Two on One

My children are plotting against me. Now I'm not naive, I knew this day would come eventually. I'm just shocked it's arrived so early. I should have sensed something was afoot, but I blame the sleep depravation. Maya, I'm sure coached by her sister, isn't anywhere close to sleeping through the night. I always thought it was cute when I put Maya on the floor Abby was right there beside her. How sweet to see their two little heads close together, Abby talking softly in her ear. Idealist that I am, I assumed Abby was quietly singing her silly songs and stating her sisterly devotion. Apparently it was something much more sinister. Little did I know they were actually plotting and scheming against their very own mother. The sweet whispering I witnessed many afternoons was actually a battle meeting with Abby laying out the strategy and sneak attacks. I guess the papers Abby would shuffle out of my sight whenever I entered the room should have tipped me off.

Abby has the benefit of almost four years experience which is working to their advantage. All of the little "stay sane" tricks I used with Abby are having no effect on Maya. It's almost like some one tipped her off. Some one on the inside. The battery operated swing that allowed me to get more than a few hours of sleep with Abby I'm lucky if I can get Maya to stay in it without crying for 30 minutes. A nice warm bath that always made Abby nice and sleepy has Maya yelling so loud the neighbours call to complain. Today, though, they hatched their biggest attack to date.

Wednesday is now, officially, Abby's day at the sitters. We picked Wednesday because one of Abby's favourite friends is also going to the sitter's on Wednesdays. So it makes the day a little more exciting for the two of them. I was up at 5:30 this morning, fed Maya and got her settled back down to sleep. Woke up Abby and helped Mike get her ready to head out the door, kissed them both good bye and headed back to bed myself. I had decided to quit giving myself such a hard time about sitter day and just catch up on my rest in the morning, do something productive in the afternoon. I had just managed to drift off to sleep when the screaming started across the hall. I headed back over and got her to take her sucky, settled back in bed and just as I drifted off she was up and screaming again. This time sucky wasn't cutting it. We ended up back down stairs on the couch. After some vigorous bouncing Maya slept fitfully, but only in my arms. To put her down, anywhere - her bed, stroller, swing or bouncy seat, was just asking for trouble. The house was a disaster area and my Mom and Eddie were coming for dinner. I had planned to make lasagna and I wondered how I'd manage to make it with Maya in my arms because it seemed that she was with me for the day.

She had her lunch bottle around noon and fell asleep. She seemed to be fast asleep so I placed her in her crib tightly bundled. Whie she had her cold she slept in her car seat, now she'll only sleep in her crib if I make her into a "baby burrito". I had planned on a loaf of fresh bread for dinner and had a small window in which to make it so it would be ready by dinner. That window was quickly closing. I was partially through layering the ingredients in the machine when the screaming began anew. I finished as quickly as I could, but by this time Maya had worked herself into quite a state. The bread was in the bread machine doing it's thing, but the shower I had planned was a no go. It was almost 2 in the afternoon and I was still in my jammies. Which isn't a horrible thing, I do love my jammies, but for some reason today it bothered me. I took one more shot at getting her to sleep. God must of had pity on me at that point because she slept. For the rest of the afternoon. In her crib. Without a peep. I got the house clean, me showered and dressed, lasagna made and even manage to sit down and relax for 10 minutes.

I just figured today was a case of rotten luck. I mean babies will have fussy days. Maya's just so happened to be today, the day her sister goes to the sitters so I can have a bit of a break. That's nothing but a coincidence. That's what I thought until Abby came home and high fived Maya. They thought I wouldn't notice, but I did. I noticed that and the winks they exchanged as I told their father about what a rough day Maya had. Can't wait to see what they're going to come up with next. Some of their previous attacks have been genius. Read on.

We had Abby's apple pie tonight. Which tasted delicious despite the fact that Abby filled the bowl of apples up with water while I was rolling out pastry dough. You see when Abby started to get bored with the process I gave her a bowl of water and some measuring cups to play with. So while I rolled out pie dough she was quietly filling my mixing bowl up with water. Now in that bowl was my sliced apples, flour, cinnamon and sugar. I now had cinnamon water soup with apple chunks in it. Figuring I had nothing to lose I drained the "soup", rinsed off the apples and mixed it up again.

Tomorrow is our first art project day, if I get any sleep that is. Maya is sleeping now, but fitfully again. If I'm going to let Abby have access to paints, it's probably a good idea if I'm alert. I think I'm going to have Mike start picking me up some RedBull.