So Big Now, So Small Later

Nathan slept until 6:00am this morning! That's so late for him, wehoo! After we got him up, we groped for our coffee and tried to shhhhhh! the little guy who loves to enter the day with happy but REALLLLLYYYYY LLOOUUDDD screams at the TOP of his lungs as he plays.

At lunchtime, Justin spilled a cup of milk on the floor. The milk splattered from one corner of the room to the other, including getting on toys, books, walls, etc.

Previous to lunch, we went for a walk where Justin put his rock findings in the lower pockets in my cropped pants. I had forgotten about said rocks until cleaning up the milk mess... during which those rocks dug into my knees and spilled onto the floor.

After lunch, Nathan pooped out of his diaper. He hates getting changed, so as he was kicking and screaming, I tried desperately to minimize the damages on him, his clothes, the changing pad, and me.

While working on that, Justin entered the scene having pulled of his very first painting from last spring off the fridge, something I'd been saving because it was so special to me. He ripped it in half.

While I continued to minimize poop damage on Nathan, Justin then went to his room and knocked over his large rocking chair- "Boom!"- and proceeded to pull off all the "padding" Doug had put on to protect the floors.

After all that, I let them play and cleaned up the kitchen, trying to take a deep breath. Then, I heard a large boom and a loud, helpless cry from Nathan... Justin the culprit was hovering over his victim, looking guilty.
"Justin, why is Nathan crying?"
"I knocked Baby over."

Justin did not go to sleep at nap time, but instead cried "I want your Mommy!" (He's still working on mastering pronouns... which is quite humorous. I always imagine which Mommy he could be referring to.) He did this for quite some time, until I consented and brought him out. I had some reporting that was due today for my job that I had to complete... I completed it with him on my lap. Don't you know there was some quality in that piece?!

"Done," I called Doug in desperation, "Please tell me exactly when you'll be home so that I can have that exact time to look forward to." We then decided it was a Chic Filet night (hallelujah!) and headed over to the playground at the mall to meet Daddy later. That event on the whole was fine except when the kid-who-was-way-to-old-to-be-in-the-toddler-playground (there's always ONE, isn't there?) ran over Justin which left him in tears. And then at dinner time, Justin spilled his water again... ice cold this time... all over his lap-soaking his clothes; we had no spares. Back to the sippy for a while.

My back and neck are so sore from all the picking up of these 2 big boys, all the getting up and getting down. And I can't afford my chiro until my next car wreck.

And of course there was all the daily stuff mixed in... the food preparation, the feeding, the nursing, the laundry, the kitchen clean-up, the many other poopie and wet diapers, the clothes changing, the discipline, the moderating playtime, the many towers and books read, the singing, the walk around the block, the many times Justin spontaneously hugged me, the peek-a-boos with Nathan, the moments of Nathan's head on my shoulder, getting him after his nap and having him him wave to me, all the times Justin was so sweet and obeyed so fast, etc. etc. etc.

The more I think about it, the more I realize even on a day like today, there are so many sweet moments nestled in there. The hard moments, which feel all-encompassing and big now (don't they feel SO HUGE in the moment?!) will certainly be so small later... and will probably even be funny... and maybe, just maybe, even be missed.