Timmy's Second Tooth and Finally Finishing Candy Land!

After yesterday's early rise and both the twins falling asleep in the afternoon (I couldn't wake Landon up until after 6 - he slept for 4 hours!), neither of them went down before 9:00 last night but Trevy actually asked me to take her to bed and was out the minute her head hit the pillow.

We had planned on meeting some friends at the splash park at 11:00.  The place was packed when we got there.  And hot again.  Just have to throw that in there.  It was sweltering.  If it weren't for not wanting to punish my kids and resolve them to being confined at home all summer long, I think I would be more than content to just stay indoors during most of the daylight hours.  If you've never lived in Arizona, during the summer the sun comes up sometime between 5 and 5:30 and it's pleasant.  By 7 you can already feel the heat and by 10:00 you wonder if it's possible to be any hotter. 

We weren't able to locate our friends and a couple of texts later I learned that they had had a few rough nights and weren't able to make it.  Fine by me.  The kids showed absolutely no interest in getting in the water (although they did force me into a bathroom break, always fun) and Timmy had fallen asleep in the car so I offered to take them over to Melissa's pool instead and they were all over that one.  Noon is not the best time to be outside.  There is minimum shade and maximum heat.  And, of course, everyone needs innertubes, towels, beach balls thrown back in...and it would break my heart to torture Timmy and have him just watch from my lap the entire time so I try to make sure I get his legs in the water once or twice.  But, man, that heat saps my energy fast.  Usually the kids don't last more than an hour either.

James had another project this morning, so I brought the kids home, got lunch - Timmy ate a whole hot dog and a half! - and I asked the kids what they wanted to do, throwing out some options.  Candy Land won.  Callie wanted to play Starfall so I set her up and then got out the game board for Trevy, Landon and myself.  To date, we have yet to finish a game.  (And you thought Monopology was long...)

Usually, the kids pick out a random spot on the trail that matches the color they've drawn or (mostly Trevy here) they go through the stack and search for all the character cards.  Landon, however, was very intent today and I think he's almost to the point where he can play the game by himself without needing me to name colors and help him match them.  He seems to understand the concept of going in order on the trail.  Even though he didn't win every time, he seemed to just really enjoy playing the game.  And it was really fun to play with him.  Such a momentous occasion!  I have had a hard time being patient during teaching times when game pieces aren't played with properly in spite of perpetual instruction.  I still draw the line at having cards and pawns go flying across the room, but I think Landon is going to keep playing the "real" way now.

They helped James unload the car and work in the yard a bit when he got home.  Then we got the kids ready for bed early tonight - could have even put them down at 7 - but it was so hot (did I mention it's really hot here?) it felt mean to put them to bed early when their room is normally the warmest in the house.  (Except in the winter.)

During bathtime, James was playing with Timmy and Timmy started spinning for him.  It's the cutest thing to watch him dig his heels in to turn around.  He's really good at it.  And pretty fast!

So we let everyone play until 8.  No naps today so there wasn't much of a fight on anyone's part to go to bed.  Except Timmy's.  Tooth number two - the other lower incisor (left) - made its appearance today.  I think he may have been running a low fever (could also have been the heat - did I mention it's really hot here?) and had a touch of diarrhea so his bum was a bit raw.  Between the two, I think he was hurting a little and needed some extra snuggles.  Happy to oblige. ☺

While James and the other kids were outside, Timmy and I played ball on the living room floor and he gave me a repeat of yesterday's belly laughs.  (Somehow, the PMV got misplaced.  I have to find it so I can get some real sound on one of these recordings!  At least we're eligible to order another one next week if we can't find it this weekend.)

After wearing himself out laughing, Timmy just threw the balls and I caught this one hitting the other one on film!

I will admit that I have slacked on putting the moisture collar on him at night for a little while.  It's noisy, it's a tube just waiting to trip someone and, should the water run dry or the nebulizer bottle stop nebulizing without me noticing, it creates the problem it's designed to prevent - a dry trach.  However, tonight I was happy to resume the practice.  As hot as it is (let's not beat a dead horse, shall we?), I'm hoping the cool mist will help Timmy sleep easier.