6:00 David calls from his room.

This is fabulous because normally he gets up an hour earlier. Not so fabulous are the three bad dreams Rose had. After repeated tuckings in, at 5:00 a.m. John went to sleep with her and she wriggles. So, he's not going to be able to let me go back to sleep at 7:00 the way we usually do.

David nurses, bangs his books around (he never really wants to read them), and we head downstairs before he wakes everybody.

I build a tower with the beautifully painted letter blocks; he crawls over to the t.v. and tries to grab the remote control, signing "phone! phone!" I haul him away from the t.v. which he has managed to turn on and hand him the broken remote. Not good enough.

6:45 breakfast

Today's fare: vanilla yogurt with rice cereal and olive oil, home cooked squash, banana, gluten-free cheerios, water, baby food jars of peas and chicken.

David sits in his high chair and complains about the options. I try to eat my cereal through the shrieking and tray pounding.

Eventually, we agree he should get down and play. I tidy up in a desultory fashion.

7:45 Rose shows up

Even better, she's fully clothed and in a decent mood. John's kind of dragging. Rose has her usual: gluten-free chocolate chip muffin, water, milk, o.j., vitamin and prune. I get a shower, David gets his diaper changed (don't you love that passive construction?), we ignore Rose's "I don't want to go to school" commentary.

8:45 I take Rose and David to school

Drop off goes really smoothly. I bump into Julia who signs Rose in for me. I find the lunch box we forgot last time. David looks pretty bleary eyed.

9:30 David falls asleep in the car and with John's help transfers to the crib.

I get an hour to go to the bathroom, write, tackle my five page long to-do list.

10:30 David stands at the crib clutching lion. I love that he loves lion.

We nurse and head out to the co-op.

11:45 we have a repeat of the shriek and eat diner

John helps get me my lunch. He's actually around, but he's on sabbatical. That means I try very hard to be on duty and let him get work done.

1:00 I wrestle David's diaper off and on

1:20 We stroll to the library, copy shop, and bank. I see lots of other parents doing the same thing. I get exercise. David seems intrigued.

2:00 nurse to sleep

Ooh, boy, the kid proceeds to sleep 2.5 hours. This is unheard of. I get a nap, prep the broccoli (my one contribution to the big birthday dinner), unload the dishwasher, tackle half an item on my to-do list, and get Rose.

4:15 Rose and I have the fastest pick-up ever.

We can spend up to an hour hanging out at school before she agrees to come home. This time it was all cupcakes and balloons, let's go!

4:45 the company arrives

We have 12 adults and 4 kids wearing party hats. I run out to the store to get balloons. David doesn't mind that I, mom, and Julia all take turns feeding him. John prepares a feast. David has a grand time with the shiny wrapping paper.

6:50 bath time

7:15 nurse to sleep

Yeah, right. Remember the 2.5 hour nap? Did I forget to mention the cupcake? That kid is not going down. We try quiet play in the bedroom. We try rummaging through his sister's drawers and grabbing for the electric cords. We try playing with the balloon.
We try twinkle twinkle.

8:00 toss in bed screaming

check in every 10, 15 minutes for more bouncing and singing

8:30 John closes the deal

8:40 concurrently we have been doing the Rose bedtime routine and it hasn't been going well either. She has lots to talk about. Bad thoughts are keeping her from settling down. I offer four different ways to get rid of bad thoughts. She's having none of it.

9:00 Rose and I agree that tigers can scare away ghosts, monsters, and witches. She finally goes to sleep.

9:15 John and I finish tidying and watch The Daily Show taped. Really funny.