Nap Time

Sam hasn't taken a nap in ages. She gave them up completely quite a while back. For some time afterward, we were doing "cozy time" where she would sit on the couch and read some books or watch a movie. But in recent months she's given that up as well.

She seemed a bit moody today. At one point late this afternoon, she was crying about nothing again. I wrapped my arms around her and said, "Sam, are you okay? You seem very tired today."

"I'm okay, mommy" she replied. "I'm just uh-sauce-sted."

If you've been to my house, you know that I've taught my daughter to go into her room and sit on her bed to calm down when she gets upset. She does this quite often. I leave her alone for a minute or two, then I go in and talk to her.

Today, after she hugged me, she walked very calmly to her bedroom and shut he door. I thought it was odd because she usually slams the door, and I thought she had already calmed down. But I let her have a couple minutes to herself.

Turns out, she really was exhausted.

I woke her up about 20 minutes later (it was too late for a real nap). She swatted my hand away and went back to sleep. I picked her up and sat in the chair with her. I asked her if she felt better and she said, "Mommy, I need you and Caius to go out of here so I can sleep."

"Honey, you need to be awake right now so that you can sleep tonight."

"I don't have to sleep tonight. I'll just stay up with you."

:/

Eggs (Part II)

Sam: Mommy, what are you doing?!?!

Me: I'm making you breakfast, Sam!

Eggs

Me: Samantha Lynn Davis, what are you doing?!?!

Sam: I'm making you breakfast, mommy!

What I Learned on Mother's Day

Every Mother's Day since I became a mother myself has been an exceptionally educational day. I'd say some of the most important lessons I've learned on Mother's Day. I've decided to share a few of them with you, my one reader, in the hopes that you will find it as entertaining as I do that I learned these lessons so late in my life.

Mother's Day, 2008: Lesson 1 - Women become mothers the moment we are aware and start preparing for that precious little poop machine to fill the void in our lives. Men become fathers when they change the first diaper. In boy speak, "Being knocked up does not grant you a Mother's Day card, woman."

Mother's Day, 2009: Lesson 2 - If a mother wants some recognition for her juggling skills and hard work (and lets face it, we all do), she has to start reminding her family in February that Mother's Day is coming up. My mother always did this, and I never really understood why. Men do not plan. They do not prepare. And if you don't get a seed planted and really tend it, nothing sprouts on Mother's Day. Instead, you find yourself explaining to him in July that the reason you spent fifty dollars at the flower shop in May was to get his mother something for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day 2010: Lesson 3 - Becoming a mother oneself does NOT grant one immunity from the wrath of one's own mom should one neglect one's daughterly Mother's Day duties. This is a very important lesson, people. Take it from me. Don't test it. Just go see your mom and tell her how much you love her. No matter how inconvenient it seems, its not that hard.

Mother's Day 2011: Lesson 4 - Mothers. Teach your sons to do everything PERFECT for you on Mother's Day. Train them to give you full on princess treatment. Do this not for yourselves, but in the hopes that one day when he has an exhausted, overwhelmed wife with one kid on her hip and one hanging on her leg, he'll know exactly what to do. Train your daughters to accept gracefully that men just don't get hallmark holidays and that we really just want some flippin flowers.

Sight Words

Sam and I have been working on reading for a while, but we have been concentrating specifically on sight words since Saturday. She's pretty good at it, and so far its been lots of fun. We started with five words, and we draw a new random word from the deck each day.

Today, neither of us are feeling really well, so I was relieved to draw the word "I". Yay an easy one! ...or so I thought.

Me: Sam, today our word is "I". Look at the word. "I".

Sam: Mommy, "I" is not a word, its a letter of the alphabet.

Me: "I" is a very special letter of the alphabet that gets to be a word too!

Sam: What does it mean?

Me: "I" is a pronoun used to refer to oneself. For example, "I would like a snack, please." In that sentence, who wants a snack?

Sam: Mommy wants a snack.

Me: Wonderful! That is how we use the word, "I".

.........significant pause here.......

Sam: So "P" is a pronoun for my pee-pee.

.....Maybe mixing flash card time and potty time was not the brightest thing for me to do....

Mommy Dugu

This morning was just like any other. The kids woke up, were given their morning drinks, and while Caius was having his bottle I vacuumed the floor and put out a fresh blanket and a bucket of toys for him to play with while I made breakfast. I put him on the floor and went to help Sam in the bathroom.

When I came back, I noticed something in Caius' mouth. Upon further investigation, I found a piece of dog food! I was shocked! So I picked him up, put him in his bouncer, picked up the blanket and toys, swept the floor again, and started all over. Then I went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

At this point, I should mention that aside from some unnecessary barking, I have generally well behaved dogs. As such, I often save my "mommy eyes" for the kids and miss out altogether on whatever my dogs are doing.

After a minute or so, I peeked around the corner to check on Caius. Again, there's something in his mouth....another piece of dog food! That's not even possible! He hasn't moved from that spot! So I decide to observe. And this is what I see...

Ndugu (who evidently believes with Dave gone I need help feeding the baby) walks into the kitchen, picks up a couple bites of food, and brings them to Caius. I think to myself, "Well, that's inconvenient. He often takes his food other places to eat it, I wish he wouldn't do that right there." Caius is facing the other direction and not paying attention, so there is hope. I keep watching. Ndugu picks up the food again, takes it around to the other side of the baby, sets it down, and nudges it toward him. Yup. That just happened. My dog is feeding my kid.

Maybe he is a big helper. Maybe he thinks I'm not performing up to par. Or maybe he's just trying to earn brownie points so Caius will drop food down from the high chair. I guess only time will tell.

Small Packages

The best things come in them!