The Castle Ahhhhhhhhhh

Today Andrew and I ventured out and visited dear Emily and her twin girls, Thelma* and Louise*. The idea was that Em and I were going to get a friend's mission letter ready for mailing while our babies laughed and played and read each other stories, but there were other forces at work. While I was warming carrots and Em was folding a blanket, Louise quickly tapped out a message to the others on her tambourine, "The Big Ones have let their guard down. How can we best play with their minds?" Andrew blew bubbles that spelled out, "Refuse nap and freak out." I think he could smell the carrots, vindictive little creature.

In the end, somehow Emily managed to fold all 150 letters while also preparing meals for her girls and soothing pitiful cries. I sat in a chair and watched her. Since Andrew had come up with the "freak out" bit of the plan, he felt he should do it with all his might. When I finally got him to drift off, I was afraid to move, so I sent Emily helpful vibes. I know she appreciated it.

Taking one for the team, Andrew continued to freak out sporadically throughout the day. In truth, I'm quite baffled. Normally he's an extrodinarilly laid back, happy guy, but three times today, out of the clear blue, he started bawling his eyes out. Every trick in my bag failed to appease him - most actually made him cry harder - all except one. Food. Nursing him was the only thing that calmed him, even when it was hours from his normal meal time. And then he was just fine and dandy. It was all very, very strange. As I mentioned in my last post, the baby plague is roaming about, so I got anxious (my favorite thing) and called the doctor. You know what they told me? "He's probably hungry." Funny doctor.

And maybe they're right. TCBITW has been doing all kinds of new things just in the last couple weeks. He started rolling from back to tummy, then only a few days later I find him pulling his little knees up under himself and rocking like he wants to crawl. He's gotten extremely loquacious, going from howling vowel sounds to the much more sophisticated "babababa" and "lalalalala". He's almost sitting up by himself and has become completely obsessed with drinking water out of my cup. Perhaps he's also hit some massive growth spurt and needs to eat every 90 minutes. I half expect to find a 5'9" baby in the crib tomorrow.

In closing I must humbly thank my friend Amelia for the absolutely beautiful quilt she made for My Precious. I love it!!! Just look at the bunnies! I cannot, in my wildest imaginings, figure out when she had time to do this. This woman is currently working as a nurse - full time, night shift - is the mother of a busy toddler - no nannie or day care - and is in her third trimester of a twin pregnancy. She's quilting for friends. I'd be sqatting in a dark corner, rocking and humming "Tainted Love" while waiting for the nice men in white jackets.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.