AHH, THE WORK WEEKEND

I'm finally starting to understand why so many moms call going to work "a break" from the kids. Working 3 days a week is like working a long weekend and sometimes it is starting to feel like a break. Lauren is hard work! That kid just doesn't stop. And she is getting more and more opinionated and doesn't seem to understand that she can't always get what she wants. I think that is typical for this age and I'm sticking to my "no" but it is hard. Sometimes I just want to say, "Fine, smack that computer keyboard as hard as you want!" just to make the whining and tantrums stop. I make her sound like a little maniac and most of the day she is lovely, but on those days when she won't take no for an answer, it seems like the day lasts forever. Is it nap time yet?

Yesterday I had to go run some errands and I made the call not to bring Lauren's stroller. Big mistake. "Project Baby Sausage" has been going well and Lauren is starting to gain weight. I was literally sweating on our outing through Sears (it didn't help that my arms were full of tiny rain clothes, winter pants and boots, all while trying to wrangle a writhing contortionist baby and appear cool, calm and collected). Once I was done what I had to do, I put her down and let her explore the store a bit as we walked back to the car. It was so funny to watch her sing to herself in the mirror, check out the clothes on display and try to hold hands with the lady mannequins.

An aside: You might notice that Lauren is rocking the piggie tails lately. She sits so nicely while I put them into her hair which is good because a certain loving friend of mine is obsessed with me cutting her hair because Lauren just happens to have a mullet. She can't help that her lower hair is growing much faster than her top hair! Since Lauren won't keep bows or clips in her hair (she reaches up, grabs it, yanks it out of her hair, looks at it like I put a huge poop on her head and launches it as far from herself as possible), piggies it is! That way it doesn't look like a mullet, it looks like purposeful cuteness.

So today, I started my work-end and Lauren had to get dropped off at daycare (so I can have a break and spend my day with other people's kids), and she walked herself up to the door to knock. She doesn't actually knock, she just puts her pointer finger and thumb together and taps at the door, but you get the idea. Then, when K opened the door, Lauren walked right in and gave her a big hug. K picked her up and Lauren cuddled right in. It is so nice to leave her somewhere that she feels loved... but it also made me a little mommy jealous. It is nice to be able to go to work and not have to worry about how she is doing because I know she's doing just fine. My baby is growing up.