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While the cat's away...

Three children are impossible to keep track of with only one Mama. (OK, any number of children can get into trouble in any amount of time...)

1. Today we got a box containing wrapped Christmas presents. Amanda started to pull off the tape for the box, so I opened it and explained that they were Christmas presents, for Christmas. I then tried to put one of the presents up on the high shelf where they await Christmas day, and by the time I got back, Amanda had unwrapped the other present... She didn't see what was in the box, I think, and it was a present for her. However, I think there is a disconnect between what I thought I was telling her and what she understood.

2. While I was trying to put Luke down for a nap this afternoon (he didn't go to sleep, but he did take a 2.5 hour nap this morning) Eleanor got something sticky in her hair. I still don't know what was in her hair, but she fixed it by taking the scissors and cutting out a hunk of bangs. I came down and noticed that she looked different and figured out what happened.

As I was looking at her, I realized that I had a hard time being too upset with her. She is blissfully unaware that she looks very silly, and she isn't fazed by our taking away her scissors for a while. It just doesn't seem right to punish her harshly when all it does is make me laugh. (At least we already had the pictures taken...)

3. Luke has a slightly harder time getting into trouble, since I'm mostly right near him. However, he is very quick! Today at dinner he reached out of his high chair to the table and grabbed a big piece of apple that I had been eating. He started chewing on it, and since I was right there, I decided to let him give it a shot. He actually ate quite a bit, using only his front 3 teeth, tongue and gums. If anyone thinks this is not impressive, I challenge you to try eating apple without using any of your back teeth.
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