A devil or an angel

Life seems to be full of opposites.

Yesterday was a very very hard day with Isabella. She gave me one of the worst times ever at the grocery. I only had to buy garlic, carrots, and tomatillos, but it took 45min because she was running everywhere, begging me to buy her every random interesting thing she saw, and not listening to me at all. At one point she got into one of those shopping carts with a little car on the front... problem was that it belonged to another mom and had another kid inside. After pleading with her to get out, I finally pulled her out screaming, only to look up to judgemental dirty looks from moms. Ugh. And I still didn't have my 3 grocery items yet, so I couldn't make a quick exit. Anyway, that evening we had her friend Kai (along with his parents) over for dinner, and she was on her worst behavior - pushing, not sharing, throwing her silverware around, etc. Not pleasant. Somehow it's not very rewarding to savor the delicious dinner you spent 3 hrs cooking (homemade mole sauce) when you have to reprimand your kid every 5min for silverware throwing/screeching/getting down before done eating/ etc. Ugh. At the end of the evening I said to John "You know, I love Isabella to death, but I do think that 2 kids will be just fine, thanks." and he joked "I'll schedule the vascectomy for tomorrow." (which references the fact that I used to want 3-4 kids but John has always wanted 2)

Ah, but today was so peaceful and lovely. Isabella was waking up just as I was getting out of the shower, so she crawled into bed with her dad and I got back in with them to cuddle. I left my 2 favorite people in bed while I practiced yoga. John then left for work while Isabella and I made breakfast, read several books, and proceeded to take a bus downtown. We walked around Pike Place market hand-in-hand, ate a tasty lunch at Lowells by the waterfront, bought some beautiful fresh produce, shopped for cards for both of her grandmas, and then took the bus home. Once home I drew her a bath. She begged for me to get in there with her, as she often does, and I complied (for those of you who aren't parents... nudity is not a big deal to a 3yr old... they don't know any better yet). So we splashed in the bath for about an hour while I washed her hair, played with her bath toys, and sang songs.

I guess that's how kids are - they are such angels at times, so sweet, so loving and lovable, that it's pretty easy to get instant amnesia about all the times they drive you crazy.

I love you Isabella.