A bad moon on the rise...

*I started this last night, but as you see the day unfold, you'll understand why it wasn't posted until this morning*

The day started promptly at 5am when Steve's alarm went off and I heard Kailin's door shut at the same time. Sure enough, not 15 seconds later our door opened. In she came...."Mom?" I tried to get her to snuggle with me for awhile (while Steve showered) but no dice. She squirmed like a worm the whole time.

Her brother, in contrast, slept until 7:20 and then was tired enough by 8:40 to be put down for a nap! Notice I said, "be put down for a nap" NOT "take a nap". He was not, in fact, tired enough to take a nap. He was only tired enough to scream his fool head off for 40 minutes, rest for 20 (during which I don't really believe he even slept) and then scream for me to come and get him....grrr....

But before that happened, we did have a very successful second attempt at a group bath. Well, I wasn't among the group....maybe two can't be a group... Anyway, my new tactic was to wash them both immediately in their entirety so that if we had a repeat peeing incident I could just whisk them from the tub and into fluffy towels immediately and avoid the screaming about being cold. I washed, they played, I rinsed, they splashed... and all was right with the washing world. Colby was done, so I got him out, lotioned him up, and dressed him just as Kailin requested extraction. It was perfect. It couldn't last. ha ha.

Resuming the story at the 20 minute "rest", Kailin didn't get nearly enough mommy time. That set the stage for the perfect storm, I think. At 10:30 we left for the doctor's office since we were going to walk. Oh, right, that was the PLAN. At 10:50 we left for the doctor's office and had to shake a leg to make it on time. Kailin trooped on along on foot while I had Colby in the carrier. Got checked in and new insurance card presented (my dear husband didn't do that for Kailin's Hep A shot just before we left..."they said I didn't have to pay anything..." YES - YOU don't have to pay anything, but it's not a freebie - they're going to bill SOMEONE!" so we had a lovely bill when we got home and I had to call and ask them to resubmit.) and Kailin commenced asking whether it was our turn yet or not every 37 milliseconds. Finally, it was our turn and we headed back. Colby was totally mellow - just looking around... Got him measured and weighed without too much fussing - he's 32" tall and weighs 24lbs 14oz. That puts him at 75% for height and 60% for weight. Shorter by percentage than his sister was when she came home (90%) but FAR heavier by percentage than she was (20%). They're actually comparable in height/weight percentages now. She was 75/60 for her age at her last check-up as well. Not that it matters a bit - just a point of curiosity, I guess. Dr. looked over Colby's records and we formulated a plan of attack for his continuing shots and a couple of catchup ones he'll need (again, by comparison, Kailin JUST finished catching up at her 2 year appt after having been home for 16 mos. Colby will be done at his 18 month appointment after having been home for only 6 mos). 3 shots yesterday. Poor boy. I can honestly say that I've seen each and every one of his teeth now, and that his lungs are LARGE and functioning perfectly. Poor guy! Luckily, like his sister, as soon as I picked him up he was right with the world again. Got him dressed and we loaded up and walked home. Both kids were hungry and tired, so the trip home was a little less peaceful than the trip there.

Both kids wolfed their lunches down and it was time for a nap (them, not me - although I could've used one!). Colby yelled for about 25 minutes and then slept for about 45 - so better than earlier, but not enough, I'm afraid. Kailin didn't yell at all, and slept for 2 hours which she desperately needed. The plan when the kids awoke was to go to Best Buy and try to exchange my digital photo frame (turns out the one Steve got me APPEARS to accept a USB drive but does not actually do so. In addition, it will only display 161 pictures no matter how large a memory card you put in it.) and pick up a few needed odds and ends at Target. Kailin decided to pitch a MAJOR fit about her shoes and I sent Steve to Best Buy alone and I kept the kids and stayed home. It took poor Kailin (I can say that now - not then) 35 minutes to cry herself out and come to me for a hug. I was holding her on my lap while Colby toddled around. The phone rang. I carried her with me to get it and while I was talking (to a very nice woman from church who was telling me that they're going to bring me two meals next week!), Colby fell down and needed a hug, so I put Kailin down to grab him and then we started all over again with the enormous screaming tantrum. Ugh. I finally got her calmed down again and decided to take the kids outside for some distraction.

It was beautiful, but a chilly breeze (that sounds much more picturesque and gentle than "A freezing gale") was blowing hard off the lake so we didn't last too long out there. While we were out, though, Colby tried out our little Radio flyer foot trike and it was really cute. It doesn't have pedals, but he couldn't grasp the concept that he needed to pull his feet back forward again, so he was propelling himself forward until his feet hit the back wheels and then sitting there until I manually moved them. ha.

Colby made it clear to me immediately upon coming in that Daddy or no - his dinnertime was NOW. That child can EAT. He wolfed down about 9 crackers, ate a bowl of chili, a #3 jar of sweet potatoes, and a #2 (#32?! THAT would be a big portion!!!) Hawaiian Delight and was STILL mad when we took him out of the high chair! His sister ate 2 bites of chili and refused any more of anything. Not good. Both kids were beyond tired so we started the bedtime routine. Neither child went down easily and somehow while putting Colby down, I lost my contact. I thought it was still in my eye somewhere, but I didn't dare to get up and check because about that time he was finally settling in. Turns out it wasn't in my eye and despite searching on hands and knees over the whole area between the rocking chair and our bathroom, I'll be calling today to order a new right lens. UGH. I JUST got it before we left for Taiwan and they're about $85 a piece. Seriously - where can a contact just disappear to? Is it partying with all of our single socks someplace? I hope it's having fun wherever it is because it's a big pain in the rear to me!

Came downstairs and it wasn't long before I swore I heard Kailin's door close. Sure enough we soon heard "sniff...sniff...." from the top of the stairs. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "can you sit wif me?" I told her no. (That sounds really mean of me, but our experience has been that she will NEVER fall asleep if you stay in there. I think she knew I sat with Colby and that's why she asked. She said, "you can't sit wif me?" and it broke my heart. Luckily she wasn't crying or I would've been a goner for sure. She asked me to get her stuffed chicken from downstairs and that I could do, so I tucked her and chicken back in with strict orders to both to go right to sleep with no more fooling around and no more out of bed (and a side note to chicken not to be playing with Sausage the ostrich, either! - that got a big grin out of my little darling and mended my heart a bit). I thought we were done. Colby thought otherwise. I promptly came downstairs and fell asleep on the couch at 8pm.

Having not had much of his bottle (owing to having eaten a rather large dinner, I suspect), he was up at 11:30 for a bottle. I was soooo out of it that I woke Steve and asked him to go in. Colby fussed off and on til 12:30 when Steve came back to bed and declared that he was done - Colby was in there bouncing and playing (and we know he's on the right time as he's been sleeping through the night for almost a week already so that's no excuse!) and it had been an hour. Well, he wasn't bouncing and playing anymore. He was screaming his angry fool head off. After half an hour he was asleep again, but an hour after that he was fussing off and on, so I got up and went in. I figured I'd give him some Tylenol and some love (in case his shots or his teeth were bugging him) and it worked. He went back down after I rocked him to drowsy and has been sleeping ever since (it's 7:15 now).

There were happy moments in our day, too - Kailin telling Colby to be brave at the Dr.'s office - and trying to hold his hand (he was having none of that), or her laying on the kitchen floor with him and playing games with his feet making him giggle (couldn't reach the camera fast enough for that one). I don't mean to downplay those or to forget them or fail to appreciate them. Indeed they are what is getting me through the day sometimes and giving me hope for a better tomorrow. They are just a very small part of our day right now. I'm glad to know that it won't always be this way. It's a huge adjustment for us all - and probably most of all our dear Kailin. Her world is turned upside down and she's been away from us for 2 weeks. I try to keep that in mind, but I don't always succeed.

I know this was a long and over detailed post - but it was for me. I figured that it will either a. convince me that we do not actually want a #3 or b. will show me how far we've come in a short time (when I can post in a week or two that things are just SOO much better) and fuel the fire for a #3. Ha ha ha. Seriously, though, there is so little I remember of the time just after we came home with Kailin (probably due to sleep deprivation and also the fact that I had mono!) and I don't want to forget this time. (or maybe I do....)