetness like sharing and laughs while they played the piano and sang together so it wasn't a total S show. But. There was also an entire night of finding all the rogue legos and picking up the mess of two boys because if I ever thought that Maddox could be a destroyer of everything, I never encountered two boys the same age in a house together and that, my friends, calls for a bottle of wine and a bag of chocolate and probably a foot massage from my dear husband who was subject to my bipolar texts all day long.

ten things

Ten things that are my favorite about him right now.

>>1  The way he asks for what he wants and then says, "Peaze, peaze." He signed "please" for so long that we thought he'd probably go his entire life without actually saying the word. But now he says it and we die.

>>2  His gallop.

>>3  When he sits on my lap and wants my attention so he reaches back and grabs my face and pulls it towards whatever he wants me to look at and then says, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" until I look and acknowledge his thing.

>>4  When he wants a kiss but my face is too far away so he wraps his hands around my head and pulls me close to him for a kiss.

>>5  The sound he makes when he wants you to come with him. It's just a "uh" noise and nothing special but he does it every single time and I only have to hear that noise to know he wants to be followed. He also does it to the dog and my parent's cat and that kills me, too.

>>6  But maybe my favorite part of him asking you to come with him is the way he holds out his hand (palm up) and opens and closes his hand in his own little "come with me" motion.

>>7  The first time I read the peek-a-boo animals book to him in a few months and I said, "Who gives us milk?" And he lifted the flap in the book and said, "Cow!" And "mooooooo" and then proceeded to answer every question the book asks and my mama heart swelled with pride and adoration and unbelief that my baby is now two and this book I've been reading to him for twenty four months has sunk in and he knows it all.

>>8  He likes his owies to be kissed. And my kisses can fix everything.

>>9  He has the best excited face. He says, "Ho!" when you ask him if he wants to go to the park or to church to play with the babies or if he wants some ice cream.

>>10 If you ask him if he wants to take a nap or go to sleep his answer is "No, no." And then he runs away to further prove his point.

our sling

I didn't buy this sling with the intention of carrying around a 28-pound, 36-inch two-year-old. I didn't buy it with any intentions at all except for hopefully saving my back while I trekked around LA. But then we forgot about the sling for an entire year. It sat in the back back back of my closet under an unfinished crochet blanket and below a whole hoard of hats. But I pulled it out for our garage and estate sale treks. And he cuddled up next to me and laid his head on my shoulder and didn't try to pry himself free one time. He might be almost 30-pounds, two and wild and rambunctious. He might like to yell "BAH!" in public because he's always testing out acoustics and trying to find his echo. He might like to gallop through the house and drive his hot wheels head first into the wall (he wears a helmet [backwards] because safety first). But he's still my baby. He even brings me his blanket, says, "Up!" and then asks to be held like a baby. And he still wants to be rocked to sleep and cuddled and kissed a thousand times before bed. And he's shy around strangers and always wants his mama. I'll take all these little baby things and hold onto them and wear this boy in this sling for as long as he lets me.

the morning after

Today is a hard day because today is the day after Easter. If you're not suffering from a sugar hangover, then I don't even want to talk to you. I had the worst stomach ache last night; which is totally deserving after a huge piece of strawberry pretzel salad and stealing a few pieces of Maddox's Easter candy. So, this morning was a slow one. We all rolled out of bed around eight thirty and played a rousing game of hide-n-seek. Maddox's idea of hiding is to either hide under a pillow or bury his face in the pillow. He's one hundred-percent certain that we are unable to see him if he can't see us. We'll keep up the pretend for as long as he lets us.

Also, someone gave that kid a Cadbury creme egg last night. First of all, ew. Second, he came up to me in the kitchen so proud of this very large piece of chocolate he had managed to unwrap (found approximately 900 pieces of the tinfoil wrapper on the ground after) with melted chocolate and the creme just covering his face and hands. Evan took it away from him but instead of just throwing the thing away like a normal parent, he put it in a plastic baggie for later. AND THEN we forgot it. Might have been on purpose. I don't even know where it got put (and by "know" I mean "care"); but, this morning, grandpa and grandma graciously dropped off the Cadbury egg in a bag + three leftover mini Cadbury eggs that the child managed to overlook. So. If you've seen that meme about how the grandparents give your children the biggest candy bar in the entire world and then send them home (and it's also bedtime), that is entirely, one hundred and ten-percent true.