Morning

Today was one of those mornings when I was truly so thankful to be a mommy. Weekday mornings are usually a frenzied and frankly semi-nightmarish experience, what with trying to get kids fed, ready for school and out the door in a somewhat reasonable timeframe while simultaneously trying to get parents showered, dressed and ready for the day. The last week has been even worse since Chase has decided to get six teeth all at one time. To say he has not been sleeping well would be an understatement, and he (well, all of us, really) has been extremely grouchy as a result of the lack of sleep and general irritation getting six teeth at once brings. There has been a lot of crying (both boys), a lot of screaming (Chase), a lot of sighing (Casey and me), with some attitude problems thrown in (all of us).

I leave you with that background so you can understand the complete shift in the air this morning. First of all, Chase slept through the night for the first time in days. He woke up pleasant and talking to himself in his crib. Then, he let me get him dressed without having a complete meltdown. He giggled a lot. He talked up a storm. Not that we haven't seen glimpses of all of these things during this excruciating teething process, but they have come in bits and pieces speckled throughout long days of aggravation and it was so nice to see all of them together in a 5 minute time-span first thing this morning.

As is typical on a Thursday morning, Casey and I were supposed to have an early morning meeting at work. With that in mind and with both boys mercifully still sleeping, we rushed to get ready for work. As Casey was hurrying out the door, he picked up his phone only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. With extra time on our hands for a change, Casey decided to take Riley to get his haircut while I waited on Chase to wake up. By the time Chase was up and I had enjoyed more of his cheerful company than I'd realized, Riley's haircut was complete. Chase and I met Casey and Riley in the parking lot at the barber shop and the three of us watched as Chase took his turn getting his hair cut. We were still a little ahead of schedule as we made our way out of the barber shop. Casey had to head to work but I took the opportunity to take the boys to Dunkin' Donuts for our traditional post-haircut treat. It was there that a true miracle occurred: both boys sat in their seats, smiled, behaved, were polite (Riley), didn't throw food (Chase) and were generally wonderful to be around. We spent at least 30 minutes watching cars go by, talking to other people enjoying their morning coffee, and eating our donuts. It was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to not rush them along and just enjoy their company on a weekday morning. It was also the first time in awhile that I felt like I had it all together as a mom.

I would be curious to know if the morning was a success because it was not rushed or if it was because Chase's happy disposition has returned or if it was because this morning was the first morning in months where the air was cool and crisp and not humid and overwhelming, or if it perhaps was a little bit of all of those things, but whatever the cause, I am thankful and happy to have spent a morning with two delightful little boys.

Running Buddy

Oh teeth, how I wish you would all just break through already. I want my happy baby and good sleeper back!!! Last night was a brutal night of sleep. Chase spent two and a half hours straight crying, screaming and tossing and turning in his crib. Poor little guy was so uncomfortable and absolutely nothing I did to calm him down worked. I held him, I rocked him, I rubbed his back, I bicycled his legs, I talked to him. He was having none of it. It was almost like having a newborn all over again, except possibly worse because his crying is SO MUCH louder and more agonizing now.

So when he woke up early this morning screaming uncontrollably, I was not exactly bright and chipper, not that I am generally bright and chipper in the morning anyway. Not wanting him to wake up the entire household (Riley had been up late by his standards having a playdate with some friends and Casey had been up extremely late by anyone's standards at the Bears-Panthers game in Charlotte), I decided to pluck Chase out of his crib and get him out of the house quickly. Holding a large, squirmy baby while changing my clothes, pouring a glass of milk and putting on my shoes proved to be a challenge, but I succeeded to do all of the above and get him out the door without him crying.

It was a hot, humid North Carolina morning as we made our way down the driveway. I am completely out of shape, not that it would matter in conditions such as those, but for the next 48 minutes (who's counting) I ran around our neighborhood and Graylyn pushing my sleepy little guy in his stroller trying to coax him back to sleep. Sleep did not happen, but something equally as amazing did: I actually enjoyed this early morning exertion. And Chase seemed to love watching the sun rise, listening to the birds chirp and the cicadas hum, and taking in all of the people and places we encountered. We saw other early morning runners, people walking their dogs, dads pushing their also-tired babies in strollers (must be that Saturday mornings are for mommies to sleep in???), fountains at Graylyn and cats on the prowl.

Don't get me wrong, given my preference at 6:30 in the morning, I'd probably choose to be snug in my bed, but this was a pretty nice alternative. For both of us.