Flying Solo

I'll change it up a bit--let's begin with the end:



Well that's nice, isn't it? And I think they mean it.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm flying solo this weekend, with Natalia in NJ. Today was another exhausting day (I've just now finished cleaning up for the open house tomorrow, boosted by ibuprofen and coffee) but a memorable one too.

The above video sums up most of the day. Andres and Celia were in good spirits, playing together well and having minimal incidents. It seems that they are forgetting that they are siblings and are actually becoming friends. The video accurately sums up last night too--Celia was crying a lot when we arrived home after dinner/errands, and Andres took it upon himself to read her a book and try to calm her down. It actually worked.

Ok, returning to the beginning: yesterday felt like 4 days rolled into one, and today felt like 3. So since 6 am yesterday I feel like I have experienced an entire week.

We only had one commitment today: birthday party in Boston at 10 am, and somehow we actually made it there on time, with both kids in good moods. Boston was alive today--lots of excitement about the marathon on Monday, and lots of out-of-towners in town for the festivities. Newsflash: Boston drivers are horrible, and I pity ambulance drivers who have to navigate not just the bizarre streets here but also all the licensed idiots who are doing their best to prevent anyone from getting emergency care, lest they lose their shot at a parking spot.

Celia was rejoiced to find out that the party was a princess party, replete with an actual Disney princess in attendance. Andres was not as thrilled. (Though his mood turned when he learned that she was a pretty good balloon artist too.) So while Celia stood in awe, Andres removed himself from the scene, preferring to observe (casually) from a distance. The absence of other ~5 year old boys made this shindig a bit boring for him until he had warmed up a bit to Belle.

Naturally, Celia got a tattoo.



I will refrain from evaluating the event too much, as my feelings on princess (or prince!)-themed anything are probably discernible to frequent readers. But I will say that Celia had a blast 100% of the time and Andres enjoyed the final 20%, during which time he was won over by Belle's flair for magic and talent for creating balloon animals.

Post-party (and post-Barnes and Nobles, as I needed to make a purchase in order to have my parking ticket validated) we took advantage of the spectacular weather and walked over to the Christian Science plaza. The kids quickly forgot all about me and ran around, together, exploring the way that the water moved along the reflecting pool. Neither child was dry on the walk back to the Pru.





It being 1:30 when we left the plaza, Celia's energy level was on the wane. She indicated this to me (and to many passers-by) by bear-walking (on all fours, knees up in the air) much of the way from the fountains to the Pru. She seemed upset at first when I cut this charade short by picking her up, but didn't quite mind being carried all the way to the car.

Both took monster naps this afternoon. I cleaned.

In order to maintain the relative cleanliness of our place for tomorrow, I decided that eating dinner out was a good idea--so once they woke up, we headed over to Cabot's for dinner and ice cream. Celia was still wearing her pink dress and red shoes from the party, which (apparently) prompted one older woman outside of Cabot's to inquire whether Celia "was for sale." I thought this was kind of weird, but since the lady was old and smiling, I figured she meant no harm.

A couple of hot dogs later they both earned their ice cream. And, miraculously, the ice cream did what I could not do all day: to get them to stop talking for a couple of minutes. (Note the counter service in the video below...neither fell off their chair!)



A quick run to Home Depot followed, and then it was back home. During most of the ride to and from Home Depot I was privy to some very cordial conversations where Celia asked Andres nicely whether he would draw something for her, with Andres kindly replying that he would, and that he would make it very nice and pretty for her. Again, more friend-like than sibling-like. Oh--they also ganged up on me, deciding that making fun of dad was a good way to build camaraderie. I forget exactly what they said but it was fun to listen to at the time.

So this is how we arrived, post-bath, at the daily recap (the real one, not the "Awwwwww how cute" one):



Clearly Belle was the day's MVP. These two then took turns reading books for/to each other, and then came up with the ingenious plan of both snuggling into Andres' bed for the night.

As I expected, their determination to make this arrangement work lasted about 5 minutes, after which Andres came out of his room complaining that "Celia had hit his eye," with Celia claiming self-defense. I had a bad headache at this point and allowed them to watch the Celtics with me for a bit. This brief interlude also allowed me to put them each into his/her individual bed afterwards, allowing each to save face, as neither would freely admit that, really, though they had said they wanted to sleep together, they actually wanted some space to themselves.

They should sleep like rocks tonight. And, so far, they have. Tomorrow's going to be another long day with swimming in the morning followed by a trip to  Nana and Papa's. Come tomorrow night, I might need a week-long nap. Or just a ton of coffee, which is how I've been making it work so far.