New Kid in Town

MLL is here!! I traveled across the county (again) to visit LDL and her growing family. Plus, I was very anxious to meet my favorite niece little l. I was tempted to bring my laptop and work while the kiddos were sleeping. That way I wouldn't have to take too many hours off of work. LDL and LTD laughed at me but I thought that I was being very resourceful. Not only did I not have time to get any work done, I wanted to nap more often than the kids. I do not know how my sister does it. LTD picked me up from the airport at midnight and told me that l was sleeping much better than her older brother p ever did. Wahoo! So, about how many hours is she sleeping now? Through the night? Uh. . . . 3 hours in a row. Clearly I am not ready to be a parent. Thank goodness.

I can't possibly cover all the activities of my week in a single blog post and keep our readers, so I'll just post a recent email describing 2 hours of a single week:

Act One - Ball in the Street

Me: Peter, don't kick that ball in the street. 

P looks at me and grins his chipped tooth smile as he kicks the ball toward the street.

Me: Peter. . . . 

P runs to get the ball as it sails on the sidewalk, down the hill, toward the parking lot and into the street. 

I think to myself, this is not good. Do I have to stop being the fun aunt and put him in time out?

His "sprint" is broken as he trips over his wet crocs and slams into the concrete. 

P: Uh oh! Ah! 

Me: That's what you get for trying to chase that ball into the street. You've got an owie. Want me to  kiss it and make it better?

P grins wide, gets his still bleeding knee as close to my mouth as possible for a kiss. Gross. 

Me: Do we need to go get a band-aid?

P notices the ball has made it's way to the gutter.

P: Uh-Oh!! as he reaches for my hand so he can go get the ball that is in the street. 

Me: Fine, we'll go get your soccer ball, but then we are going inside to clean up this mess. Plus, I am covered in mosquito bites. 

Scene ends with me and Peter "washing up" in the sink while listening to Lady Gaga's "Beautiful and Dirty Rich"

For the rest of the day, P walks around singing "bang bang!"

Act Two - Climbing Trees
Peter runs toward tree in neighbors yard

P: Up! Teeee! Up! Up! Up!

Me: You want to climb this tree? Is this allowed? We don't really care if it's allowed do we?

P: ah! up! up! 

He reaches his arms above his head and leans his belly into my knees, stretching as high as his little body will go.

I pick him up and set him on the branch above our heads. He swings his legs around and gets comfortable. Clearly, he has done this before. 

P: up! up! 

Me: You are up. I think it's time you learned how to say "down"

Peter puts his hands on the next branch higher and just hangs, again, grinning ear to ear with the shark teeth smile. Just as I am grabbing him to steady, a hand slips and he lightly scraps his face on the tree branch. Owie #2

Me: What do you say we keep that adventure between the two of us?

Act 3 - Farm Animals and Hammers

P: Teeeeeeeeee!

Pats the floor next to him and his farm toys. He is not at all happy that I am holding his new sister

Me: Peter, I am holding Lucy right now so I can't come sit next to you. But I can watch you play from here.

P: Ah! Teeeee! 

Continues to pat the floor next to him, but with a smaller grin and more force. Also picks up his toy hammer in the free hand. 

Me: Okay sweet Pete. Give me a minute to put your sister in her swing. 

P gets up and walks over to me and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the floor with all his might. I put Lucy in her car seat, since that's the closest "safe place" for her while P has his hammer. 

P: Ahh! yayayayayaya! 

Me: I'm going to stack some blocks while you play with your animals. 

Distructo won't let my stack of blocks reach higher than 5 and kicks it as hard as he can and then cackles with laughter. 

P works on matching his farm animals with those from Noah's Ark.

P: oooh! Oooh! (monkey noises) Moooooooo. Meow. Oink! Squeaaaaaaaal! Bang Bang!

Lucy cries, P walks over to inspect the cause of the noise. 

Me: She's okay Peter. I think she's just waking herself up. Want to give her the paci back?

P hands her the paci and tries to stick it back in. This boy is loving, but not gentle at all. Leans in for a kiss, unaware that his 30 lb frame is capable of making little Lucy cry louder and harder. 

Me: Good job peter! Thanks for giving Lucy back her paci! You are such a great big brother for sharing. 

P gets his hammer and tries to "share" with his sister. 

Me: Peter, that's not sweet. Lucy is too little for your hammer and you need to be gentle. 

P is visably angry that he does not get kudos for trying to share the hammer and throws it in exchange for a ball. here comes the chipped tooth grin and. . . . . . . chucks the ball at Lucy's face. 

Me: Okay Peter. You have to go to time out for that. You may not throw the ball at your sister. Go to time out for one minute.

P walks over to the time out corner by himself. He is wearing a green cloth diaper and a t-shirt. Cutest little bottom I have ever seen. Thank goodness TO's are only for one minute. I can't take it any longer. 

Me: Can you tell me you are sorry and give your sister a kiss?

Full compliance. 

My pictures don't go well with the story - but LDL tells me that's a good thing, since it would appear negligent if I was taking pictures while the kid hurt himself. Still, we here at coastalbs know what our readers want. 

P has zero interest in taking a picture with L

In case soccer as USNA doesn't work out. . . 

See? I love her! I can be sweet! Give me a chance!