The "toddler" work out:

1. pick up toddler (25 lbs dead lift) every time he says "up"; carry around as necessary

2. run after very mobile toddler who is running carefree through grocery store - ducking and jumping people/obstacles does burn more calories

3. dressing toddler who likes to jump on bed laughing while mommy does deep lunges to grab him and put on items of apparel

4. Bending and stretching to find toddler shoes which I swear were just in the shoe basket yet somehow ended up under the couch, kitchen table, bookshelf, etc

5. giving toddler and sometimes 10yo rides in wheelbarrow while feeding horses

6. increase finger dexterity by playing wiggly worm with laughing squirming toddler (increased aerobic activity via laughing oneself silly)

7. dancing with kids - which means toddler is in arms and likes to be both bounced up high and dipped to the beat. Fortunately bigger kids just like going around the room very very fast.

8. best muscle builder - being buried under 4 kids and working your way to the top of the pile via the tickle monster

Please seek a doctor's confirmation of health before starting this program.

Ok a new question of the week - should insomniacs be parents? or parents of babies and/or toddlers? I know what you are thinking. It should be a perfect match. After all you are up or waking up most the night anyway so you can get up when the kids need you. Yet, maybe, there could be a down side to this match. After all, what if you are a recovering insomniac?

The story: I used to be one of those people who as soon as their head touched the pillow was out for a good 7-8 hours. No bothers. Then I turned into one of those people who was out like a light as soon as her head touched the pillow then woke up 2 hours later, then 1.5 hours later, then 2 hours and well, you get it. Now I must say that this was a natural progression for someone who hates alarm clocks so much that if I set one I will always wake up before it goes off. Then you have an older dog who needs to get up a couple of times a night to go potty. Ok. Then you start foaling out your horses so you get up and go ouside to check on your mares every 2-3 hours. Then you have an orphan foal that you need to feed every 3 hours and so you get up and do that. All of this is done without the aid of an alarm clock. So, of course, your body thinks this is the way you sleep now.

Fast forward a couple years later. Your body is finally adjusting to actually being able to sleep through the night. Then what do you do. Yep, adopt a toddler. One who when he first gets home wakes up for a couple of hours of play time between 3-5 am. He gets over that. Then he has a cough and wakes himself up a couple of times - well, not really awake but now you are. Then one night months later he wakes himself up at 2 am and decides to play until 5 am. Aaaggghhhh!! He gets over that and sleeps soundly through the night the next couple of nights.

But you... well, you go right to sleep. And wake up at 2am - wide awake!

Crap.

Ahh, yes, bathtime. The favorite time of day for little boys. So on both Saturday and Sunday Nathan decided he wanted a bath. After being in there for one and one half hours I thought he was probably pruney enough. So my conversation with a 3yo went sort of like this:

Me: Nathan, time to get out of the bath

N: No

Me: All done

N: No

Me: Don't you want to get out and get all warm and dry?

N: No

Me: Nathan, ALL DONE!

No: NO! (accompanied by putting himself full length in the tub)

So I do what any self-respecting parent would do. I pull the plug. To show that I am not the boss Nathan stays in there until all the water is gone then stands up and announces:

Mama, All done!

Oh, yes, and once again this morning Lulu was out with the herd. Difference this time - Teddy stayed in. I still have not figured out what they are crawling over or through to get all the way out there. At least this time Booger and others were not really chasing her around. She did want back in however. Too bad horses are smart enough to get themselves into trouble but just cannot seem to figure out how to get out of it even if it just involves retracing their steps.

Naked Nathan! Sarita is sure that will be Nathan's name until the end of times. He loves no clothes. I was sure since he comes from the warmer regions of China that he would want to be all bundled up once we got colder. No way! My favorite part about it is that he got used to taking his clothes off to go to the bathroom so now he will pretend he has to go, take off all his clothes while sitting there, and then voila all done. He also will tell mama that his clothes are wet or he spilled and even though you cannot find a speck of wetness on them they must come off.

I will miss this when he gets older. Best memory so far - Nathan got new shoes that had "Cars" from the movie on them. He had all his clothes off this last Sunday but insisted on putting his shoes and socks on. He went around the house for the rest of the afternoon so dressed. On the plus side he is perfectly potty trained when naked. Not so much when he has a pull up on.

But then I do seem to remember a certain nephew who preferred the naked look himself. In fact I believe this lasted well until he was about 8 years old.

Milestone: Nathan washed his own hair last night. He has hated having his hair washed since he came home.

I am the best mom ever - yes indeedy. So Nathaniel picked his own breakfast this morning. So he is 3. So he picked cheetos. Yes, that was cheetos not cheerios. He arrived at daycare with orange fingers, orange smudges, but thankfully, not orange hair. He did have milk too which apparently in the "single mom I am in a hurry get in the car with all your stuff now" type of day suffices for a healthy meal. Thank god Sarita eats breakfast at school. I keep my fingers crossed that they serve some healthy foods there.

Some pictures of the Halloween crew. Grandma leading the parade of ghouls, ghosts, and assorted other creatures in the middle there.


So here are the cutie patooties in full Halloween regalia. Sarita, Dallas, Grandma, Nathaniel, Dakota, and Austin.

Halloween has come and gone. Seemed to do both much too fast. The kids had a blast in Grandma's neighborhood again. The suburbs have gotten even bigger so the boys (Dakota and his friend Austin) ended up filling pillowcases halfway up -now these are not small pillowcases. So they should be wired for the next month.

Nathaniel was not too into the holiday at all. He was afraid of the decorations and masks in the stores. Hated being dressed in a costume - part of his 'I want to be naked at all times and if not no zippers are allowed around my body' take on life! However, we got to grandma's by 7pm. It was very dark and cold. Sarita and Dallas decided to go with me and Nathaniel. First we zipped him in. A few hysterics which quieted when Dakota picked him up and showed him his head (horse) in the mirror and then his tail. He liked it better then. We went out and Dakota kept taking his very scary werewolf mask on and off to show Nathan that it was only a mask. I kept calling him a Dakota doggy and scratching behind his ears. We even got a laugh out of Nathan.

I figured we would make it 2-3 houses before Nathan had enough. I forgot that Halloween and Kids go together. By house number 3 Nathan had it all figured out. Go up to house with girls. People open door. Say trick or treat. People give lots of candy and say "oh how cute" and "my what a sweet little thing" and give more candy then on to next house. Girls figured out that having cute little 3yo boy in horse outfit equals more candy. People who opened their doors all dressed up gave the most candy because Nathan would just stare at them like "what do you think you are" and they would get worried that he was scared by their costumes and for the most part would get down at his level saying "it's ok - it's just a costume" while giving more candy.

We probably only went to about 1/4 of the neighborhood. Nathaniel had to drag his bucket at the last two doors. And mommy was carrying him in between houses so I burned off my two mini candy bars.

I think Nathaniel is fine with Halloween. Everyone had a great time. Everyone passed out as soon as we got home so I got to shower and watch a CSI Miami rerun in the dark and quiet. Now my work place is inheriting a lot of candy cuz there is no way I am letting my kids eat all that!