Never Say Never

Well, the title of my post says it all! Never say never...until you have kids anyways. Really, I mean it. I went out on a whim and bought something I swore I would never buy for my kids. Dire situations require desperate measures though. After listening to Ella scream bloody murder for 10.5 months, I bought the perfect accessory any mother should have. No, I'm not talking about a Coach purse, though that is a lovely thought. I bought a dual portable DVD set for my truck. My piece of shit truck, might I add. Since it's not in the budget for me to be getting a new vehicle anytime soon, I HAD to have the DVD set. The next car I eventually get will have one built in, but in the meantime I had to purchase one. I told CJ we were on a mission in Target and we were getting one thing, and one thing only. And if they didn't have it, well, then we would be finding another store that did have one in stock. He of course had NO clue what I was talking about b/c no one in our family has one for their car. Once he realized what it was when we were checking them out in the display case he was happier than a pig in shit. Naturally that meant we had to pick out a movie at Target as well so we could test out the DVD player on the way home. CJ very badly wanted a new Transformer or Pokemon movie, but b/c Miss Ella was with us I had to nix that idea. So, he decided on a Little Einstein movie. I guess it's better than Barney. $200 later, we left the store and I quickly set up the DVD player. Very easy, might I add, and I love the fact that each kid has their own TV strapped to the seat in front of them. Of course that doesn't stop Ella from staring at CJ's for half the car ride! I think it's cute b/c she so badly just wants to be doing whatever he is doing. CJ on the other hand, is not typically in the sharing mood. Anyway, it was the secret medicine to my ongoing pain with Ella. From the day we brought her home from the hospital, she has screamed and wailed bloody murder. I'm always afraid someone is going to think I'm kidnapping her or something b/c it is just ear piercing, window shattering screams. It's quite embarrassing and you think with all the running around that I do that she would really be used to the car by now. I think she just really hates being confined or something. I have tried toys, mirrors, music, different car seats...I mean the list is endless. And NOTHING HAS WORKED with this sassy girl. It was quite funny when I put her in the car to get CJ at school today and she pointed to the DVD player in front of her. Now I just have to get some different movies for the car b/c I'm getting kind of sick of hearing the Little Einstein theme song. I sing it in my sleep!

So CJ had his first day of preschool today. He was so looking forward to it that he got up early, washed his hands, brushed his teeth and dressed himself. All before 7am! He couldn't wait to get there and make some new friends. We got there and he just took off on the playground after saying his to his new teacher. The teacher said I could stick around if I wanted and I'm like, "Lady, when a child runs off like that you should know better than to stick around and wait for the tantrum to start." I left and was hoping to get some rest while Ella took her morning nap. Nope. Not happening. I had slept like absolute shit the last two nights b/c I caught CJ's awesome cold. My nose is so stuffed up and my throat is on fire, which naturally makes it difficult to sleep. By the time Ella fell asleep we only had about 30 Min's before having to go get CJ. Silly me, I then hoped she would take a decent afternoon nap b/c of the lack of sleep in the morning. Yeah right. I should know my daughter better by now, right? She slept for less than an hour which makes for an absolutely miserable baby. I was not happy, so I did some cleaning and laundry. Randy had a meeting so CJ and I made a pizza while Ella screamed b/c the stairs are now gated and she can't have free roam of the house anymore.

Let me just tell you how fearless my baby girl is. I don't know where she gets it. She stands up on her changing table and bounces up and down on it, hanging onto the side railing, shaking the entire table. Then she'll stumble a bit and look at me and laugh. I caught her chewing on her crib the other day too. And as I looked closer I noticed all the bite marks all over the rails. Awesome, eh? She pulls up on everything and anything and can now open all the cupboards and drawers. Luckily I left all the childproof latches on the cupboards so I don't have to worry about that. But it's exhausting just the same. She now thinks the pets dog/water bowls are a great place to hang out. I was just so tired of her chasing this evening I let her play in the water bowl and make a huge puddle on the floor. It's not gonna hurt anything and she had a great time. She loves water and splashing around. She is currently getting her 5Th and 6Th tooth. Not fun b/c it's back to Evil Ella now. I don't like Evil Ella. Evil Ella has learned to say No way too soon for me. And she knows how to use it. But she's learned some other wonderful things. Like giving kisses, giving high fives, pointing to what she wants, holding her own sippy cup, saying "up", "all done", "hi Dada", and "night night". Of course, with her own baby accent added! But it's cute. I am working really hard on signing with her but I have a feeling it's a lost cause. CJ signed for a little bit when he was her age, but he started talking so early on that it was a lost cause with him b/c he'd rather speak than use his hands.

It's amazing the love that Ella has for CJ. It truly is mind blowing sometimes. She gets SO excited when she sees him in the morning and she laughs at literally everything he does. He could shit his pants and she would laugh hysterically. Often times CJ is the one who calms her down, even if he's just talking to her. She crawls all over the house b/c she just wants to be with him at all times playing with whatever he's playing with. CJ doesn't always find it so amazing, rather he ends up running from her. I don't know what he's gonna do when she starts walking!