Sweet & Sour Easter Treats

Easter morning started early…really early.

Nolin woke up at about 2am screaming for mommy, but he got daddy which seemed to suffice as he fell back asleep (as did I) in his bed pretty quickly. I know, I broke all the rules regarding children sleeping, but it was 2am and honestly do the rules really apply between the hours of 12am and 5am?

Well shortly after resting into a peaceful slumber, Grace began screaming bloody murder…teething, also a good enough reason to disregard the rules.

So I went in, held her hand and got her back to sleep pretty quickly.

Score: 1 for daddy, 0 for screaming sleepless children.

Now back in my bed, I was quickly awoken once again by Nolin who was looking for me. This time he got mommy.

Not to be outdone, Grace quickly chimed in….just let her cry it out. And she did, and didn’t stop…again so much for the rules. I was in and out and in and back out several times until about 4am, until I finally realized I was too close to the 5am deadline so one of us was going to have to stand ground. At some point she fell asleep. This is very unlike Grace since she is typically an excellent sleeper.

Score: at 4 am there are no winners.

Nolin then woke up around seven, wanting to know if the Easter Bunny had come. The Easter Bunny was smart (or just watching my waist line) and while he hid some eggs with candy many were filled with small toys that looked very similar to small toys that Nolin already owned.

Since Nolin doesn’t really like candy (believe me I am trying), this was perfect. He also wasn’t really in to collecting as many eggs as possible as quickly as he can. I guess that day will come when he has some competition from Grace. Instead it was one egg at a time and each one was greeted with laughter and excitement as he opened it up.

About an hour later, we found all the eggs and then the princess and the pea woke up. In a very delightful mood may I add. I guess that extra sleep paid off. As we got the kids ready for church, it was Nolin’s turn to turn sour…well that is awesome.

Well Nolin and I lasted in the cry room for about 10 minutes, then alternated between the lobby and outside for about another 30 minutes before finally giving up and spending the rest of Easter Mass in the car. Sweet baby Grace charmed everyone for the entire mass.

When we got home, Grace was still sweet, content & smiling and Nolin was still in a very sour mood. So I decided to take him on an adventure…to Home Depot. As we got out of the car and I had Nolin in my arms he leaned over to me (completely unprovoked) and said Daddy, you’re the best! and the previous three hours disappeared.

As I tried to put Nolin in the shopping cart, my sour patch kid returned. So instead I walked around the store with Nolin in my arms singing all the words to Six Weeks by Of Monsters And Men (also known as the Marching Song according to Nolin) at the top of his lungs and pushing a shopping cart filled with a single one inch box of screws in it.

We didn’t even make it out of the parking lot before he fell asleep.

About a half an hour after we returned home we experienced the Easter Miracle. Grace put herself to sleep and we therefore had two sleeping kids.

We were on hyper over drive working on the house because an opportunity like this comes about once every 18 years (so if you are doing the math, this will not happen again until they are out of the house).

After they both woke up, we spent the rest of the evening outside playing with our new neighbors and their kids. Nolin had a blast and Grace decided to start talking. Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba. She has a great voice. Jenn insists that she also said Ma Ma Ma Ma, but no one else ever heard it.

Since they both had naps, it was a little later bed time, which allowed for a brief Skype opportunity on the TV with my parents (Ba & Pop). This worked out well since, Grace is now all into saying Ba’s name.

As soon as we hung up, Nolin looked at me and said that was a great show!

Sometimes the sour moments are enough to make you lose your mind, but kids seem to know just when to pull you back in with a sweet moment. I think it is some type of miniature Jedi mind trick.

Happy Easter!