joys of motherhood: August

-As this month marked some big events and then the end of summer, we all got busy and we had lots of fun. I finally feel like I've pretty much got my feet under me being a mom of two, although it still gets crazy sometimes. I have good days and bad days... like everyone else. I told Paul that my life is in a constant state of being either in control or completely out of control but the time it takes to go from one or the other is about 2 minutes. That's about how long it takes for me to go from feeling good and everything's going great to both kids screaming and me wondering when it's naptime/bedtime/time for Paul to come home. Luckily all things are temporary and we flow back in control eventually.
-Caitlin has been playing with neighbor kids all the time. Which she LOVES. Those kids can wear her out and get her ready for a nap way better than i can!
-There is a delicate balance of energy usage for Caitlin in order to have a successful day: if she hasn't used up enough of her energy: she's cranky and doesn't want to take a nap. If she's used up too much: she's cranky and too tired to take a nap. It's all about using the right amount for a happy Caitlin, good nap and happy mom.
-Target was a little cursed for us this month. Not good trips there, not good kids and not good looks from surrounding people. Hopefully this will resolve quickly because we all know how much i love target.
-One night we were having a litte dance party and Paul was picking Caitlin up and dancing with her. She kept saying "baby! baby!"So we would pick Nolan up and dance with him two and all four of us were dancing but this didn't seem to be what she wanted. Finally we figured out that SHE wanted to dance with Nolan so we helped her hold him and she danced around with him. It was really cute.
-Caitlin is ALWAYS taking her shoes off. She knows she has to put them on to go outside so she will but then as soon as she gets outside or in the car she takes them off. It's a wonder we haven't lost any. Even the nursery leaders at church commented on how much she liked to take them off.
-One day I was consoling Nolan in car as he was screaming in his car seat (unfortunately pretty common) so i was saying "Nolan.. you're ok, you're ok Nolan..." and such and then I stopped. Right after I stopped Caitlin started saying "Nolan... oh day... oh day Nolan" in the same tone that I was. It was s cute to hear her try to console him.
-Caitlin is still pretty impossible to discipline. The only thing that will get her attention is having her go to her room. If she's bad she has to go in there with the door shut and stay in there by herself until I go in and talk to her and she says she's sorry (she only stays in for a few minutes) but this is the only thing i have found to work most of the time and when I say "do you need to go to your room?" she says no and will stop so i don't have to actually have her go in too often. Only problem is that this doesn't work if she's acting up in public because obviously her room isn't around. hmmm 

When it all comes down to it... i think i still have the cutest kids ever.