Good Day

I need to write down the events of today so some day, years from now, I can look back on this day and relive the joy that this day was.

The day had a rough start because the night was rough.  Theo didn't sleep all that well and I slept even worse.  I am taking a new medicine and it has a side effect of winding me up.  I slept maybe three hours before Theo was ready to be up for the day at 6 a.m.

Ryan took the boys and let me sleep.  I got a solid three and a half hours sleep - it felt late waking up at 11:00 and I was bummed that I missed church but I was glad to have had a little sleep.

Just as I sat down to eat my breakfast I heard commotion at the front door.  Instead of going to help Ryan and the boys into the house I opted to inhale my breakfast before Gavin could mooch half of it and Theo freak because he wanted to eat, too, which would lead to me making more food  and getting a box of Cheerios out for Theo (to make up for the half + that Gavin would eat).

Ryan had a lot of things he wanted to get done around the house, like painting the stairwell, some yard work, putting up trim, putting up railings, etc., so I took the West Seattle for the annual SummerFest, WestFest, Street fair, whatever its called. 

We didn't stay too long since they didn't have the bouncy house like last year.  I'm SO glad I didn't promise Gavin a bouncy house experience!  That would have been very sad. 

When we came home I attempted to put the boys down for naps. 

No dice.

So we went for a walk to our local music festival that was going on.  The music was kind of blah and Gavin didn't care to dance and the sun was blazing hot so we turned around and headed for home.  On our way home we saw Mick the Master Gardner.  He said hello from across the street.  Gavin said hi back to him.  Mick said, "Hello," again.  Gavin said, "Bye," and Mick was kind enough to say "bye," too. 

My favorite find was at the Tamale stand outside of the coffee shop where I had just had a nice big ol' iced cuppa jo.  For $1.50 I got a pork tamale with green sauce.  And like the gringo I am I had to ask the girl selling them how you eat them.  She tried to not smile.  She showed me so I parked Mr. T in the single stroller in front of the coffee shop and Gavin and I parked it some chairs and shared a tamale.  When we were done I bought two more.  I think they will make an excellent lunch tomorrow.

Seeing as how our excursion lasted all of 30 minutes I suggested we go play in the backyard when we got home.  This was the highlight of the day for me.  I filled the kiddie pool with water and did a little re-touching on the boys and my own sunblock, set out a blanket and we had a grand time in the back yard.  Theo was content to sit on the blanket and try to eat dandelions while Gavin ran around the pool saying, "I jump in," but never going in. 

I tried showing Gavin how fun the water was so I stood in the pool.  He stood a good 10 feet away over by the fence.  I may have intentionally thrown a tiny bit of water in his direction.  He didn't really care for that.  I told him to come over and pay me back and splash me.  Ryan thought I was kind of a bully.  Maybe. 

But he did eventually come over to the pool.  Theo eventually got jealous and started squawking so I stripped him and Gavin down and put them in swim diapers.   I was content to let them be naked but since our neighbor across the alley could see into our yard and he has a little girl Ryan didn't think that was cool.  I thought his little girl takes her shirt off, they are European and our boys are 2 and 8.5 months.  I told Ryan I would wait until he wasn't home before letting them run around the backyard naked.  

Bending over and holding Theo in the pool was difficult so I just sat in the pool.  Ahhhh.  It felt so good.  I didn't go change into a swimsuit because that would involve wearing a swimsuit, my neighbor seeing me in a swimsuit and of course, the hassle of taking two wet boys in the house so mom could put on a swim suit.. 

We spent at least a half an hour playing in the pool.  It had to have been longer than 30 minutes.  We had so much fun.  Theo and Gavin took turns splashing the water; Gavin was better at splashing Theo than Theo was at intentionally splashing Gavin.  It was quite the change from last year when Gavin would just stand in the water and hardly move.  I was so happy that he was laughing and splashing and having such a good time. 

All the while we were having our little pool party Ryan was busy at work.  He would pass us by on his way to the garage and he smiled at us.  Maybe he was smiling because I was having the most fun.  I told him I got my water dogs, after all. 

As with most kiddie adventures all good things end in tears.  This time it was Theo.  I caught him before it became a full on melt down so I prepped Gavin that it was going to be time to go in the house because his brother needed a nap. 

"No," was his simple reply.

Ah, nuts.  It was going to be a battle.

OR...

Mama just has to offer up his favorite cartoon and a tasty treat to eat.

Sold. 

Boz the Bear on the tube and dried apple slices in a little tiny container that he could hold and feel super special about was worth avoiding a battle of wills. 

We had Subway for dinner.  Gavin said he wanted to go with me to get the sandwiches.  I was mildly annoyed at Ryan for a second for asking Gavin if he wanted to go with me.  All errands are easier without a toddler in tow.  But I'm really glad he came with me.

We took the car which he loves to do because it's different since we normally take the van everywhere.  At Subway he asked me to carry him - he likes to watch the sandwiches being made.  I set him down so I could pay and as soon as his feet were on the ground he ran over to a booth by a window and made himself comfortable. 

"Gavin, c'mon.  We're going home to eat these."

"No." 

"Daddy's hungry.  We need to take this home."

"No," he said, "Eat here."

I started to get annoyed, "Gavin... ah.   I suppose we can eat here." 

I scooted next to him in the tiny seat and we dug into our sandwiches.  I ate my sandwich and he ate 3 bites of his.  I put my arm around this skinny little shoulders and kissed the top of his head while he happily swung his legs back and forth.  I hope that is something I never forget.  That simple happy little moment we shared. 

If I had insisted on going home to eat I would have missed those sweet 15 minutes with my boy.  Just the two of us.  Ryan didn't die of hunger in those 15 minutes.  I hope the next time I feel an unimportant battle brewing that I can take a step back and think about what is really important.   Of course, one of these days Gavin will be able to say, "Mom, can we eat here?" instead of "No."

And the icing on the cake for today?  Gavin went pee pee in the potty - twice!  After the first time I gave him a yogurt covered pretzel.  He held it in his hand for a couple of minutes before eating it because he had no idea how tasty it was.  Later in the evening I asked Gavin sat on the potty again.  I told him if there was pee pee or poo poo in the potty when he got up he would get another pretzel.

I really hope this is the start of potty training!