Llama llama red pajama...

This may now be Momma's favorite book. Dolly Parton sponsors a program through the United Way called (I think) Success by Six. If you are born in one of (again, I think, 3 states) three states and sign up, they will send you a new book once a month. This month's selection is about baby llama who is learning to go to bed by himself. It is so cute and funny (stop all of this llama drama and be patient with your mama!) I am sure Jay is already tired of it.

The weather has turned from lovely to miserable all in the course of a couple of days. It has been in the 90's and humid as all get out for the past three days. I.Hate.It. I grew up in a house with no a/c. I remember not being able to sleep in the bedrooms upstairs because it was so miserably hot. We would make pallets in the dining room downstairs and sleep in front of the fans. We closed the shutters to the heat of the day. Sat under the maple tree and played in the dirt in the shade. ugh. ugh. ugh.

Jay has had a lot of work to do and has slipped off with (almost) all the fans. A situation we will address at Home Depot or Lowe's tomorrow. I have the shades drawn, the a/c cranking, and all the leftover fans blowing. The dishwasher, washer and dryer run only at night. Part of it is my great distaste for being hot and humid. Part of it is legitimate concern for Big Al. Just like any one with COPD or other breathing difficulty, Big Al does not fare well when the temps go up and the humidity rises. We don't realize it, but our bodies adjust and our hearts beat faster and we breathe a little more quickly to compensate. Big Al is doing great, but he doesn't need the added stress so we have to make sure that he isn't over-doing it in the heat of the day.

Yesterday we got up and Daddy was all full of vinegar we ran down to the farmer's market and back. Then we took showers, ate lunch and sent Dad off to finish some work he had promised. I was certain that this was going to be a great day. Griff was ready to sleep at 12:30 and drifted off without much struggle. Big Al, I was confident, was not far behind. Shows what I know. On and off for the next 3 hours, I tried to get the brat to fall asleep. Wouldn't do it. Finally, he feel asleep at 3:02 -- FIVE minutes ahead of Griff waking up. Perfect. Two well-rested toddlers and one bitter mother. Perfect.

We had a great time last night, though. Michele and Alan came over and helped to entertain and feed us. Griff managed to eat a pint (I kid you not) of strawberries before they arrived. When he finds something he likes, he goes full force. Jay did a great job of getting Griff to bed. The mattress is still on the nursery floor, but the boys both slept all night. Apparently we will work on moving the mattress back in to the bedroom later this week. Hope it works out since Sister Kate is coming on Saturday.

Dad headed off to work this morning and the boys and I took a long walk before it got too miserable. We visited the local fire station, saw lots of dogs, a couple of cats and one bunny. As we were walking through Bell Court, Griff kept yelling "meow, meow" -- at some woman's silly, hairy, fluffy dog. It was hard for me to fault him. It looked a lot like a cat to me, too.

Big Al LOVES the fan. We had a box fan out on the deck last night and he couldn't get enough of it. I didn't get a picture of it, but he was all Fabio - sitting with his face in front of it with his hair flowing back with an enormous grin on his face. Then he kept knocking the fan over, which annoyed his father to no end. So Jay put something behind it so that Allan couldn't knock it over. It took him all of, oh, I don't know, NO TIME AT ALL to knock it over the other direction. It really stinks to be outwitted by at two year old.

Griff knows that Allan is not supposed to fool with the fan. Griff is very concerned that his brother is going to do something harmful, takes his meaty little fist and body-slams Allan to the ground. He doesn't do it hard and you can tell that it is taking a toll on him, but he is certain that Allan is heading for disaster and he feels responsible for "protecting" his brother. His heart is pure. This same protective instinct was clear this afternoon. I was running the vaccuum and Allan could not resist it. Griff, pretty certain that this is a dangerous thing, kept stepping between Allan and me trying to make sure that Allan wasn't in danger. Griff is no big fan of the vac himself so his willingness to protect his brother is just that much sweeter.