Elephants!

I have time to type this because Moo just went down for his nap and the babies are both resting quietly. I just learned that sometimes it works to put the babies down and let them fuss or cry for a few minutes. It was the only thing to do because Moo had to nap and I'm alone today and outnumbered.

It didn't even take that long. E was quiet by the time Moo picked the books out, and M fell silent two words into the first story. M has been a dream baby lately when it comes to falling asleep on his own. He took a nap beside me on the couch this morning.

Well that didn't last long. I started typing this fifteen minutes ago and just now returned to the couch after changing both babies and getting E settled next to M in the crib. Unfortunately, I can already hear her starting to fuss... E is now on my lap.

This morning I got the kids up and dressed and, more of an accomplishment, I got myself showered and dressed in time for Toddler Time at the local library. I somehow managed to get everyone safely buckled into their car seats and loaded into the van. We arrived just a few minutes after the scheduled 11:30 start time. I don't think I need to mention just what a feat it is for one person to get two babies and a toddler in and out of a van by themselves. A kind lady arrived at the same time and tried to open the library door for us. It didn't move. She tried the other door. Locked. Then we noticed the printed sign in the window: Library closed today from 11:30 to 1:00 for staff appreciation lunch.

You have got to be kidding me. The library website still showed Toddler Time as starting at 11:30 today. I know because I checked it before I even started getting the kids ready this morning. I could have cried.

Back in the car we went. Poor Moo. I'd been promising him a trip to the library all morning. One of the nice things about two year olds though is that they're easily distracted. I apologized to him for saying we could go to the library when it wasn't open, then told him we'd go drive around and look for animals. This made him quite excited. But first I drove to the nearest coffee shack drive-through for a mocha. The whole way there I got to listen to a little voice from the back seat asking, "We're looking for animals, Mama? Where are the animals? Are they hiding?"

We eventually made it to the rural country roads not far from our house. The first animals we saw were two dogs in a field. Not so great. I drove a bit more (we got lucky with the sunshine, so the farm animals weren't all hiding in barns this time) and spotted three horses in a field. I found a place to pull over. The entire time I was telling Moo to look out the window at the horses. No, look out the other window. The other side of the van. Mama's side! Every time I asked if he saw the horses he'd reply, "Yeah!" Except that he was looking out the wrong window, and there were no horses on that side of the vehicle. He finally turned his head and spotted them. I knew he was actually looking at them because that's when his very excited voice exclaimed, "Elephants!"

Nothing I said after that could convince him they were horses. They were elephants, and they were eating. "Can we go see more elephants, Mama?!" So we drove around looking for more elephants (we found a few) and then came home.

Aside from a lot of crying and a lot of diaper changes, that's pretty much been my day. It took me 53 minutes to type this, what with all the interruptions. E just cried herself to sleep in a swing (took about three minutes) while I nursed M, who is currently fussing on and off in a bouncy chair that I'm rocking with my foot. He is so tired. So am I.