Rush

So George and I are really paying the price today for staying out last night. We went to see Rush in Holmdel, NJ last night...it was a good show, but way too far away.... we barely got there in time, but only missed the beginning of the first song, so that wasn't too bad. Thankfully, they started renting small lounge chairs for lawn seating now, so it was pretty comfy! Being surrounded by the "unwashed masses" who were drinking their faces off and getting contact highs from all directions left a little to be desired, but that wasn't so bad. Truly, if there was just a vendor for some "good" beer, it would have been great. Anyway, it was definitely a treat to have an evening just to ourselves! I'm starting to wonder if George has been hiding behind my mommy paranoia since Anya was born- he kept encouraging me to call and check on the kids, which actually wasn't on my mind at all. Of course, he was probably just giving me an out if I wanted it, but I was not worried at all!

It was hot as blazes here today and Colleen likes letting the kids "blow off steam" outside, so when I picked Anya up, she was sweaty and pink-cheeked. Happy as a clam, and sucking down ice water in her cup, but clearly hot. So you'd think she'd climb happily into the a/c of the van, but I had to struggle with her for that. Even when we got home (granted, she probably was a bit chilly from the ac), she insisted that we go outside to catch some butterflies. She absolutely did not buy that they hide inside when it's hot out, so we all put on our shoe and off we went. Thankfully, after a lap and a half around the house, she was ready to go inside and cool off! Funny thing is that she FREAKED out when a baby grasshopper landed on her arm. OK- so she loves slugs and worms, most bugs, and moths, but grasshoppers are the enemy??? Weird child.

Baz had a rough afternoon- he napped poorly this morning and mean mommy woke him up so the groceries didn't go bad and he refused to go back down after that. This made for a miserable time at swimming....Anya did great- she's starting to use her arms much more and she really can swim long distances with her head under. Unfortunately, I could barely watch her because cranky-pants wanted to run around,but only in places where I couldn't see Anya. Even a lollipop only calmed him down for a couple of minutes. I'm starting to think we should enroll him at the same time just so I can sit and watch rather than wrangle the whole time!

Thankfully, the long hot day made for a quick dinner, tub and bedtime. Baz turned into his usual happy self as he played in Anya's room after his bath. He gave both Anya and I kisses through the slats of his crib and waved bye to us before he laid down and immediately went to sleep. Anya is working on an "I'm scared of having a nightmare"angle to get us to stay with her as she goes to sleep. We've been down this road MANY times, so it's hard.....I want her to know that of course we'll always be there if she needs us, BUT that we can tell when she does "need" us vs "want" us. This stemmed tonight from her story about Babar....I've never read that particular book before and it really was sad/scary. In the first few pages, Babar's mommy is killed by a hunter and he runs off to avoid being killed by the same hunter. This is followed by a round of "Why is Babar scared of the hunter?" and "Why did Babar run away?". Then, later in the story, the king of the elephants eats a bad mushroom and dies, leaving a spot for a new king. Rather than focus on the fact that Babar will now be the king (and ignoring the fact that he's marrying his cousin), she kept asking about why did he die from eating a mushroom and why it was poisonous. George swears that he read that book when he was 3 and suffered no ill effects, but I'm seriously thinking about stashing that one away for quite a while.....I, for one, have no desire to read it again.

Oh, I wanted to mention Baz's current love of riding in the car....I swear he's like a little puppy...you mention a ride in the car and he's taking off as fast as he can to the garage door. It really is cute and a great way to break him out of a cranky mood. He was a bit fussy yesterday, so when I went to pick Diana up, I asked if he wanted to go and before I finished the question, he was waiting at the door for me! He laughed and giggled during the whole ride (all 20 minutes of it) and his crankiness was GONE. I've also discovered another key to happiness for both kids.....raisins! Yep, when I start to get that frazzled mommy look and it's a few hours until bedtime, I just break out the good ole Sunmaid box and sit them both down. Anya is happy to just feed herself handfuls, but Baz delights in feeding Anya and I as well. He does a little "yummmm" sound and nod as he eats them and as he pops them in my mouth.

OK- that was a book and I'm sooooo beat.....I didn't give Baz any Motrin tonight, so here's hoping we have a good one!