J the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, V Bad Day

Happy spring!  Isn't it amazing what coming out of "hibernation" can do for the body and soul?  And relationships?  It felt like we hadn't seen our neighbors in months, and now, we see them nearly every day!

Coming to you today to expand on what I originally intended to be a short Instagram post.  Not the first time I've had more words to share than I thought we appropriate for a caption.  

If you're familiar with the book the title of this post references, I'll tell you that Jacob's day on Monday may not have went down exactly like Alexander's, but I'm fairly certain he'd use the same adjectives to describe it.  It was truly the worst day of his life...in my memory, at least.  To be fair, there may have been worse days very early on that I've either forgotten due to the he-can-do-no-wrong newborn phase or due to mom-brain.  

Either way, Monday was a day like no other, for him (and therefore, me).  For at least 50% of his awake, non-eating time, he was whining/crying/lamenting and inconsolable.  Usually, if I ask him what's wrong (Are you hurt?  Are you sad we left the park?  Did you want that toy instead of this one?), he'll stop crying at least long enough to say "Yes," if not longer, to hear me out and make a plan to make it better.  On this terrible day, though, everything was wrong and nothing was fixable.  We even ran and errand and went to the park, and while these outings provided a bit of reprieve, it was short-lived.  (For example, while we were are the park, he simultaneously wanted to stay there and go home...)

This unexplained behavior/emotional roller coaster of a day left me feeling baffled and exhausted.  I didn't say as much to anyone while it was happening (mostly because I was trying to appease the unappeasable kiddo and/or trying to get anything else done), but I'd filled Bryant in a bit.  When he came home and saw things hadn't gotten better after naptime, he promptly sent me out of the house.  I had planned to run some errands after he got home that evening, but he told me to be sure to get supper while I was out doing those, and generally, take some time to myself.

I enjoyed a lovely meal - outside!
SPIN Pizza had sent a triple-points promotion I didn't think I'd be able to take advantage of, but I did!  You know how I love to take advantage of a deal. 
It was delicious and wonderful.

While I didn't think my time away was necessarily necessary, Bryant (once again) knew me better than I knew myself.  I needed quiet and peace and stillness.  I needed be able to relax and know someone else was in charge of J for a bit.  I needed to receive their videos where both said they loved me (J's was unprompted and included a blown kiss).  I needed to come home to find a tiny garbage truck, which I knew was requested (because they're currently J's favorite vehicle), drawn complete with details I would've never thought to include.

Driving down the road to pick up those two trash bags, of course.

As usual, I do not intend to brag, though my amazing hubby deserves to be bragged about. Rather, I just want to be transparent share this "low" among so many "highs" that come across our feeds.  Jacob really has been a pretty easy kiddo thus far, and people often comment on how happy and easy-going he is, and he IS.  He has his not-so-happy moments, though, and apparently, days, as well.

(While we're on the subject of transparency: Jacob has also developed a grabbing/pinching habit...both at home and at library storytime.  At home, I can react and correct, as needed, but it's so hard to know how to break him of this habit in public.  He doesn't do it hard enough to hurt anyone at the library, so those kiddos just look at him like, "Hey, man - what are you doing?!"  By the time I notice and get to him to tell him "No," the moment has passed, and he doesn't necessarily have any visible remorse.  We practice gentle touches both in and out of context (immediately after an incident, as well as unrelated to one), and we talk through how we should treat people (even by name) SO often.  I'm having a hard time not being self-conscious about it, and I struggle to remember this behavior is not a reflection on me or our parenting.  Of course, we're not telling him to grab people and/or pull hair - quite the opposite, in fact.  It's just his way of acting out/testing boundaries, at the moment, and I feel bad it is sometimes at the expense/discomfort of others.)

Anyway, the next day, he was almost completely back to his normal, mostly-agreeable, happy self (which I quickly realized I often take for granted).  We went to CFA for some free breakfast, and even saw a (green!) garbage truck in action while we were there.  The day was not without some tears and whines, but it was definitely more normal for us both, and for that, I was very grateful.

My CFA date. ♥
He was up for taking a picture, but apparently, was going for the "16-yr.-old after mom's already taken 473 pictures" look.
I showed him the picture and asked where his smile was... 

...and he voluntarily went back and tried again.
☺

I just couldn't pass up this jacket for $3 at a consignment sale last season.
Also, he chose to wear his church shoes, rather than his every-day tennies. ♥

Thanks for letting me safely share all of this.  I realize this kind of day may be the norm for some kiddos (with or without behavioral diagnoses) and probably seems trivial for those who are dealing with children's health issues, etc.  Some of you may be thinking "He's almost two - this is just the beginning of the "Terrible Two's," of course."  For us, though, this was an uncharacteristically bad day, and again, I wanted to share about it out of appreciation for my husband AND in an effort to keep it real up in here.  😉

With greater distance from the end of my rope than two days ago,
Kensy
😉

Favorites of the day:

open windows

new friends

...especially ones who bring you little tiny cinnamon rolls...

...and sweet primrose plants...because she knows you love little things.

This face.
(Brought to you by a fun egg decorating contraption Bryant's family brought on their recent (super fun) visit).

Glasses and Ponytail

Coming to you live from nap time!  So, this one is gonna be short and sweet. ☺

Jacob's latest favorite thing is my glasses.  I don't know when or how the obsession started.  I don't know why he's so into them.  What I do know is that he says his word for them starting the moment I walk into his room in the morning.  I also know he's talking about them throughout each day, whether I have them on or choose to wear my contacts.  If I'm wearing my contacts and we're home, he sometimes goes to our room to the place where the glasses are to ask me to put them on.  If we're out and about, he asks where they are (if I'm wearing contacts) or comments on them (if I'm wearing them).

The kicker?  After saying his word for them, he often makes the sound I make when I'm prepping them to be wiped off.  You know, the "h" sound you make when you're huffing on them to fog them up before cleaning them?  He makes that sound at any mention of glasses - whether he's the one doing the mentioning or he hears someone else say the word.  Again, I don't know how or when this started; only that, apparently, I clean them often...probably because someone is always getting tiny fingerprints on them...

The boy also loves when I have my hair in a ponytail.  I can't remember when this obsession started, either, but I'm pretty sure it was several months ago.  He loves to play with my ponytail.  He looks for it when my hair is down.  He gets excited when he sees me putting in a hair tie.

The reason I'm sharing these quips, other than their obvious adorableness, is this:

If I'm in "glasses and ponytail" mode, it's probably because my hair is on day 2 or 3 and my eyes were too tired for contacts, which needless to say, usually means I'm not "feeling my look" as much as I could be.  But, in Jacob's tiny, sweet opinion, these are my best days!  He loves glasses days, and he loves ponytail days, and when they happen on the same day, he can't get enough of his mama (even more than usual).  On these days, when I'm potentially down on myself for not taking time to fix my hair or put on eye makeup, he's looking at me with so much joy and excitement.  

Please don't read into any of the self-image/vanity/whatever stuff that may be associated with this post.  My intention is not to fish for compliments or make you concerned about my own self-image.  I'm simply sharing this little nugget of a lesson I'm learning in motherhood that's probably bigger than I realize (or have time to write about, at the moment).  It just makes my heart happy, and I thought it might do you good to hear it, too.  To me, it is such a picture of the love God has for us, despite our "dirty hair" and "unconcealed faces," if you will.  ☺

I had intended to keep this all to myself and just post a picture of Jacob's outfit on Instagram, because I thought he was looking especially cute today, but instead, I'm writing this post and sharing a picture of us both.  ♥

And some of him, of course...

Enjoy the weekend, friends!

Out of time to come up with a witty salutation,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

those precious red baby Chucks

my trusty Norwex optic cloth (ha)

the super generous b-day gift from my in-laws - a Cricut!  (this is what my margin time has been devoted to, lately)