Flumpie's Very Seekrit Diary

Today you and Brooks had a difficult day. Which resulted in you flying over the back of your high chair and landing on your head on our granite floor. You were unconscious for a while. I was very, very scared. I took you and Brooks to the hospital right away. By the time we got there, you were acting more alert, and he was crying. So everyone at the hospital thought he was the injured one.

They let us leave that hospital after a while, but then we had to go to another hospital. You were so sweet and well-behaved. But it was really hard to see you in the hospital bed; so small.

Hopefully you'll start feeling better soon.

We were driving Emmy to school, and the babies were sitting quietly in the back. Then Brooks started yelling,
"Harley-Mommy, HARLEY-MOMMY!!!" (That's what he calls me - he can't say "Ch" for Charlie)

"BAD Harley!!! Hat! Bad Harley Hat Bad!!!"

Sure enough, Miss Charlie had removed her hat and Brooks was in full tattle-mode - and she knew it. She then cursed at him - in Italian, I believe. It sounded very much like the time Joey yelled at Chandler in Italian.

Today was my first day of providing full-time childcare for Brooks.
i've watched him occasionally before, but today has been the longest day. Ashley dropped him off bright and early at 6:15. Charlie was awake too - which is rare for her. All of that woke Em up early too. Things were fine until we dropped Emmy off at school. She carried Brooks out to Walter (our new/old HUGE truck) and put him in his carseat behind her while I put Charlie into her carseat behind me.

Once I returned home, however, the madness began. Which child should I leave unaccompanied out in the driveway while I took the other one into the house first? It seemed cruel to abandon Brooks on his first day. But it seemed equally cruel to force poor Charlie to watch me take some other child into her house without her. So I attempted to do both at once.

Once back home, they both needed to eat all the time. Except when they were both pooping all the time. Charlie has never pooped that much. And Ashley swears Brooks only poops about 5 times a week. Well, he's just about finished the week then today. My house looks like a bomb went off. I managed to get in a shower, but was unable to actually dry my hair because Brooks hates loud noises.

I learned that Charlie would prefer a lose/lose scenario to a win/win one:
Charlie has two cookies (one for each hand) and Brooks has two cookies (again, one for each hand) is bad because Brooks has cookies. The fact that Charlie also has cookies is, somehow, irrelevant. She would prefer to have all four cookies. Barring that, then no one should have cookies because, bottom line, BROOKS SHOULD NOT HAVE COOKIES!!!!

They did nap - for about 6 minutes. They both look exhausted now, but I'm forcing them to keep playing because we leave in 30 minutes to go get Em. By the time we're back, Ashley should be here to get Brooks. Then maybe I can get Charlie to take a long nap while I:
pound a fifth of Jack Daniels
sit in the corner and eat my own hair
attempt to blackmail Emmy into becoming home-schooled

clean up the chaos the two babies created.

In addition to "Hi, Daisy!" (said to both cats) and "Hi, Sissy!" (said to Emmy), you now have a third sentence. It is: "Bad Daisy!" And yes, you say it to the correct cat and yes, sadly, it was appropriate given the most recent interaction you had with Daisy.

I then trimmed Daisy's nails with you bellowing encouragement by saying both "Hi, Daisy!" and "Bad Daisy!".

Here you are, in what has become your preferred mode: without pants and wearing at least one Winnie-The-Pooh shoe. You're chewing on the end of a marker (one of the ones that only marks on special paper). And when I tried to tell you "no", you shook your head at me and said, "No! No! No!" and kept right on chewing the marker.

And then, there you are with Emily - listening together to her iPOD.

Your birthday party pictures from Friday night can be found here. As you can see, you enjoyed yourself immensely!

We've been so busy!

Last night, you and your big sister went through the charitable giving catalog Nana and Boompah sent up and decided what you wanted to give. Here's a picture of you with Emily while you two were figuring this out:






Emmy decided to give soccer camp to several needy kids.

You spread your money around:

You sent bees for beehives in Russia.

And 5 chickens to Latin America.

And a goat for an orphan in Rwanda.

And a piglet for a family in Asia.


Today was the day of your party. It started out with a bang - literally. I accidentally popped a balloon while trying to pull them out of the closet. This frightenend you.

Then you had 4 shots and one blood test. By this point, you really were not impressed with your day. Then we came home and you took a nap while I baked your cake and cupcakes for your party and decorated a bit.






Then a bunch of your friends came over. Tom and Pat from next door came over. They got you a cute outfit and a CD player. Tim, Brooks, and Ashley came and gave you a sippy cup like Brooks' - because you always take his from him. They also gave you a schoolbus toy with little people in it. Adriana, Richard, Trenton, and Briana came over. They gave you a vacuum cleaner toy (Yay! You're never too young to help Mommy!) and a cute soft doll. Katie, Steve, and Jack came and gave you your very favorite thing - a bathtub toy. You loved it!

We had your favorite things for dinner - hot dogs, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. Then I stripped you down to your diaper and you had a lemon cupcake - which you seemed to enjoy very much. I'll post those pictures as soon as I get them.

We took you to visit Santa today.  You didn't seem to enjoy the experience too much...

I used to have a clean house. Now, despite picking up 20, 30, 500 times a day, it always looks like a tornado came through. Which I guess is a semi-reasonable comparison. You're very busy.

Today I had to move the kitchen trash can into the cat bathroom - behind the gate. We will just never have people use that bathroom now. The reason for this move is because you keep throwing things into the trash; including my car keys. And the Baby Jesus from your Fisher Price Nativity set. So I'm obviously raising a heathen.

You have a little bucket with shaped blocks in it. It has a cover with holes the shape of the blocks. You're just starting to figure out that the lid does something. But you're not quite ready to figure out how to sort the blocks. Which frustrates you. So you threw the lid out as well.

Then you threw the blocks into my toilet. So now that bathroom door is closed permanently. And the blocks had a bleach bath.

Last night, your sister gave you a sip of her Baskin and Robbins Mocha Blast - not exactly the type of food you get from me. I didn't even know you knew how to drink out of a straw! You loved it. And you bellowed your way through the commissary in order to get more.

Today you tried to get your own juice:




You like to clap along with TV audiences - like on Oprah. And you get very indignant unless everyone else in the house claps too.

You're starting to throw yourself face-down on the floor when you're upset. Unforunately, I upset you last night in the bathtub by telling you to sit down. So you flung yourself face-down into the water. And were very surprised when it didn't turn out well.

I was in the kitchen just now - making a cup of tea.

You were in the kitchen with me - rooting around in the pots and pans cupboard. Also in that cupboard, on a shelf above the pots and pans, are your bibs and the washcloths I use to wipe off your face after you eat.

I sort of noticed you busily walking about from the cabinet to the other side of the kitchen and then back...

And then I realized what you were doing.

You were carefully and methodically sorting your bibs from the washcloths. Whenever you came to a washcloth, you set it to the side. Whenever you came to a bib, you took it over to the trashcan and threw it away.