Week in Review

I am struggling to make time for writing. And when I can make time, I am incoherent. So I thought I would just write a list of the things I can remember from the past week. These are in no particular order, and this only includes what I can get written before everyone wakes up. (Highlight 1: I crept out of bed without waking up Natalia!)

Michael pooped on the potty! Yes, I did actually write that. If he were a girl, there is a chance that that phrase alone would cause death by embarrassment. But as a holder of the "Y" chromosome, I am guessing that is something to be shouted from the rooftops. And it's huge. By finally getting everything in the potty, Michael was able to spend ALL DAY yesterday in big boy underwear. (aka his "tightie cartoonies") He wore underwear to the grocery store. And to take a nap. And he was accident free all day!

Natalia started really walking this week. She actually started taking steps...she is the fourth child so I must check the calendar and due some math...January 5. (Wow! It's been that long? I really should keep up with these things!) And that was cute. She started by walking backwards, but found first gear that night. She wasn't walking much, and it was a week later that I came home from work and the kids were all excited to tell me she had started walking. That was when THEY finally saw her take a step. But that's all it was, just steps here and there. Then a week ago, she started regularly taking about six steps at a time, but she still wasn't walking much because she can just crawl so blasted fast. But this week she decided to walk, all the time, everywhere. And now we have this little zombie person tottering around. It is fun to watch, and we are all a bit confused by it.

In other news, Natalia slept in her crib this week! Yes, really! Not all night, and certainly not through the night, but hey. We have to start somewhere. I will settle for being able to roll over in bed for at least a little while each night.

Ree turned 5 1/2 this week, and she did not like the fact that Jeff pointed that out to her. Our little teenager is very weirded out by things that are different that are not her idea. Someone told me when she was itty bitty that the "terrible twos" and other crazy personality changes happen on the birthdays and half birthdays. As always, she has been reading the calendar. Thankfully, the kids are big enough that we can split up a bit, so she was able to have a daddy-daughter with Jeff yesterday which got her away from everyone else and some extra attention. And one of these days, she will miraculously be our wonderful, sweet girl again.

I have nothing to say about Leon. Really. He's had a good week. Yesterday I took the kids grocery shopping while Jeff was running other errands. When we got back, Leon looked at Jeff, smiled, and said, "I'm having a good day!" And he was. He's been in a good place lately. He cries at bedtime, but not even as much as usual, and that's about the only problem from him. He helps pick up, and he has been great about making sure all the dirty laundry, even clothes that are not his, end up in the hamper.

The dogs, yup, they are still around, are stressed. Well, Max is stressed, and that might be what is making Pru stressed. We are still trying to unravel this one, but we think they are just done with the insanity that is our house. Plus, because our house is so insane, I have only been able to walk them a couple of days a week lately so they are bored and lacking exercise. And...

DRAMA!