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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

1/9/14 (Thursday)

So I'm going to level with all journal readers. Evelyn had a long hard week this week and then she got sick. And honestly, I don't really remember all that well what happened on Thursday. I think we all sort of crashed. I think it was Marx Brothers night, as decided by Evelyn and Cara, and we watched a Marx Brothers movie until it got too late to give Owen a bath. Then I rather crabbily shunted him into his pajamas and to bed.

1/10/14 (Friday)

Family fun night! For family fun night, we got some takeout. I put a collection of Looney Tunes DVDs on the Netflix queue, and we got the first of them. I am absolutely certain that these cartoons are right up Owen's alley right now. I was a little disappointed by his reaction, which was mostly quiet and hypnotized. He watched it, anyway. Cara seems to enjoy the cartoons more than him, in fact, but they may be growing on him.

1/11/14 (Saturday)

Another lazy day for us. Poor Evelyn was mostly incapacitated on the couch, and the kids stayed in their pajamas until the afternoon. I tried to give the kids some lunch. Cara is no problem on that score, but Owen prefers all-day snacking to actual meals, and so by lunchtime he was completely uninterested in eating. I tried with much carping to make him eat the Scooby-Doo soup that he'd said he wanted to eat, but he was not having it. I threatened him with naptime, but he called my bluff. Eventually I said, "Go to your room." And do you know what? He did. He just went up to his room. He was up there by himself for a long time, completely quiet, just looking at books. I did eventually come up and prep him for his nap. Then he had a period that was supposed to be naptime, during which I don't think he ever actually fell asleep.

Then he called me up and I told him he needed to continue to have some quiet time. I suggested he look at books--quietly--in his room. He did look at books, but not quietly. Owen can't read, but he has a perfectly good memory, so he said the words that he could remember from the books, loudly, and when he was done each book he loudly flung it onto the floor of his room. This continued until he decided to try and get Cara to read his books to him, at which point I decided it was time for him to come down.

After that, Grandpapa came and whisked the children away. I hope the grandparents have better luck getting our son to eat. I suppose it's always been a bit of a trial but he seems even more stubborn lately than usual.

1/12/14 (Sunday)

Tonight for dinner we decided to make some sausages. We have been hesitant to make Owen eat these in the past, but recently he'd gone to town on some leftovers. It worked again, and he had a big big dinner. For once!

1/13/14 (Monday)

A new week, but unfortunately Evelyn is still sick--so sick, in fact, that she actually took a day off from work and spent the whole day parked on the couch. I have discovered that I am very unused to having to shoulder one hundred percent of the parenting duties, and it shows. I don't handle being pulled in different directions very well, which is just the kind of thing that's happening constantly when you're trying to do everyday chores and also wrangle your children. Still, I did manage to get them both up and packed and to their respective schools this morning--though, I admit, I discovered halfway through the process that I'd forgotten to put my wallet in my pocket, and had to stop back at home before going to work.

Tonight is dance class for Cara, and Ev managed to pick up both kids and drop off the girl. I picked her up while Evelyn and Owen were enjoying the typical Monday dinner of eggs. Cara and I grabbed Wendy's instead, after I picked her up; but it meant that my poor sick wife had to bathe Owen. I took back over in time to read him three back-to-back super hero stories while he was dressed in his Batman pajamas.

1/14/14 (Tuesday)

Poor Steve! He's stuck doing 90% of the childcare, because I'm still sick. I went back to work today and by the time the after-school class I had to teach was over, I had basically lost my voice. Because no one was up for cooking, Steve got Owen and I got Cara from dance and we met at Chilis. We had a coupon.

Owen sometimes orders for himself, now, in restaurants, and this evening he hit a very important (for him) milestone: he can put his own straw in his cup. He's very proud.

I am somewhat popular, because I've been so unavailable, so I got to drive both kids home. It was nice, though I had to sort of shout to have a conversation. I do enjoy our car conversations.

Owen: Mommy, you are going fast. . . . Mommy, are you going fast?

Me (getting passed on Route One): Well . . . yes. Yes, I am.

Owen: Is Daddy going fast?

Me: Probably.

Owen: I think Daddy is not going fast, because you are going fast. Before, when I was in the car, Daddy was going slow.

I sort of tried to explain, but I didn't try too hard. Fairly often, when I am driving Owen home from YBR on Woodbridge Ave, Owen says, "Mommy, you are going fast like Daddy!" It makes me wonder a bit, honestly, about what goes on when I am not around.

1/15/14 (Wednesday)

This is the anniversary of the day my water broke! Happy pre-birthday, Owen!

It's also the first day I've felt like myself since last week, which is good, because I realized that I needed to make the cupcakes today if I want to ice them tomorrow and get them to YBR for Friday. It was a busy evening.

Picking Owen up is more time-consuming than it needs to be. Today, he was standing letter-shaped magnets up on the table. He had no interest in stopping; he didn't mind if I went to get his lunch box. (That used to really bother him.) I got it and came back. He was still working. Someone ran into my butt. I was a little bit surprised. I mean, I know the other kids like talking to me, but I hadn't thought we were that close. It turned out he was just interested in Owen's lunch box. I crouched there, holding it out so that two little boys could (badly) take turns pushing the button and making R2-D2 light up and beep over and over again while Owen continued to line letters up for another three or four minutes.

A little girl was calling one of those boys to come back to her and play. "He'll be back when Owen's lunch box leaves," Miss Sarah explained.

Dinner was complicated, because I was making cupcakes while we ate. Steve and I are both pretty relaxed about Owen's potty training now, and we don't harass him about going (except before long car trips). This means that about two minutes after he sits down to dinner every night, he and a select parent have to take a trip to the bathroom. I timed it.

It was nice to be a part of Owen's bedtime routine again. He made me take him out to the ballgame, which involves singing the song while twirling and swinging him around in my arms. I got to read to him. I got to tuck him in. I got to be called back two minutes later to tuck him in again because he'd gotten more blankets.

For his birthday, Owen wants "a big fat daddy Iron Man." I think we got him one who at least sort of matches that description.

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