Yesterday the kids didn't actually make it downtown with me. The morning was rough because Nikko and Ronin went right at it, fighting for the car that the other one was holding. I spent the better part of the morning breaking up fights, deciphering who had which car, and trying to get some peace from it all. I was pretty frustrated, and so Denis offered to stay home with the kids so I could socialize with Abe by myself. I felt guilty about it, but time wasn't on my side so I took the offer and drove downtown to Macy's to meet up with Abe at the 7th floor food court. It was good to catch up with him, and comforting to know that he is such a good, long-time friend. His wife was driving from Peru to meet up w/him and then go up to Kenosha. After our meeting, I went to the Whole Foods in Palatine to get more Earth Balance fake-butter spread for Ronin and any other essentials like Mac Chreese. [Yes, you read that correctly. Mac Chreese sounds like "trees". It's the non-dairy, non-egg version of Mac Cheese. Ronin actually likes it, but that's probably because he has never tasted real cheese before. It's got a tangy flavor to it, not crazy about it myself.] I hadn't been to this particular location before, and after this trip I don't intend on going back to the Palatine WF. It was very small and the aisles were very narrow. You could hardly fit two carts passing each other in an aisle. It's a popular store so it was very crowded. I think the one in Glenview is much bigger, and probably the one I will frequent until they open a new one in Schaumburg. The rest of the evening flew by.
Today, Sunday, our main outing would be Jovy's 2nd birthday party. It wasn't until 5pm so we had the day to ourselves. Even though I went to bed at 2a and woke up at 8a, I felt so tired and sluggish. The boys were awake at 8, and when I went inside their room Ronin was laying in Nikko's bed while they were both babbling about nothing in particular. Nikko has been taking cars and racing them back and forth along the countertops. I don't think it's really productive play because he revs the car almost furiously in large sweeping motions. We borrowed the trampoline from the in-laws and it's in the living room, but Nikko hasn't made his own attempts to jump on it. I have to initiate the jumping and lead him to it. Something that Nikko does like to do is go to the wall, step on whatever big, bulky item is sitting on the floor, and turn on the living room light switch. It's a great skill to have, except that Nikko seems to always want the lights on, even during the day. I'm not sure how to get him to turn them off, because they are expensive halogen lights. Hmmm. If he were doing ABA therapy we would reward him for turning the lights off or for staying away from the light switch. Distraction might be another alternative, but even when I lead him away from the light he turns around and hightails it back to the switch. I'm going to have to figure out another way to deal with this behavior.
It came time to go to Jovy's house and although we ran a bit late everyone seemed to be in good spirits for the evening. Audrey got cranky because she actually missed a late afternoon nap. She fell asleep in the carseat on the way home and I had to wake her up to take a bath and then go to sleep again. Ronin played with Jovy's toys and was agreeable for the most part, until it was cake and present time. Nikko ate a lot of crackers covered with garlic & herb cheese spread and was very behaved. This is surprising for a kid who hadn't had a nap all day. It showed when we were reading stories for bedtime. Nikko didn't have any energy for songs, and fell asleep during prayers. That's fine by me.
Tomorrow is Columbus Day. Denis has the day off and his dad is coming over to help put on the running boards of the Pilot. Around lunchtime I plan to take the kids to a playdate with a friend in Elgin. I hope it happens; it will be nice for the kids to socialize with people other than relatives!
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