3 Things

Three things that made me smile today:

1. After a rough trip to the store where the word "no" was uttered more times per minute than allowed by state law, William happily clapped away to the "Happy and You Know It" cd playing. Although his behavior in the store made me want to....well do something not nice, it warmed my heart to hear him clap merrily away to the music on the way home. Because if he wasn't happy he wouldn't have been clapping along.

2. Amelia wore a cute little dress to church today with a sweater. What with the cold weather, I had forgotten about how adorably pudgy her little (big) thighs are. Utterly kissable. Totally wonderful and brought a smile to my face every time I saw them.

3. The giggles. Just one of the kids has to start and the other will join in. Within moments they have each other rolling on the ground. Laughing at each other, bringing joy to my heart.


Three things that made me want to gnash my teeth down to tiny nubs

1. The screech. Amelia has more and more communication abilities every day. She has discovered that by screeching at an piercing upper pitch, she is able to have her needs met in a more expedient manner.

2-100. The mind changing. William is more willing to do things when he has a choice. I know he doesn't want to go to the store with me to get milk. I don't really want to go the store with me to get milk. But if he gets to pick out his shoes/jacket/special toy/etc he is much more willing to go along with the program (or what needs to be done). However, the last few days have been more about the changing mind. For example:

Q. Do you want oatmeal or cereal for breakfast?
A. cereal
Meltdown: I DIDN'T WANT CEREAL! I WANT OATMEAL!

This can range from everything from how his sandwich is cut at lunchtime to the clothes he wears. It is totally unpredictable and stressful because I'm just not really ever sure when he is going to cooperate these days. All bets are off and I think it might be a safe bet to expect him to be uncooperative at just about every turn.