Much better today

We seem to have cleared a few of the hurdles set up in the past few weeks and days; not necessarily permanently, but I'll happily take what I can get! Julia not only stayed in her bedroom all night, but she also got right in the pool with no fuss this morning. Then, after we grocery shopped, I was attempting to put both the flour and molasses up in the cabinet above the stove, which is a little too high for a shrimp like me to reach. The end result was the bag of flour knocking the molasses out of the cabinet, where it hit the sugar bowl on its way crashing down to the counter, and suddenly there was sugar EVERYWHERE. So I had to abandon my putting away of the groceries to start vacuuming up sugar, and consequently, Julia took over putting the groceries away. Complete with comments like, "Mama, do you know why I'm putting the groceries away? Because... you're busy, and so I'm being busy, because you're cleaning up the mess, and so I'm being your helper. Mama, can you believe I know where this goes?" And, with the exception of the raspberries I discovered in the pantry this evening, she really did know where to put everything. To finish off the day, we went for a family jog with Ethan pushing the kids in the jogging stroller and me feeling exhausted and rotten for the majority of the run. When we got home, I was pooped out, sitting on our door stoop, while Ethan got the kids out of the stroller. Julia traipsed over and plopped down next to me, saying, "Mama, I KNOW it will make your life better to have me sitting here with you." Well put!

Madeleine, for her part, has played quite independently today rather than fussing to be held, although her method of playing basically consisted of stuffing Cartacarizza (and various other Little People figurines) halfway down her throat: