Trooper

I've been in a weird mood this week.  I can't pinpoint it and I'm not sure why, but I've just felt stressed and rushed and frazzled.  It might be the fact that the weather around here this week has been dreadful.  Not really rainy, and not really sunny, just gloomy.  It might also be the fact that starting first thing Monday morning we do NOT stop the crazy schedule until Friday afternoon.  It's wearing me out and while I don't regret the schedule I planned for our weeks, I think it's going to take me a few weeks to get adjusted.  It sure was nice to come home this afternoon after Handley's gymnastics class, sit on the couch and just watch the kids play.  The girls and I changed into "comfy clothes" and enjoyed our afternoon at home.  After I soaked up having all three kids playing together in the living room we made our way upstairs where the kids played, and played, and played in the playroom and I got tons of stuff done.

The girls relaxing and writing in their notebooks.

 I thought for sure that Hudson would be cranky this evening, but he was till going strong at 7:30 when I declared that he must go to bed.  He only had one nap today, and that only lasted about 30 minutes tops in the car mid-morning.  Thursdays are tough because he doesn't get an afternoon nap since Handley has gymnastics right after school. I kept thinking he might nod off in the car again late this afternoon, but he was so happy to have both of his big sisters beside him, that he was all smiles and squeals.

He is a trooper.  He could be unhappy to be dragged around to school drop-off, pick-ups, gymnastics, etc., but he LOVES it.  Granted, it's all he knows, but he makes the most of each situation and does it with a huge smile on his face.

At pre-school drop-off he immediately wiggles out of my arms and crawls around everyone's feet as we wait for the hallway doors to open at 9 AM.  He soaks in the attention from his sisters trying to show him off.

Running errands with me he smiles, waves, and "sings" for all the people around us to hear.  When he tires of that and his snacks, he moves on to grabbing for anything within reach and then somehow manages to wiggle out of the seat belt on the shopping carts and stands up, daring me with a grin to tell him to sit back down on his bottom.

Lunch today was fun because we met some friends and he was entertained by all of his friends.  He was happy until they all were able to get down and start walking around and he wasn't able to get down and crawl.

Next we rushed off to pick up Harper and then went to the nearby playground until it was time to get Handley.  He was SO excited and because it has a rubber ground and I didn't have to worry about him crawling on wood chips, he had free reign.  He crawled around that playground, through the tunnels and face first down the mini-slide as fast as he could.  He basically toppled off the end of the slide every time, but he thought it was the greatest thing ever.

He wasn't thrilled when it was time to leave and pick up Handley, but when he realized we got to go back in the school (meaning he could get down and crawl around) he was happy and immediately found the cubbies in the hallway to pull in and out of their spots.

At gymnastics he entertained himself by snacking and playing with his toys.  Then he quickly found the older girls sitting near us who were waiting on their class to begin.  They were doting all over him and he was LOVING it.  He can certainly turn on the charm, when he wants too.

One other cute and funny thing he does now is say "MMmmmm!!!" When he likes eating something.  He is really animated about it and acts as if he is howling as he gives a big MMmmm!  So funny!

Doing his howling Mmmm after eating something yummy. 

The girls both have had fantastic weeks at school.  Handley got to bring the "All About Me" bag home so she was able to put in a few items from home to share with her friends to tell about herself.  That also meant she got to be "interviewed" in front of the class by her teacher and got to be the line-leader, which, as you can imagine, is a VERY big deal.

Harper also got to be one of the "helpers" in her class on Wednesday.  She was thrilled to tell me she got to pass out cups for snack-time, be the line-leader, hold the American flag for the Pledge of Allegiance, and sit at the special helper table.