I wondered that very thing when I entered the house last weekend and saw that Lief had relocated Tucker's bed into the girls room, and that he had disassembled the twins' cribs and was well on his way to replacing them with toddler beds.  Of course I didn't want to crush his ego, but I was wondering ..... how is this going to play out, no cribs (aka no confinement) and now a bigger boy who can turn the door knob (and who has a loft bed!) in the same room.  It's been a week and a half, and I have had many moments of "what was he thinking?!?"  But today, Lief's dream turned into a reality.  Today,  nap time (which I have since renamed "chaos time") went down just like Lief predicted.  The girls were shut in their room (along with said loft bed.  Broken neck much? Scary!).  They played around a while (1.5 hours to be exact - and yes, I had to come in many, many times), but they finally settled down into their beds and went to sleep.  OH YEAH!  Here's to husbands who actually DO know something (at least once in a while).  Now if I can just figure out how they switched beds AFTER they were asleep.....

QUINN                            CLEO

As I was saying a day or two ago about teens.... they are full of surprises.  Such as tonight, when Lief and I left home for a quick trip to his office (on an errand for Alex, I might add).  Little kids were asleep, Alex was studiously working on homework, and we wanted a few minutes to discuss the gubernatorial debate.  What could go wrong?  We return home and no Alex.  I immediately think a mass murderer or kidnapper has hit our house, but the little kids were still sleeping peacefully. Alex turns up outside on the back deck.  At 9:30 pm? In the rain?  S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S!  He said he was "getting some fresh air".   Hmmm...  This is a kid who could sit in a cloud of his own fart stank and not be chagrined.  I find a can of Lysol outside.  My first thought is he's smoking.  No, it turns out he was making a flame thrower with a lighter and the Lysol can.  Of course we hit him with the usual parental blah-blah-blah .... You could've lost a hand! The house could've burned down! ..... Not making much of an impression, so instead he is currently upstairs writing a paper:  "Why Turning an Aerosol Can Into a Flamethrower is a Bad Idea".  Due tomorrow at 6:00am.

I met the 4 year-old of a co-worker today, and what a little cutie! It is so much fun to see the children of folks I normally don't get to see as parents - I get to see their eyes shine and how proud they are of this new person they are introducing to the rest of the world.

... but, I'm so envious. The 4 year-olds which I have met seem so chatty and sociable compared to Tucker who is also 4 and diagnosed with autism. Many times when I'm introduced to children, a little part (well, maybe more than a little part) of me is sad when I see where a 4 year-old should generally be in social development and speech. That expecting Tucker to be able to answer a simple question like where he went today or what did you eat for lunch just makes me want to scream, "It's not fair!" Argh. Then I feel guilty for even thinking such things because I am so proud of Tucker and his progress. He is a great kid and has a lot going for him. I know it does no good to compare, but everyone does in one way or another - it's just difficult knowing this will be a lifelong thing to deal with.

Lisa has done it!! (fingers crossed this continues) The little ones are all now working on a set routine of sleeping in the same room with Quinn and Cleo in their new toddler beds. And here's the proof of success - they're SLEEPING! ... Well, at least at night. I just looked at them all in their room this evening, and they look so cute - all sharing the same room, each cozy in their snug beds. So, just for setting the scene - I moved Tucker's low loft-style bed into Quinn and Cleo's room and installed their toddler beds last Saturday. The first night and first nap time were, uh, like weathering a toddler tornado, but we seem to be making progress for bed-time. The bedroom is now reminiscent of the sleeping quarters from summer camp because of the loft bed and all of the singing, talking and general excitement among the kids of this new arrangement. The excitement is definitely affecting nap time as it is still proving challenging to get the girls to sleep - hopefully this can be rectified by separating the twins since they are keeping each other awake.

Meanwhile, if we can just get the twins from making a trampoline out of Tucker's bed...

Having a 13 year old can be fun, except when they are testing their parental limits.  Alex tested his yesterday when he worked the adjective "f~&$ing" into a casual conversation with me.  And a mother's wrath hath no fury like hearing her child use the F - Word ......

Maybe I would've allowed this without much fuss if the situation warranted.  In this case, however, his outburst of colorful language was prompted merely because there were no sweets on hand. (potential crisis when PMS-ing, granted)  Instead I say, "Control your mouth in front of your parents just like all the rest of us had to do, for f~&$ sakes!"  ;o)

Dang - Chevy Chase is 65 and Sigourney Weaver is 59. Geez.