Anyway, I'd planned on a quiet shabbos of cheerios and um, cheerios. Don't take pity on me for two reasons: 1. I was all about it, and 2. I ended up having company for dinner and going out for lunch so it didn't happen anyway.
beckyfeld called me mid-week and told me that osewalrus was in Brussels, and that the entire Feld clan (her in-laws) were descending upon her in his absence. Nevermind that Saturday was her birthday, but Harold's parents were down for some law thing, Harold's brother Bill was down for the weekend, and Harold's brother Shmuel (and wife and son) moved down here (for good) on Thursday. Whew! So, um, yeah. I quickly looked through my freezer and cupboards and made a quick call to my mom to find out if she could come over and entertain Julian Friday while I cooked after work (she was, indeed, available). Furthermore, leahmiriam generously offered to make a potato kugel for us (hooray!). Shmuel had made other arrangements, but I did have Bill, Becky, Aaron, and Harold's parents. And I'm so glad I did. I never thought it was possible to find any parents as delightful as beckyfeld's parents, but every time I see Harold's parents, I find them every bit as lovely as Becky's. Julian went to bed around 8:30, having refused to eat dinner until 8pm. Becky & Co. arrived sometime after 9 and Julian, apparently, was still awake, and started screaming when he heard voices in the living room. This is atypical for him... usually he falls right to sleep and nothing wakes him until morning. I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but he screamed even louder, so I let him out of his room. The poor sleepy boy was exhausted but had no desire to be sleeping. I finally coaxed him into bed around 10:15, just after the soup course. ARGH! He has NEVER stayed up that late!!
Anyway, I served a simple meal, but it was, I'm told, tasty. We had:
All in all, a terrific meal (though my kitchen is still a certified disaster. That's okay...it was worth it.
Saturday, Julian woke around 5, but I gave him a little water and he went right back to sleep until 8:30 or 9!! Unbelievable! Of course, I paid the price for that later... He and I played here in the house a bit, but he was too cranky to go outside (who woulda thunk this kid would EVER not want to go outside??). So we read books and played with blocks until I finally convinced him to let me put clothes on him, and we walked down to the Feld's for lunch. Another lovely meal with lovely company. And Julian managed to make it all the way through! Hooray for him! We came home around 2:00 and he went down for a nap by 2:30. Hooray. Unfortunately, I fell asleep around 4 (accidentally), and though I woke up a few times, I was completely unaware of the time until I heard him cry at 6:30!!! Ack. I never would have purposely let him take a four hour nap. But I looked in his room and it wasn't like he had been awake for an hour... he was still curled up in bed, obviously having just woken up...mostly. He was still cranky, yawny, and exhausted, and curled up in my lap for about an hour before he decided it would be okay to proceed with his day. He ate a very small dinner, but yawned through the entire thing, so I put him to bed at 8:15. It's not unusual for him to go to sleep at a normal time even if he wakes up very late from a nap. But, alas, it didn't work. He started SCREAMING at 8:30. So I went in and picked him up and he looked SO SCARED! I wonder what spooked him, but he was definitely scared and not just sad. I put him back in bed and sang to him and left the room. All was quiet, but fifteen minutes later, he got out of bed, and cried at his door. I let it go for about 10 minutes and then I heard him walk back to bed and crawl in. I thought he was finally asleep, but at 9:15 or so, he got out of bed AGAIN and screamed at his door for 10 minutes until I went and put him back in bed. I know he really wanted out, but if I keep letting him out when he screams, he'll learn that it's the key to getting out. I heard the last peep from him at 9:30, and nothing more until 6:15 this morning.
Today, his Grandpa is coming to take him to his swim lesson and then (hopefully) Julian and I are both going to see
have_inner_lady and predigested (and their son). If Julian (like last week) conks right out after his swim lesson, I'll probably leave him with my mother, but still go out myself. I really want to see them!Now I must go find Julian's swim suit...
