Lucky...

Something happened while we were out tonight. It was a small thing really, but it made me so happy and proud. I'm probably making more of a deal out of it than I should, but whatever, I'm happy :o)

We were at Job Lot, and Taye found this horrific Uncle Sam red, white, and blue flag tophat made entirely out of glitter. We are not in the habit of buying toys for the boys every time we're out, especially not junk like that. So when it came time to leave, I had to somehow get it away from him (Luis had strategically offered to take Darius from me "since my back must be hurting" only moments before - thus leaving the Taye wrangling to me). I was prepared for battle, or at least a speedy exit. I thought for a minute and decided to give Taye an opportunity to handle the hat himself. I pointed to the pile of hats on the shelf, and told him it was time to go, so put the hat back with the other ones. He trotted over, plopped the hat on the pile, and laughed. I picked him up, and we walked out of the store with him happily yelling "bye!" to anyone who cared to listen. It blew me away, and made me once again believe that I must have the best kids in the world. Or maybe I'm just the best mother in the world (ha!)...at least I must be doing something right.

It also made me think back to the other day. I had to take Taye to Dr. Mele's to check out the swollen lymph node on his head (no worries). I decided to head to Natick early, grab lunch at the mall, and let the boys play in the playspace for a while so we had more to drive for than just the doctor. When it was almost time to go, I gave Taye the old 2 minute warning. Two minutes later I told him I was going to buckle Darius into the stroller, and then we have to go. He repeated "have to go," waited for me to buckle Darius, then helped me push the stroller to the car.

I'm probably shooting myself in the foot even writing about it, I've probably jinxed myself for all eternity and now we will never be able to go anywhere or do anything without a tantrum. Eh, probably not really. In fact, I've decided I don't believe in jinxes anyway. Not even the dreaded baby sleep discussing jinx. To prove it, I'd like to say that Darius has been taking a 1 1/2-2 hour nap EVERY DAY lately. I think he is finally at the stage where it will become a regular thing. I am SO HAPPY! He has been in a much better mood lately (now that he is actually well rested) and we have had some really nice days. I had forgotten what its like to have a chunk of free time in the middle of the day. My house is no longer a pig sty (well, not always anyway), I have been READING, and Taye and I have had some fun times playing together.

All in all, I think our life is really starting to settle into a nice pattern. I'm happy, we're all happy. I love my boys, and I am the luckiest Mama ever.