Ghost Baby (spoooooooky) and more

I'm smiling. And that's amazing.

I've abandoned my kids. And that's misleading.

We have a ghost baby in our house. And that's (not quite) true.

I bet you're most concerned about the second statement, so I'll start there. My kids are in their room, and I'm in our room. After #1 would not nap as much as he truly, truly needed in order to be happy and well rested . . . and after he didn't let #2 go down for a nap . . . oh let me back up. I picked Mas up at school today, and he had unusual behavior in that he threw a mini-fit for me on the floor while whining. He is pretty darn perfect at school (though not at home, obviously), so this is strange. I realized that he needed to go to bed as soon as he got home, and I made sure that happened. Well where he needed to sleep all afternoon, he took an even shorter nap than usual. I made several attempts to soothe him back into sleep. No luck, still stuck. (That is from the book One Duck Stuck. You know it's bad when you're quoting books that have less than 50 words in them.)

Then I put #2 down. She cried for a minute then quieted. Silly me for thinking that was because she had gone to sleep.

As everyone who knows him knows, Mas is quite intrigued (fascinated, obsessed) with all things construction machinery. They are making (leveling, paving) a street behind our house, so he gets to watch exciting things like shovels, forklifts, and bulldozers every day. In the past two days, he has been fortunate enough to see (and clearly identify for his uneducated parents) a motor grader and a cold planer. [See Mas with motor grader on left.] Pretty amazing. Well I looked out our window to see cement mixers pouring cement and some kind of machine following behind shaping it into the curb. I thought I would be nice and get Mas out while Shaifali was sleeping to show him. I went in, and there were all the blankets from the sides of her pack n play piled on the floor with all the sheets and blankets from his bed. She was smiling at him as he was talking to her and being silly on the outside. Oy.

So I did not tell him what was out there, nor did I permit him to come out. I simply closed the

door and walked away. Eventually I went back in to turn on the light, turn off the white noise machine, make sure Shaifali hadn't been piled on top of with toys, and just to play good parent for a minute. I also gave Shaifali a few toys so that she would be entertained. I told Mas that it was his job to play with his tractor and to make sure Shaifali was happy. Then I left again. [Poor Baby That One, a nickname that we have given her, has done nothing wrong.]

I started writing this and watching an episode of 16 and Pregnant. Don't you judge me!* Superdad is now home, so his shift has begun. I am still locked away.

The fact that I went and talked nicely and then walked away smiling is astounding, and I'm very proud of myself.

Now for Ghost Baby, whom I was planning to write about earlier today. You either know or can imagine how hard it is to feel rested when a baby wakes you up all night. Angel Puff--another name we sometimes call her--is an excellent sleeper and now wakes between 0 and 2 times per night to nurse and to be changed. She always goes right back to sleep too. But last night a baby woke us all night--it wasn't even our baby! If you watch Modern Family, you're familiar with baby monitors sharing frequencies so you hear people in your neighborhood. Well Ghost Baby must live somewhere around here. Ghost Baby woke us up all night!!!! Darn you, Ghost Baby! Go to sleep! What a wasted night and an "interesting" day.

*My love for all things on-screen involving teen pregnancy began when I was very young. When I was in fifth grade and wanted to watch For Keeps starring Molly Ringwald for my birthday sleepover, my parents let us. I like them for it. The parents in this uppity conservative family then labeled my parents as bad parents, not that they said it to their faces. Meanwhile, their poor daughter didn't know what a period was, and we were 10!!!!!!!! I educated her while we worked in the ball room (checking balls out to other kids to play with at recess). I think that her parents thought I was a floozy. Ha! Hello Robertson family!

Additionally: I feel that I have drifted far from poop. When was the last time I mentioned it? Well let me mention it now: Shaifali successfully poops in the toilet all the time now. We haven't changed a poopy diaper in a week and a half or so. When we put her on the toilet to pee, she poops if she needs to. Wooooohooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Even later addition: Mas continues his reign of terror, so I have resigned my position for the night. Superdad is close to resigning as well. If only there were a third, fourth, and fifth adult to pass the responsibility on to. Volunteers?