yoga and a naked, potty-trained toddler

Poor Mary woke up at 5:45am whimpering because she had pooped, and who knows how long she had gone with it in her diaper since she was asleep. Her diaper rash was awful, and I felt so, so sorry for my baby. That said, I would have preferred a later start to my day, and so I improvised a survival solution by doing absolutely nothing all day.

That worked for Mary! She’s teething, doesn’t want to eat, and therefore lethargic, so she just cuddled with me while Lydia played, watched her kid shows, and practiced going to the potty. I did not clean anything or cook anything today. I spent all the free time I had finishing up my book No Easy Day (don’t even ask me why I read it–it was on the “Lucky Day” shelf at the library, so I guess I thought it had to be good if it made it to The Shelf), and shopping on Zulily. Yikes!

I did, however, drop the kids off at Abe’s office at 5:30pm so I could make the 6:15 session of Bikram Yoga. Afterwards, I lay on the six-inch wide bench outside of the room and tried to get the energy to walk to the car. Don’t mind the chubby lady trying to fit on the teeny bench, sweating a pool of smelly puddles onto the floor and tootin’ up a storm! (That would have been me.)

Since I was lazy, I did not get that many pictures today, so I made up for it by running around the house before typing this blog so I could photograph random things to talk about. Here we go!

 

Again, Mary is wearing one of Lydia's staple summer outfits from last year (probably the last chance she has to wear it), and the end of a beloved hand-me-down always makes me want to run for a tissue.
Again, Mary is wearing one of Lydia’s staple summer outfits from last year (probably the last chance she has to wear it), and the end of a beloved hand-me-down always makes me want to run for a tissue.
Don't mind my naked child. She did not feel like getting dressed, and I did not care to fight that battle. So here she is, in all of her naked glory. I did, however, re-try that waterfall twist braid. It doesn't look super great here, but it wore really well and got progressively prettier as the day went on.
Don’t mind my naked child. She did not feel like getting dressed, and I did not care to fight that battle. So here she is, in all of her naked glory. I did, however, re-try that waterfall twist braid. It doesn’t look super great here, but it wore really well and got progressively prettier as the day went on.

Aghhh! Below is my naked toddler again. The neighbors can see right into our house (we live on a hill), and so I am sure they think I am negligent. Lydia had two full hours of quiet time today…she actually has a blast during quiet time, but I do wonder what the neighbors think watching a little naked child run all around by herself for that amount of time. Also, here she is calling her cat on the phone. (The cat is her favorite thing in the world, and we accidentally left it in New York. I have been ambivalent about asking Clark and Swathi to send it back since Lydia’s devotion transformed a cuddly stuffed animal into a mangy, smelly, most-likely-hazardous object. But Lydia has talked about/to the cat every day since he went missing weeks ago, and my heart goes out to this loyal child of mine.)

Aghhh! My naked toddler again. The neighbors can see right into our house (we live on a hill), and so I am sure they think I am negligent. Lydia was thus THREE hours of alone quiet time today...she didn't mind at all, but I do wonder what the neighbors think watching a little naked child run all around by herself for that amount of time. Also, here she is calling her cat on the phone. (The cat is her favorite thing in the world, and we accidentally left it in New York. I have been ambivalent about asking Clark and Swathi to send it back since Lydia's devotion has transformed a cuddly stuffed animal into a mangy, smelly, most-likely-hazardous object. But Lydia has talked about/to the cat every day since he went missing weeks ago, and my heart goes out to this loyal child of mine.
Today mommy just lost some steam, okay?
My dinner. Ingredients: bananas. If you have never frozen bananas and blended them in a food processor afterward, you need to go do that RIGHT NOW. I saw this recipe years ago and dismissed it as ridiculous, but now I know I am the ridiculous one for not trying it. The easiest thing ever, and the end result tastes like the best ice cream you have ever had. Please go do this now.
My dinner. Ingredients: bananas. If you have never frozen bananas and blended them in a food processor afterward, you need to go do that RIGHT NOW. I saw this recipe years ago and dismissed it as ridiculous, but now I know I am the ridiculous one for not trying it. The easiest thing ever, and the end result tastes like the best ice cream you have ever had. Please go do this now.
Lydia wrote the "o" in the word, "Stop". This was for the game she, Abe and Mary played a couple days ago, and boy, we are so proud of her!
Lydia wrote the “o” in the word, “Stop”. This was for the game she, Abe and Mary played a couple days ago, and boy, we are so proud of her!
The flowers Abe got me are blooming. If I did not battle a continual running dialogue in my head about how terrible I am at everything, I think my life would be perfect. I have the world's sweetest, most affirming husband, beautiful children, the best mother in the world, the greatest brother and sister-in-law in the world, and everything else anyone could possibly want to be happy. I just need to get with the program and start being happy, right?
The flowers Abe got me are blooming. If I did not battle a continual running dialogue in my head about how terrible I am at everything and what a horrible person I am, I think my life would be perfect. I have the world’s sweetest, most affirming husband, beautiful children, the best mother in the world, the greatest brother and sister-in-law in the world, and everything else anyone could possibly want to be happy. I just need to get with the program and start being happy, right?