tonight, carter did not wake up drenched in sweat, screaming in fear approximately 1 hour after falling asleep.

after weeks of this, i am very pleased. at least one night where he is not suffering.

he tells me in the morning that he is afraid, but he does not know of what.

and he slept til 8:30 am. holy cow.

in that time, ava nad i colored in an intricate book of designs--lots of mandala-looking designs, nothing representational, all very geometric, etc. we had a great time. it is nice to get that sort of quiet time with her. the night before we were having a snack while carter and dad read books, and we were in fits of hysterics over trying to make a list of all the things grandma will need for her visit here. it began straightforward enough, then ava looked at me and said "i think she needs a cow." -- that did it. after that, we had the following list:

a zamboni, a steering wheel, a hippopotamus, tires, a pitchfork, and a dancing garbage can.

funny how a 5-year-old's giggles will get you laughing so hard you have tears in your eyes--even if the joke has long past its lifespan.

we planted our container garden yesterday. in the kitchen. can you say "mud?"

what i learned: do not initiate a project that involves potting mix (ie dirt) after you have vacuumed and washed the floors. you may think, oh, it is just the kitchen, i don't mind re-doing that...but you are being naive. small children don't stop! when you say stop!. they stop after running half-way through the house, coated in dirt, while you are frantically trying to relax and let go and be ok with having to sweep and vacum and swiffer every room all over again (all before you have to leave for t-ball) because it is not their fault you were so monumentally stupid that you let them dig in a 30 lb bag of soil. not to mention sanctioning the use of the watering can.

this did lead to yet another rearranging of the play room though. it is coming together, though i spend far too much time looking at pottery barn kids designed playrooms and coveting those wonderful cabinets and cubbies, looking scornfully at our collection of plastic bins. however, those bins are 1. neatly lined up, and 2. categorized carefully.

but the stuffed animals. they are breeding. i love them, i sanction them, but wow. what a quantity. and we have 2 more LARGE bins of them in storage.