A Snapshot

Scott sat "eating" lunch for two hours today. If I tried to get him down, he would get upset and tell me he was still eating. If I tried to give him more food, he would get upset. If I even looked at him wrong, he would start crying. Then Claire would yell at him and he would begin bawling. My best guess is that I accidentally served crazy juice with breakfast this morning. Claire mildly scraped her foot on a Tonka truck and cried for 30 minutes, following me around and ensuring that her forced cry was always perfectly positioned directly in my ear. Then she announced she was STILL hungry. I gave her carrot sticks. Scott insisted he wanted one too. He took a bite, chewed it all up, and then started crying. Again. I went over to ask what was wrong. He told me, "I don't like it." I didn't know it was still in his mouth, so while I tried to figure out which of the myriad food items in front of him he was referring to since he says this phrase CONSTANTLY these days, he grabbed my hand, picked it up, and held it up toward his face. And then he spit his masticated carrot into my open palm. As I stood there with carrot mush in my hand, Claire demonstrated impeccable timing and asked if she could have a popsicle. Showing much restraint, I merely replied with a gentle no. Then she pointed out that she still remembered when she lost her balloon yesterday. I see what she's getting at. Yesterday we left a birthday party with a big pink balloon. When we stopped at the grocery store on the way home, it conspired with the brewing Texas thunderstorm to escape the minivan. I tried running after it, bolting across the parking lot in the wind and rain. (I definitely didn't feel foolish, oh no!) I consoled Claire with a popsicle when we got home yesterday because she was was devastated about the runaway balloon. But that was yesterday, when the wound was fresh. That trick won't work again today. Nice try, Claire.

Well, I gotta go. Claire's crying about her foot again. I need these kids to go upstairs for nap time and "quiet time" so I can eat my left-over Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake. Oh yah, and I suppose I should wash the carrot mush out of the sink...