Another Dreary Morning but A Bright Afternoon

It's yet another dark and dreary blahish day this morning :(  We have been making the most of these rainy dreary days though! Mommy misses our walks and adventures to the park, but until the weather takes a turn for the better, we're stuck inside :(  

Mommy forgot to ask Daddy last night to write something for our "Fat Tuesday" today, so, Mommy will have to come up with a childhood experience/memory to expose???  I'll be thinking about it while we stack our blocks, rings and toys, Bodhi.  We've been stacking everything that will stack this morning.  Jude, you have been climbing, standing, and crying when you fall and can't get back up from the belly position.

Fat Tuesday, Mommy Entry Number Four:  A childhood experience/memory

Mommy had previously posted on her personal Facebook account questioning her "nurse" friends, if it was possible that you, Bodhi, have inherited Mommy's sleep patterns/issues.  Mommy posed the question due to you, Bodhi, waking late at night and staying awake for hours, giggling and laughing.  When Mommy would peak in on you, you would be looking around laughing and giggling.  Mommy has no way of gaging if you are truly awake or not because you don't talk.   Last night, you awakened, but Mommy only knew you had awakened because you were standing in your crib rocking it back and forth, making a thumping sound.  Mommy, would have been scared if she hadn't recognized the thumping sound as you rocking your crib (you do this frequently after naps).  You then giggled for a few minutes and then the thumping sound had stopped.  When Mommy took a sippie cup of warm milk to you, you were already laying down almost back to sleep. One of Mommy's friend's posted that she had a friend, whose daughter was very tired at daycare. The little girl's parents set a camera up in her bedroom because they hadn't heard her cry and thought that she had been sleeping through the night. Well, they discovered that she had been awake all night long (she had her days and nights mixed up).  Mommy's friend suggested that I minimize your nap time during the day and observe whether this would remedy the problem.  I must say, it has for the most part.  You have awakened once and stayed awake for hours since Mommy conducted this little experiment.  So, Mommy thinks that your awakening in the middle of the night, laughing and giggling, may in part be due to you going to bed so early and simply power napping, and then possibly, you are "sleep giggling/laughing." So, finally, this leads me to my childhood experience...

From the time Mommy could walk, until the age of about 22 or 23, Mommy slept walk.  I also talked in my sleep, and still do to this day. When Mommy would sleep walk, Mommy's eyes would be wide open.  Grandmoo would say I had this certain look on my face when I would leave my bedroom and sleep walk to other rooms.  Besides the wide open eyes and funny look on my face, when she would question me, I would answer her with nonsensical answers.  She would say that she'd ask me if I was sleep walking, and ask where I was going.  I would always answer her first with some off the wall response, but then I would tell her I was going across the street to the Riffe's hee/hee.  She would then tell me that it was too late to go to the Riffe's and that I was sleep walking and to go back to bed.  She said she was always careful not to wake me because she had heard it was traumatic to wake a sleep walker.

Ok, so I finally get to my childhood story... When I was a baby through about the age of seven, I would spend most weekends and vacations in Tennessee with GiGi and Great Papaw Grills.  GiGi made the trip frequently, and I always accompanied her.  When I was probably about three or four years old, and in Tennessee visiting,  I slept walked in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep. I walked outside of GiGi's and Great Papaw's house and onto the front porch unnoticed. Well, I eventually awakened in the driveway, and I still to this day remember being very scared that I was outside in the middle of the night by myself, and I ran back to the house.  It's so dark at Great Papaw's place in the mountains, you can't even see your hand in front of your face, unless the pole barn light was on.  I started banging on the door screaming and crying.  Either GiGi or Great Papaw awakened (thankfully) and Great Papaw came to the front door (probably with a gun in hand hee/hee).  He opened the door after recognizing it was me crying, and he was surprised to find that it actually was me .  I had slept walked and locked myself out of the house!  GiGi and Great Papaw still talk about how scary it was that I slept walked and locked myself out of the house.  A rattle snake or a coyote could have got me, I could have fell off the porch and broke my leg, I could have wondered into the mountains and got lost... anything!  Sometimes Mommy would remember sleep walking only after being told that I slept walk, because it was as though they were telling me about the dream I had or thought that I had but actually lived out.  Other times I wouldn't remember sleep walking, but I would be super tired.  The few times I think I woke myself up, I remember thinking to myself, was I dreaming or did I just sleep walk.  As a child I was very scared of the dark and just about everything,  so I would never walk around in the dark  by myself!  Bodhi, Mommy always tries to hide all her fears and phobias from you, so that you don't inherit those too :)  Jude, I will do the same for you.

Grandpa Kurt jokes that between me and your Grandmoo (who also does crazy stuff in her sleep, such as, what I call "opera singing") there was more action in our house at night than during the day.  Grandmoo rarely sleeps but when she does, she can never wake herself from a bad dream... she says she always tries to scream but nothing comes out.  Well, Mommy filled Grandmoo in, something comes out, but it comes out like she is opera singing my name "Aaaaaa Mannnnnn Daaaaa!"  It's funny to Mommy, but probably to others, sounds very scary.  FYI, when Mommy sleeps on her back, she can't wake herself from a bad dream either.  I start having a dream within a dream, which gets very confusing and scary.  I'll think that I have finally woke myself up, but only discover through something not appearing quite right, that I'm still actually dreaming.  It's a horrible feeling! 

Bodhi's and Jude's Day:

Well, Mommy already mentioned that we played our morning away, stacking everything in sight.   You both had accidents and had to have a change of clothes.  Bodhi, your accident was food related and Jude, yeah, you are still having poop explosions!  Bodhi, Mommy wishes you were talking, but you are so darn cute when you sign.  You are a signing fool.  Mommy decided to take pictures of you making different signs this morning!  This evening Mommy went to Zumba class (thank goodness, Mommy feels like a total cow) and Sister Kelly came over after work to watch the two of you :)  When Mommy arrived home Sister Kelly gave Mommy the exciting news that you, Bodhi, siad "hi, hello, and no" tonight!  Yay!  Momma praised you and threw a total fit over you talking :)  Sister Kelly also said she asked you if Jude was sleeping on her shoulder, and you leaned over and looked, and shook your head yes.  How sweet!  It's a matter of time before you are chatting up a storm!

Pretty Baby Girl!

"Cow"

(Mommy had a hard time snapping the pic in time, so some pictures don't capture you signing exactly the way you do it)

"Kitty Cat"

"Food"

"Ball"

"Daddy"

Modified version of "Mommy"

We love stacking toys as high as we can!  Bodhi, you scream and laugh when they fall.  Mommy thought this picture was hilarious because you shut your eyes... I think you thought if you shut your eyes, they wouldn't fall hee/hee

Silly girl, you love to have Mommy stack things on your head.  You do well to keep them balanced though! ;)

 Juders, after a while, Mommy put you in Bodhi's crib and you stacked your own blocks while Mommy and Bodhi stacked everything else outside the crib (it was for your own safety hee/hee).

Stacky Stacky!

"Well Hello!" :)

"Sissy may be talking, but look at me... I'm in on the verge of crawling all over the place!

"Bodhi, you are sooooo funny!" :)

"Big Blue-Eyed Buddha" ;)

"I can do this!"