Quirks

Nikko has some little quirks that I wish I could fix. He has developed a thing for closing the bedroom doors. I put a rounded wedge on top of the door to keep it from fully shutting, and to keep from fingers getting pinched (even though they could still get pinched), so the door doesn't close. Still, Nikko has a need to pull the door as shut as it can be. He fights with Ronin, who now wants to keep the doors open. And Nikko whines like a cranking siren when he's upset about something. This morning he woke up at 7a so I got him up. I wanted Ronin and Audrey not to get up so early, thinking Ronin could open the door himself if I left it open a crack, and then he wouldn't wake up Audrey. When I left the door open a crack, Nikko immediately wanted to close it, and started whining when I wouldn't let him near the door. His whining was escalating and I was getting irritated because I wanted the other two to keep sleeping, so I had to go back and close the door. Ultimately, Ronin woke up and called out to me, but I ran and got him before Audrey woke up.

Nikko didn't fall asleep on the way home from school today. Maybe sleeping in that extra hour kept him alert. It's the first time in weeks that he woke up at 7a, instead of 6, 5 or 4. After lunch, I took a gamble with the other kids' naps and decided to tackle our big grocery list by taking everyone to Meijer. I wanted to get more board games for Nikko as well as foodstuff. Of course it was a production to get everyone diaper-changed, clothing-changed, socks & shoes, coats and then out the door, but I made it by 2p-ish. Nikko fell asleep on the way, but Meijer is only 15 minutes away so his nap was jolted short because I made him walk. In fact, I made both Ronin and Nikko walk the entire shopping trip, which should have made them really tired by day's end. Meijer is a big store; even I get tired in it! At one point I gave them Dum Dums to keep them satisfied because they were starting to whine to open their toy cars that I let them walk around with. Audrey, meanwhile, was a total champ in the shopping cart. On the way home, Ronin and Audrey took short naps. I gave the kids a late snack and worried that they wouldn't eat dinner, but luckily they had an appetite around 7p, which is half an hour later than usual. Nikko was tired, but didn't fall asleep automatically at bedtime. I hoped I could leave the room without tears, but when I left to tuck Ronin in, Nikko erupted in cries and wails. He was at the door when I came in five minutes later, and scampered to his bed with a little laugh when I pointed him back to it. I told him the good night mantra, and to STAY IN BED. Thankfully, he did.