Cookie

Last night during the bedtime routine, Nikko was incredibly giggly. He started laughing heartily, but we have no idea what about. He's done this before, but it's been awhile since I've seen this. In the morning, when I greeted him, he also started some laughing as well. Perhaps some angel on his shoulder told him a really funny joke?

I was so frustrated this morning regarding discipline and these boys. I opened some kind of shape activity that had big, colored sheets of paper that were a Rectangle, Square, Diamond, Triangle, Heart, Star, Oval and Circle. For some reason, Ronin wanted the Circle and Nikko wouldn't give it up. It got really ugly, they were dragging it between the two of them. I tried to distract Ronin but he wouldn't give up. I told him that he wouldn't win against Nikko right now, give it up. Ronin wouldn't budge and kept crying and screaming. It got to the point where I picked up Ronin and put him in his room as a time-out. Ronin was screaming, pounding the door and putting his fingers under the door to claw his way out. I was so rattled by Ronin's crying that I went in and sat in the rocking chair waiting for him to calm down. Closed the door behind me. Ronin was wildly trying to get out, running back into my legs, on the floor. I put him in the crib [can't say I wasn't shouting at him to calm down. I did try to soothe him and put him in the chair but he wrangled out of it] and kept telling him to calm down. He tried to climb out, crying, screaming, and then the coughing began. Of course, Ronin threw up some rice milk from breakfast. He also threw up on the floor. I gave up, opened the door and let him out while I stormed to the kitchen for paper towels and some Fantastic. I cleaned up, yelling all the while how they both don't listen to me. After I finished, I came back into the living room and Ronin was crying, trying to pry the circle away from Nikko again. I think I screamed out my frustration and ran into the kitchen away from them all. I don't know if there's something chemically wrong with me; I get so stressed out over things like this that are not supposed to be so stressful. Other than caffeine, I shouldn't be having any hormonal problems, but I let things get to me so bad. I felt so bad with all the yelling and screaming I did to Ronin that I had to apologize.

We ventured outside for maybe an hour. I broke out a new bubble machine because I think the motor went kaput on the first one, and probably because the boys kept putting their fingers into the machine. Nikko likes bubbles a lot, and put his face into the stream of bubbles. Ronin did it, too, but he left and went to play with his car. Nikko had bubble goop on his chin and was as proud of it as he has been proud of that red long-sleeved shirt tied around his waist all day. I had to usher everyone inside again, but offered them snack. I gave them a choice between graham crackers, veggie sticks and oreo cookies. Ronin easily said Cookie, but it was Nikko who surprised me by signing Please, Cookie. OF COURSE I gave him some cookies, which he repeated a few more times. Wow! Later, Nikko took a two-hour nap, and then after dinner they joined Denis outside to play for a little bit. Audrey and I went outside to hang out just a little bit, then it was bedtime for all.