Lore Mae

Our schedule during the week is pretty rigid. I used to think of myself as a "care-free" kind of "live in the moment" person, but the longer we are here the more I become comfortable with our daily routine.

We all, except Lore Mae, get up around 6 a.m. I am so grateful that Sarah and Grace are mature and responsible enough to get up on their, and most days they are in the kitchen preparing their own breakfast before I can make it upstairs. They leave around 7 and Tommy and Cy around 7:30, so by the time Lore Mae gets up around 8:30, everyone is gone. She has my complete attention for about 4 hours. We play whatever she wants to play. She doesn't have to share her toys or my attention. She follows me (or vice versa) around while I do laundry or pick up the house. It is a great bonding experience for both of us, and I enjoy it emmensely. I did not know how much she enjoys it until today...

Cyrus stayed home from kindergarten today because we have plans this afternoon and our German lesson was moved to an earlier time today, and it was logistically easier for him to stay home so I could minimize time spent on the road. (Did I mention we have about a meter of snow on the ground?) He was up at his usual time, and after the girls and Tommy left we had about an hour of quiet time together. He played computer games and I did my German homework. When I woke Lore Mae up the quiet time was over!

I went into her room and gently woke her up. She rolled around a little and made very cute baby noises, then Cy came in the room and the beast was released! She went to thrashing around and screaming as if she was being murdered. I tryed to take her out of the crib and she fought me tooth and nail. Cyrus sat down to play with a puzzle and she started screaming louder. Oh yeah...the wall that her crib is on is shared with our neighbors that live in the other side of the duplex. I am sure that they heard her and now think that I beat my children.

I finally wrestled her onto the changing table and managed to get her diaper changed and her clothes on. We were both sweating by the time she was dressed, and I was ready for a stiff drink. She finally calmed down when I mentioned eating breakfast. I guess her hunger was greater than her anger, and that is the only explanation I can come up with for her outburst. I think she was angry that her "routine" had been interupted by Cy staying home. Her time with Mommy, or more likely the toys, had been sabotaged.

Anyway, all is well now. Cy and Lore Mae are now sitting on the couch together watching Spiderman and there has not been any screaming for about an hour.

Life is good!