So. That toddler bed transition.

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Since I know you are dying to hear how this watershed moment is going, let me fill you in. After three days of getting kicked in the face while trying to gently usher the Tasmanian devil back to bed and being assaulted at random intervals during the night, my husband put a baby gate up at the door to Keeghan’s room.

At this moment he is standing at that gate shouting “BOOM. This. Is. A. CHICKEN.”

Sometime when I’ve had a lot of coffee, I’ll tell you the one about the night he managed to get the gate open. Good times.

This is why I don’t get asked to babysit more often.

The joys of Lego star warsI’m watching a friend’s daughter this morning, who happens to be great pals with Ian.

Ian: Sophie, after our snack we will play Star Wars THE CLONE WARS!
Sophie: (makes boys are stupid face)
Me: No, after your snack, you are going to ask Sophie what she would like to do, and you’re going to listen to the answer before you decide.
Sophie: We could play kings and queens! Ian, you could be the king, and I could be the queen.
Ian: I don’t know about that.
Me: What about a compromise? Aren’t there any queens in Star Wars?
Ian. No.
Me: Then who is Amidala?
Ian: Oh yes! Queen Amidala of Naboo! I will be a clone trooper, and we will attack her planet!
Sophie: (makes boys are stupid face)
Me: Ian, you might need to show Sophie some of your Star Wars books so Sophie understands who lives on Naboo.
Sophie: (makes the books are awesome face) Good, because I didn’t even know about that until you mentioned it!

They are researching Naboo in Ian’s book collection right now. I expect that Sophie’s parents, like all good geek parents everywhere, think that particular Star Wars episode is terrible. So all I can say is…

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.

 

Meet the crew

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One half of the crew quit halfway through and went inside to play Lego. The other half, with the help of about $500 worth of cold weather gear that doesn’t really get to pull its weight in our usual climate, pushed through and finished the job. I’ll let you guess which is which.

New year, new “desk.”

Every year around this time I go a little nuts and rearrange everything. It’s partly to accommodate all the gifts we just got and partly a kind of New Year fever. Normally it involves moving furniture, which turns up a lot of dust bunnies and pretty much everything I’ve ever lost in my life. Frequently I “archive” some of the toys and games.

This year’s project was my desk. For quite some time I’ve been considering a switch to a standing work station, on account of how I keep hearing they are better for your health… but recently my sciatic nerve has been even more sensitive to too much chair time than normal. (Could it have anything to do with lifting a 40+ pound toddler in all the wrong ways?) So this year’s crazy took hold of the old TV armoire and did this:20131230-105705.jpg
I know, it looks nice and tidy right now. The rest of the room looks like my old desk threw up on it. I can’t wait to see what this looks like in two weeks.

(If you’re looking for a “how to,” I just took the shelf that used to hold up the TV and reversed it to hang from the top. I added a pre-fab keyboard drawer that was a much appreciated Christmas gift from my brother, and made sure everything cleared the doors. I’ll eventually replace the plastic drawers in the bottom with actual shelves, but for now, this works.)

Okay, you!

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I went into Keeghan’s room this afternoon to collect him from his nap. (I know, great story hook, right? But that’s what happened. I walked in and there he was all cute and snuggly, curled up with his blanket.)

Keeghan: We gonna go get Ian?
Me: Yes! It is time to go get Ian! Want a hug?
Keeghan: Go ride stroller. Okay, you!

He stood up and flung his arms around my neck, and I gave him a hug.

Keeghan: I want to change the diaper.
Me: You need a diaper change?
Keeghan: We always change the diaper.

Well. He settled my hash.

In other news, Ian’s lunch box came home with a hole in it yesterday, which MIGHT have happened when he threw it up in the air and it landed on the tile in the cafeteria, but he doesn’t think so. Also, he has a gift for the family which he informs me is “definitely not a clay luminary” and also does not “have a hole where you put in a candle.” In that case, the suspense is killing me.

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