Besides heartbreaking disappointments from both the Titans and the Chargers, we had a relatively good time. All weekend we enjoyed comfort food such as chili, soup and sandwiches, homemade cookies, etc - and of course, it was just great to be together. And we had decent enough weather with the exception of it being pretty chilly and that spell of rain on Saturday. We even took good naps - everyone - both days. But every other spare minute of our existence we wrestled with Roland. Wow. He woke up happy enough, tricking us with cuddling and great bouts of vocabulary, but by the mid-day we were all taking turns in the timeout spot. We drove into downtown to catch the train expo, only to skip it for an awesome magic show at the children's theater in the main library. Roland was fantastic! It was incredible! To the outside world he's a model kid (most of the time) full of spunk, curiosity and a smile that seems to brighten the world. It seems only us (and his daycare teachers) enjoy the alter-ego side of Roland. The Toddler side.
Still trying to stay with the positives, we had indoor picnics, huge marathons of cooking and coloring. We rode the tricycle inside and outside the house, we made great forts, train track arrangements, played endlessly with cars and read tons of books. But in the moments in between Roland was giving it to us as best he could. He would not sit to eat, he would not eat what you wanted him to, he would not clean up his Lego's, he would not touch the dogs softly, he would not stop crashing his truck into the air intake vent, he would not stop ______ fill in the blank with about anything else you'd like to imagine. The toughest part is that he KNOWS how to pick up his toys but he'd much rather ignore you. I think we're beginning on a great race where each stage gets tougher and every battle becomes more critical than the next. Not sure who's winning what right now. I gotta hand it to Brian, he's a parenting pro, and like I said, when either of us were just too irritated to deal with it, the other stepped in and handled it. Oh, like the time I thought Roland broke my nose today, Brian stepped in too keep me from...who knows what I was going to do...I was in so much pain I couldn't see! And finding him trying to soak the upstairs bedroom with a water bottle, yeah that was fun to discover.
All that aside, I can't wait for next weekend, and every morning and night in between. As anyone who's enjoyed Roland when he's not being a toddler can attest, his laugh, hugs, smiles and unbridled fascination remind you of just how wonderful the world is.
1 comment:
Great story, Ellie, and a great shot of Roland.
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