Row, Row, Row.... Your Shoes

Griffin loves to line things up! He is such a typical firstborn. He used to go into his toy room and get depressed because nothing had a place, and even though there were plenty of buckets to put things in, he had no idea where to begin putting things away. So I attacked the room with the label-maker and now everyting has its place. He knows just where everything goes. I can hand him any toy in the room and he runs right to where the bucket is, even though he can't read. Even I still can't remember where half of the buckets are, but he has them memorized. Yes, he'll be our little organizer, I have a feeling! Today he pulled all of the shoes out of the hall closet (which reminds me that I need to put a child safety handle on that door since he also LOVES to take out my Swiffer and spray cleaner on the floor). He took them into the family room and lined them all up along the edge of the coffee table. I'm pretty sure that some of them went under the couch, so I'm sure we'll be digging them out soon, but it was so cute that I had to let him have his fun.

I decided that today I was going to let Sammy have all the holding time he wanted. Whenever he started following me around, I picked him up and snuggled with him until he was ready to get down and chase Griffin again. I made simple meals that didn't require much prep work (tuna casserole for lunch, and Kashi's Sweet and Sour Chicken (my favorite frozen dinner) for supper since Mike worked late today (I didn't make baked potatoes like I told Bonnie I was going to, I changed my mind -- imagine that!), and just let him have his fill of Mama time. I found that I actually got more done today than usual, too, since I had to make better use of the time I had. For some reason if I see a whole day stretched out in front of me with no interruptions, I tend to wait until the last minute and then try to get everything done... and the interruptions inevitably happen anyway. But if I plan on being interrupted and begin my day realizing how little time I actually have to get my household work done, I do much better at accomplishing what needs to be done. For instance, today, even though I spent so much time with Sammy, and the boys only took one hour-long nap, I got eight loads of laundry done and two dishwasher loads, picked up the downstairs and swept the wood floor. I am impressed with myself. I think another reason I got so much done is because Sammy wasn't hanging on my legs all day wanting to be held. If I satisfy him when I know he wants me, he leaves me alone for 10-15 minute periods here and there, which is when I squeezed all of my chores in. I also didn't hear all of the whining and crying that usually goes on when he wants my attention. I was prepared for every feeding, diaper changing, playtime, and his nap, all because I sensed it before it became a huge issue that I had to deal with after he exploded because he needed it RIGHT NOW!!!

Oprah had a lady on her show today who has a photographic memory for sound and when she had a baby, learned to recognize the sounds her baby made and realized that other babies all made the same sounds. She has made a DVD which isn't available until late November (dang it!) that has these 5 sounds on it. Babies actually DO talk to us, we just don't realize it. Of course, these sounds usually only go on until the baby is 3 months old or so, so they wouldn't work for Sammy, but wouldn't that be a cool "new-mommy" present? Here you go, now you can understand your baby! How sweet is that?

There was a creepy-looking guy who rang the doorbell at about 5:30 tonight. He took one look at Gordon, who was desperately trying to get out the door to lick this guy and wag his tail and prove just how much of a guard dog he ISN'T, and backed down the front steps. He said he was from Econo Lube 'N Tune or something down the street, and asked me where we get our cars' oil changed. I told him my husband does it, and he says "Oh yeah?" and looked really surprised. Then he says, get this, "And is your husband home right now?" and all of my years of babysitting training flew right out of my head and I told him no, that he wasn't home, and then had a brief instant of sheer panic when I realized what I had just told him, and quickly followed that with "But he's going to be home any minute now!" He says "Okay, well, I'll just come back by in a little while".

I am totally freaked out at this point, so I called Mike and told him what had happened. It always calms me down to talk to him! Anyway, I went around and closed all of the blinds and turned off the outside light (sorry if it was turned off when you came home tonight, Babe!). He must have gotten the point, because he didn't come back. Or maybe Gordon scared him off. Either way, I was very relieved. I wasn't going to open the door for him a second time!

Oh! I almost forgot. Griffin knows most of his ABC's, and he can count to 10 (even though his 10 sounds more like a 2). He sang almost the whole ABC song on Sunday without help! I was blown away. I have a smart son! :)