The days I spend watching Abby and Currin are filled with joy, laughter, spontaneity, surprises and some frustration. Today is a perfect example.
Jesse, the new puppy, is getting better every day. She hasn’t had an accident all day. Abby and Currin love their new friend and it is obvious she loves them. She lets Currin crawl all over her and cover her face with kisses, and then gladly returns the favor by licking his face. She is so sweet and so gentle. It is such fun to watch them play. That’s the good news.
Ever since Currin finished the round of the dreaded antibiotics that caused such a horrible reaction, his dirty diapers have been a challenge. Considering the fact changing any dirty diaper is like trying to tame a centipede, changing his dirty diaper this morning was particularly fun. As I got it off and turned to grab a wipe, Currin turned over and tried to run away with doo doo flying everywhere at the very same instant Jesse decided to grab the diaper and run off with it. Currin found this extremely funny – Nana did not.
I was trying to mop the kitchen floor when Currin walked in the decided he wanted the mop. I let him hold it for a minute and then took it away from him and sat him in the living room so I could finish the job. He had a total meltdown and came running on to the wet kitchen floor and threw himself down. Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on the fact a wet floor is slippery – fortunately he wasn’t hurt badly. When I resumed my mopping Jesse came in and tried to play “bite the mop” which Currin found hysterical. The puppy was biting, tugging and chasing the mop; Currin was grabbing for and chasing the puppy and Nana was forced to try to maintain her own balance on the wet floor.
Later Jesse woke from one of her frequent naps and Nana took Currin and puppy outside. Abby was safely (or so I thought) playing her computer game upstairs in the game room. We were outside a total of 8-10 minutes, tops. In that time, Abby discovered a box of paints and proceeded to paint magnificent pictures on a dozen different pieces of paper, all carefully laid out at strategic points on the carpet. In her desire to create a masterpiece she failed to notice the amount of paint she spilled and the paint that seeped through the paper into the carpet.
When I came back in the house I knew we had a problem because Abby put her hands behind her back and ran – dead giveaway that she’s been up to something she shouldn’t have been. When I came upstairs, she smiled her brightest smile and said “just look at the beautiful picture I painted for you Nana – aren’t you happy?” Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm……….one look at the magnificent mess from the magnificent masterpiece took much of the joy out of her creation.
I took Abby to the bathroom to put her in the tub while trying to keep her from spreading a line of paint throughout the house; drug a bucket of water, a bottle of Resolve, a rag, and a baby (Currin) up the steps and proceeded to try to erase evidence of her little escapade. I got most of it up after crawling all over the office room on my hands and knees (yep, the very knee that has been swollen and sore for three weeks) and then had to clean Currin up because he was crawling right behind me soaking up what little paint Nana left.
Currin and I went back downstairs, Nana cleaned him up, got Abby out of the tub and then Nana had to clean the paint off the door, light switch, counter and tub. Everyone and everything was finally at least somewhat back to normal when Jesse woke up again. This time everyone is going outside at the same time.
I turned to Abby and said “do you have anything to say about all this mess and all the work Nana had to do to clean it up? She smiled her sweetest smile, batted her eyelashes and said “yes – good job Nana!”
As I was taking the baby and the puppy down the stairs to the garage, Currin discovered the puppy’s water bowl and poured it upside down. The garage floor was covered with water and instantly turned into a very slick surface. Grabbing Abby, Currin, the puppy and a mop in one swift motion is no easy task, but hey, just call me super Nana. I swear they are trying to kill me!
There is some justification in all of this. My hope is that one day Abby and Currin will read the posts written by their Nana. I hope they will laugh; I hope they will smile and in some cases, I hope it embarrasses the heck out of them. Read on.
When my son was a baby he fought us every step of the way in the potty training process. He hated the potty chair and was terrified of the toilet seat. One night when we were stranded in the middle of nowhere, Ryan felt his urge to pee someplace other than his diaper. Thrilled at this new found urge, I grabbed him, ripped his diaper off and let him pee on the tire of our car. That was Lesson #1 in Potty Training 101 and Ryan never had an accident again. The problem was, for weeks the only place he’d go was outside. He’d pee on the tires, the sidewalk and every bush in the yard. The neighbors would sit on their porches in their favorite chair just to watch him and laugh.
I have been making a halfhearted attempt to potty train Currin. I haven’t had a lot of luck so decided today was the day to try a new trick. When I got him outside I pulled his diaper off and let it “all hang out”. Currin didn’t seem to mind and in all honesty, never even seemed to notice a difference. At least not until the wind picked up. As the wind blew through the trees, Currin’s face lit up, he grabbed himself, laughed like crazy and peed in the grass. Maybe Nana will market this as the “new” method of potty training. At least I can hope it will bring some sense of embarrassment at a later date. Paybacks are heck.
As I wind down this post, Abby comes up to me and asks “are you mad any more, Nana”, to which I reply “no, Abby I’m not mad any more”. “Are you happy then, Nana” she asks and of course I say “yes Abby, I am very happy”. “Good” she says “because I love you to the moon and back”. Yep, paybacks are wonderful!
All this fun and it isn’t even noon! Is it nap time yet?