Shifting tide in the car

Maya and grandpa reading.

Guillermo and grandpa making pizza.

I didn't have it today. I was tired. Guillermo had a friend over to our house this morning and I was babysitting our neighbors baby so we had a pretty good morning, but by this afternoon, I was beat. Maya took a nap and Guillermo and I were playing a computer game on the couch, but I kept falling asleep on him. I even heard myself tell him not to throw things again, and then realized I was talking in my sleep (if you can call a 30-second nap sleep). I didn't really perk up until on our way to soccer practice when I heard the news about Eliot Spitzer (don't get me started) and that got my brain working again.

 

But earlier in the car I did hear a sign of change coming.

"Elmo," Maya said sweetly from the backseat. 

I figured she was just talking to herself. 

"Elmo, Elmo," she repeated. 

Then she did something she's never done before. 

"Elmo hear," she said. I glanced back and she was tugging on her ear. 

Ahh, she wanted to hear the Elmo cd. Ok, we'll listen to Elmo, I said. 

That didn't sit well with Guillermo, who controls MY car radio from the backseat because I've let him. 

"No, space music," he said forcefully. 

I made them share. Two Elmo songs, two space songs. Guillermo didn't like the compromise one bit, but he bit his tongue. I silently cheered for Maya, her new vocabulary, and her growing assertiveness (as long as it's not aimed at me!).

We had a wonderful weekend. My father spent the weekend with us after a business trip here and the kids had so much fun with him. They played gladiator and "got you," splashed in the puddles, explored the science museum, read books, and put together puzzles. Maya and Guillermo happily ate the cracker jacks and ice cream he fed them. Guillermo made pizza with my father and he and I watched the UNC-Duke game. Today, Guillermo said his visit wasn't a real visit because he didn't stay with us the entire time he was in North Carolina. Guillermo said he wished grandpa could have stayed longer. Me too.