Cherubic chaos

I was kind of looking forward to writing today’s entry, reveling in and marveling at all the wondrous joys of my children. And then they went ahead and turned today into a bit of an epic debacle; as per pretty much every Thursday they are home with their mother while I am at work, and I have already fielded multiple WTH phone calls and texts in regards to their mass insanity. (Said combined mass being only about 22.3 kg yet still capable of yielding surprising amounts of insanity.)

Pros: The little girl still crawls on her belly like a snake but has also become quite adept at pulling herself up on things like the edge of a toybox or the tub, demonstrating remarkable upper body strength. I remain happily convinced that she will be cruising in no time and walking shortly thereafter, and soon enough she and her brother will be able to run around together and wear each other out. The little guy got a box of 24 crayons for Christmas, expanding his repertoire of colors beyond the usual 8. Adorableness ensued, including rapt fascination that a gray crayon even existed, assertions that they were “tiny” crayons (when in fact they are what I think of as standard-sized; I also think his prior-experience crayons are “gigantic” so, you know, it’s all perspective), and disappointment that a white crayon was “dried out” because when he applied it to white paper it didn’t make a mark. (I produced some blue construction paper to use the white crayon on and he was suitably impressed.)

Cons: A baby who can pull herself up on things is one that needs to be watched with constant, utmost vigilance. She is also teething yet again, which is disrupting both her eating and sleeping schedules, all of which together makes her a little clingy and needy (insomuch as such terms apply to nine-month-olds). Her brother has not failed to notice how much attention she has been getting and has been demanding equal shares, especially insisting on being picked up by whoever is already toting his sister around. I can just about manage to pick him up with my free arm and hold both children for about twenty seconds before I need to give both arms a rest, so clearly I need to work out more.

So it goes, ups and downs, good days and bad. I still feel that their charms far outweigh their challenges, but I’ve been caught at a bad moment here. Hopefully next week things will have settled down a bit (a new tooth will have crowned, the holiday overstimulation will have faded) and I’ll be back to the worshipful marvelous revelry.