Today was a pretty uneventful day for us to start. I went out for a run, but had to be back to take Peyton to gymnastics. I got back, and cleaned up to take her, while Brandon and Dave were headed out to a Build and Grow event to make a Monster Truck (the truck looks like a monster, not a really big truck). The last time they went was when I was on my trip, when they built their lockers. Peyton did NOT want to have anything to do with gymnastics, and in fact burst into tears. I was being firm with her, not letting her go backwards when she lagged from one room to another. But that lead to tears, stares (from the other parents), and more tears. I stuck to my guns, and she was miserable the entire time. I brought her to the restroom to calm her down, while walking past all these staring parents. I kept repeating in my head, “Tough love, tough love,” while ignoring their looks. I was sweating, having to work hard to get past them and calm her down. Hopefully she will learn for next week, that if she doesn’t participate when the coach asks her to, she can’t go backwards and do her own thing, since there is another class that needs the room. We came back, and her face was all puffy. She was crying that she wanted to go back to gymnastics, even though while we were there, she didn’t want to do anything that was asked of her. We came home, and the boys came home soon after. We ate lunch, then went down for naps, to be fresh for dinner, which was in the city at 6pm. Jos was up with Charlie, so we were celebrating her birthday and getting to meet him for the first time. Peyton slept right away, while I’m not sure if Brandon really did. I took a nap, too, and I woke up to “Mommy! Mommy!” I ignored her, and this is what Dave later sent me:
When we all were up, we headed out to the city. It was really warm, like SoCal warm there. I had sweaters for the kids, but when we got up there, even when we rolled down the windows, it was still warm. We walked around some, looking for a bakery, but found out the owners were away on vacation. We met up with Jos and Charlie who were the next to arrive. He was really friendly, has 4 nieces of his own, so was comfortable around the kids! We were shown our table when the next family arrived. We had the kids’ computers, and Peyton’s Toy Story 3 puzzle. It was 48 pieces, but she still managed to do it twice. The kids ate well (it was Chinese food), and both gave me puppy dog eyes when I was eating my crab, so I had the kids share one leg. But I had to shell it for them. Brandon ate all the food given to him – the mushrooms, the greens, and the duck. We had guava cake for dessert, and brushed the kids’ teeth before heading out, thinking they’d go to sleep on the drive home. It was 830pm, so not inconceivable that they wouldn’t sack out. Brandon asked Peyton, “Are you tired, Peyton?” She said, “No, I took a nap already.” She continued to talk, sing, and basically let out two hours’ worth of silence with our friends. She said, “My name is P-E-Y-T-O-N. My birthday will come on January first.” Then she sounded teacher-like, telling us, “The library is open, the house is open, the manipatips are open.” I stopped her there and said, “The what?” She said, “Manipatips.” I had to think about what that was…manipulatives. These are all the centers at her school. Both of them made it back home and went to their rooms without fuss. Peyton saw, “Daddy’s blanket” and started grinning. She swooped it up, and said, “Daddy’s blanket! I so excited.” Knock on wood, but last night was the first night this past week that both stayed asleep all night long. In fact, I think the alarm woke Peyton up prematurely today, prompting the epic nap this afternoon. We have to get our rest so Dave can go for his ride tomorrow morning, then come back so we can all go to Logan’s 1st birthday party.