October 30, 2003 - 2:38 p.m.
All I want to do is curl up and sleep. Yes, I'm suffering the after effects of our semi-annual trip to the photo studio.
We started going to Sears in January and they have been, hands down, the best of the inexpensive photographers we've visited. Nearly all of our visits have revolved around Marcus as we took him at 6, 9, and 12 months to put together a framed age progression. And we've done alright. All of them were frantic, tearful, and frustrating but we always left with an order and some good shots of happy, smiling little boys - a couple milliseconds of charm in an hour of chaos.
Today's ordeal began last week when I went shopping for Christmas outfits. I found two sweater/turtleneck/corduroy sets in the appropriate sizes at Target and was fairly pleased with myself - until I began to sort them into the laundry and discovered the set I bought for Marcus was 18 month size top and 24 month size pants. Back to Target to exchange them. They didn't have the exact set that I wanted but they had restocked the same style I bought Zachary. I debated whether or not matching sweaters would be cheesy and then went ahead and got it.
Clothes - check.
Last night I geared up for the next hurdle - shampooing Zachary's hair. Because shampoo tends to aggravate his eczema, we don't wash his hair very often. Consequently, he isn't used to it and really hates it. I should have shampooed it the previous night, just in case his rash flared up, but a flare up last weekend has required us to use oatmeal or oil in his baths most of the week - so no shampoo. And his hair was just too dirty to leave it be.
Zachary's first instinct when confronted with shampoo is a determination to take everyone else in the room down with him. He stands in the tub and lunges for the nearest adult, hugging on tightly and trying to rub as many suds as possible off on their shirt. Rinsing is impossible without soaking whoever he's clinging to.
If you left this diary to go stand in the shower as you are right now you would have some idea of my condition after washing Zack's hair.
Now, Marcus was having some uncharacteristic difficulty in going to sleep last night. As I coated Zachary in his lotion and medicated cream to prevent itching, he started crying. I put Zachary into his pajamas and bed as best I could without dripping on him and ran to change clothes before checking on Marcus, who was wailing by this point. His nose had stopped up and he couldn't sleep because he still needs a pacifier to fall asleep and a clear nose is necessary in order to suck on a pacifier satisfactorily.
Crib wedge. Vaporizer. Rock and sing. It still takes a while for him to fall asleep. And he had an encore performance at 2:00.
When Zachary ran into our room at 5:00 demanding a glass of milk, I had about decided to bag the photo plans. But Sears is running a good special through next Friday and I was betting on many people not thinking about portraits until after Halloween, thus no crowds and a shorter wait. So when Marcus woke with no stuffiness and Zachary slept in until 8:30, I took it as a good sign and went ahead with the plans.
They ate their breakfast and Marcus immediately toddled to the toilet afterward, so I sat him on it and we read a book until he pooped. He cheered. I cheered. Even Zack cheered - and then demanded his turn. I was feeling pretty optimistic about the morning, even about fixing Zachary's hideous bed head spawned from sleeping on wet hair, and got Zachary situated on the toilet before tracking down Marcus to put a diaper on him.
Babies make a lot of poop and the Halloween cupcakes I made for them yesterday seem to have turned it green. I noted this before flushing so I was not left mystified by the stuff left in a little trail across my living room. Babies make a lot of poop and Marcus hadn't finished on the potty. I started to clean it up before realizing that Marcus still wasn't finished and I had to drop that for emergency diapering. Then I resumed cleaning - quickly because it was 90 minutes until our appointment and no one was dressed.
Now, because of the mix up with Marcus's outfit, it had not made it into the regular wash earlier this week and I had tossed the cords in the washer last night but forgot to put them into the dryer. I was just getting around to that when Zachary started yelling that his socks needed cleaning.
Zachary sleeps in socks to prevent him from scratching them too much at night and he was, thank God, still wearing them when he found a nice blob of green poop that I had missed. One of the afghans had fallen onto it and - well, you can imagine the rest. I'll be spending my evening with the steam vac.
On to getting the boys dressed. My mother and father brought back to beautiful wool sweaters for the boys from Norway this summer. The forecast for today was highs of nearly 70, so I was certain they would be uncomfortable but thought I owed it to my parents to at least try to get the boys to wear them. Before leaving I attempted to try them on Zack and Marcus... and could not get them over their heads. The necks of the sweaters were just too small. No time to dwell on it. I put the matching ones from Target on them and we headed for the car...
...Just in time for maintenance to knock on the door to change our filters, check the smoke detectors, and do the various other things they need to twice a year. And here I am with too little boys, their "neatness" timers counting down how long they'll still look good, in an apartment that smells like poop and carpet spot cleaner, pajamas, toys, and breakfast items everywhere. And these guys are carrying buckets and a large sprayer and all sorts of things that children should be far away from, especially those who have been just dressed for pictures. I was hoping they'd just offer to come back another time, but they didn't. Fortunately, they weren't here long.
And we made it to Sears a few minutes early. Perhaps on principle, they made us wait until ten minutes after our scheduled appointment time. It was about this time that I noticed Marcus's face needed washing again (his nose had resumed running) and Zachary had somehow bruised his forehead. No amount of brushing could make Zack's hair presentable. Marcus's cowlick was sticking straight up in the air. But they looked cute in their matching sweaters and seemed happy while they played. But the minute I tried to sit them down in front of the camera, Marcus cried and Zachary dug in his heals and refused to cooperate. We managed to get Zachary to pose on a sled in front of a wintery background, but he would not smile. He just sat there with an annoyed look until he decided he was definitely having no fun and climbed back down. After 15 minutes, we gave up.
I made another appointment - for next week in what I am certain will be a crush of people with small children trying to have holiday cards made. Right now, I'm not sure I'm going to take them back... before they're school age.
