today

So I wake up today, ready for a busy one. It is Thursday, the day of the week I work from home- when rachel is here with the kids and I work out of the office. The last two weeks have gone really well. However, Rachel has a bad cold- (which she assured me came from the kids) and after assuring me yesterday that she would be here today- she emailed this morning stating she would not be coming. Okay, deep breath. Now, if she had told me yesterday she was going to cancel- I most likely would have driven to Oxnard with kiddies in tow and worked out of my mom's office all day. There was no way this morning I was going to pack everybody up, hit the traffic on the 23 freeway, and spend six hours working out of my mother's insanely messy office space. So, I decided I would just proceed with the day- work the best I could, watch the kids as best I could and well, make the best of the situation.

So, it all starts out smoothly enough- launch the laptop and connect to the network no problem. a relief. Honeydew and oatmeal with raisins for sophie. We get her dressed and teeth brushed and plunk her down for 2 episodes of the little einsteins and one of the higglytown heroes. Okay, 90 minutes of tv back to back much too excessive, yes, but I had to nurse the baby and get him down for his morning nap- and when he fell asleep, wade through a day of emails I had missed. Okay, on track. wipe out and fill up water table on the patio for sophie- it was an amazingly beautiful clear and calm day out there- an absolute crime we could not be hanging out at the park for hours. Baby wakes up after an hour- I tend to him, drop him in the exersaucer for a bit- check on sophie. She is stripped down naked and sitting in the water table playing with small plastic items made in china. It is all good. I give her some sidewalk chalk and she starts making scribbles and swirls in the wet patches on the concrete- Alex and I soaking in the sun and some vitamin D for good health. I ask Sophie to draw a triangle to which she answers 'I can't!' - the new phrase that makes me just beam with gratitude. Not. I toggle back and forth between the kids and email. It is all working.

Darren the plumber shows up an hour late at 10. The good part is that he is only working til 1:30. The bad news is he is still making big noise with big tools in the new office's guest bathroom, and has his radio on outside set to a classic rock station. pink floyd and the rolling stones and the steve miller band, all bringing me back to high school with the exception of the nirvana songs that I think would have Kurt Cobain turning in his grave (if his body is in fact in a grave) I am now stepping over an extension cord to make my way close enough to stab out emails to my girl on the production team at NBC home base in Universal City. Have dressed Sophie for now the third time with warnings to keep her clothes on since she has a bad cold and her hands and feet are quite chilled from playing in the cool water outside. Resourceful little thing- I tell her I need to work and she heads to her room for her Toddler Tunes cd (simply awful) and to peruse her 426 books that are in rotation. Alex bops from toddler rocker, to playmat, from back to tummy, to booby to nap- I am really impressed with how the day is going actually. But the noise is starting to get to me- thank God alex is sleeping through it and that the big sounds are sporadic and don't last too long.

Lunch- I prepped a plate in the morning while sophie was watching the tube. Smart move- she is having pieces of chicken breast from yesterday's dinner with bacon ranch dressing for dipping, (ick) cheddar cheese, avocado, and red grapes. We read one of her favorite books, "the boy under the bed" as I fork the bright colored food into her mouth. Animal crackers and diluted apple juice for dessert. I put her out in the swing and give her a few big pushes- and come back inside to check the computer- this goes on for 15 minutes. baby wakes as if on cue as soon as she is done and wants to come in. checking email- features are being built and I am checking to see how they are coming along.

Darren leaves with a hefty check at 1:30 and I am relieved he is gone. Sophie has pulled out her crayons and paper for drawing, and is giving one of her animals a check up with her doctor kit.

Alex is hanging out with me in the office - we talk and he sits on my lap as I type reply emails. About 3pm- time for a sophie snack. I offer apples and peanut butter and she accepts. I cut up half an apple, and add a big dollop of organic peanut butter to her well worn pink plastic IKEA plate. and leave to return to the computer- alex practicing rolling onto his side on his playmat. I come back to check on her, and here is the highlight of my day. She has eaten most of the apple and spread most of the peanut butter onto her face. It is slathered on her arms up to her short sleeves, in her eyebrows and she is about to put her hands in her hair. I stop her from doing the last and grab my camera. I can't help it- this is the poetry of childhood- the cream of the crop photos you show the someday fiance while wearing a proud and cheeky grin.

After this the day starts to wear down. I have half a mug of coffee at 3:30- I am needing a lift for sure. Alex goes down for his third one-hour nap of the day and I get Sophie in the tub at about 4ish. No big drama, got the hair washed, got the hands and feet and the privates- out of the tub into the blue elephant bath wrap, a quick rubdown with Cetaphil lotion and I bundle her up into a one piece sweatsuit with an alligator on the front. baby is up- this guy is good!

The rest is a blur- I make a TV dinner for myself at 5:45, starving, give sophie the leftover oatmeal from the morning. As I am trying to sign out of work, my daughter starts climbing on me, insisting on being on my lap, and pulling on my beloved necklace from Geoffrey. I tell her, I am just finishing up! But of course, because she had no nap, (nothing to tire her out in order to have a nap) she breaks down in tears and it all becomes physical. Thank God she did as well as she did all day. I am kind've in awe actually. We clean up the playroom together- an amazing new feat that has happened three times now in the last week or so. I give her cheddar melted on a whole wheat tortilla and half a banana while reading 'Curious George goes to the hospital' - we only get halfway through because Alexander is fussy on my lap and has had enough. Jammies on at 8- diaper on, teeth brushed during a story telling of the happenings at Creative Leap- an indoor play place we go to sometimes. I find lately that the more conflict I speak of - between children I mean, at the playplace - the longer her jaw hangs slack and the cleaner her teeth get.

A quick story in the rocking chair - Eric Carle's 'Does a kangaroo have a mother too?' and then an I spy book, but we only get to the second page as Alex starts complaining in the crib, bored by the classical song banter coming from his slow moving mobile. That Alex just goes from my body, to container, to my body, to container, and on. crib, bassinet, swing, playmat, exersaucer, toddler rocker, changing table, bumbo seat. It is pretty crazy how many waiting stations the guy has. Well, I need to take care of his sister too, sometimes we all have to wait.

Get Sophie in bed with Alex on my lap and read one more short baby einstein book, put on the vicks vaporizor, and the nature sounds cd that she has heard since she was in the womb. Shut out the lights and sit with her for a few minutes, alex bobbing on my lap. Dad rolls in - 8:15 or so. He went for his second visit to the Murikami exhibit at Moca as it closes down this week. Gives sophie a cute little plush creature in the dark as i sit, ruminating. I just got her all down to sleep and here he comes at bedtime revving her up. It is okay though- he takes over and sits with her for a while, I nurse Alex to sleep in the rocker. Geoff eats some unnameable takeout in front of the TV and collapses on the guest bed. And here am I- recounting my day. All my lovely loved ones asleep in their beds. Another day, albeit a busy, odd one, down...