a blunderful day

Just when I thought I was getting used to a new routine, I got a blunderful day. It all started at 12:01am when Griffin decided to change his outfit. Well, maybe it started before that... he's been waking up a few times a night all week. I think it started from his stomach pains, then his body just got used to waking up in the middle of the night. So we've been working on teaching him, again, to sleep through the night... that is, by ignoring him, mostly. If he wakes up and cries, we'll check to see if there's a problem, and if not, just remind him it's sleepy time and walk out of the room. Apparently he's gotten used to that, so last night he woke up around 11:30 and just started playing quiely. He leafs through books, runs back and forth in his room, opens up his clothing drawer, oh, and decides to take off his pajamas and put on a wool sweater... with no shirt underneath. Isn't that itchy?
Well, then he was bored, and uncomfortable. Peed on the floor, and then started screaming "MOM!" The last few nights I didn't get out of bed for these shenanigans, but this time Rebecca didn't want to respond to him at all (sometimes we allow him to come lie in bed for a while, but then send him away as soon as he gets sleepy again). Not this time. But since we were now breaking the pattern, he was getting frustrated. And louder, and louder. He was being so persistent Zander and Callie were waking up.
Oh well, new pajamas, 5 minutes of timeout, and he was back to whispering. I put him back in bed and then Rebecca and I talked for a while about him...
Well, at 6:33 Rebecca grunted something like "iiih wuuggle umm". My circadian alarm didn't go off! Soooo frustrating. I missed my run. And even though I'd overslept by 90 minutes, I was still exhaused. Rebecca called out louder, "snuggle time!" and Callie came charging in to jump into our king-sized water bed. Recently it's been a race between her and Zander--they always want Mommy's side of the bed. Griffin and Zander were too tired to come right away...
So I didn't get out of bed until all the kids were dressed, I ate breakfast, and I remembered I had some paperwork to do--our winter vacation had to be paid for today. So I started working on it, and didn't understand all the french banking words on the online banking web site. It took me so long to translate, I missed my bus... and then when I went to wait for the next, it never showed. It was raining just a bit, there were two other people waiting too, and then I figured out why it didn't come: the bus drivers were on strike, and lots of bus lines were only running part-time today. Apparently mine wasn't running at all.
So I went back home to get a jacket, and walked to work. But the rain was so steady it went right through my jacket, and I was entirely soaked. (Aside from Rebecca here - we read each others blogs before publish - HELLO! If he would wear his waterproof winter jacket it wouldn't have been a problem - this guy doesn't wear a jacket at all most days (see how he had to come HOME to get his jacket - on a 40 degree rainy day at best estimate). People on the street comment on it - um, why don't you have a jacket???? André claims this is because his body has adjusted to his regular run uniform of t-shirt and shorts -he doesn't feel the cold. Of course, all the other runners I see this time of year have on long pants and often long sleeved shirts, ear warmers etc.... - they must not be trying hard enough (André's opinion) or maybe they just have brains in their heads!!! (Rebecca's opinion)) André wants me to put out another theory as long as we are tossing them out there - perhaps its the (1/4 to 1/8) Swedish blood that runs through his veins - they probably run around naked in the snow up there, right? Hey Martins - do you wear coats?? Do you get cold, in the winter??? Do you spend 10 years with a winter coat thats zipper does not function??? Do you get the idea that Rebecca does not buy this theory???

Back to André.... I felt exhausted all morning so I came home and ate lunch with Rebecca and the kids, and then had a nap. Hmm.... at least when you are having a bad morning in France, you can sleep it off.