Yesterday was such a good day with the babe and the toddler. The babe took an hour nap in the morning, so I could spend some one-on-one time with the toddler. The toddler was even happy to play on his own a little bit and so I was able to get some stuff done around the house.

Then, in the afternoon, we went to a new park that was recommended to us. It was the holy grail of parks. Truly. It's totally fenced in. And all the play equipment is for little guys (not that Daniel is ever really interested in the play equipment anyway) so I don't have to be super-vigilant about him falling or something. There were other moms there, even moms with the toddler/infant combo. Adult conversation! Yippee!

Daniel did his usual thing of checking the perimeter looking for places to get out, but there were none! One side of the park is a preschool building, and of course, he had to check out all the air conditioning units on the side of the building. But he also played with some of the kids -- a set of 20 month old twin boys. He and one of the twins had a good time chasing each other. Then, Daniel hung out with a four year old for a little while -- they each thought the other was funny. And then a little girl about the same age as he -- they played in the playhouse that's there.

And, you know, we made it out of there without a tantrum.

Unlike today.

Went to a local McD's that has one of those outdoor playareas. He wasn't that interested in the play equipment, just the puddles of water that accumulated on them. It had an enclosed spiral staircase that went up to a playhouse and a car and a tractor, all safely enclosed, but Daniel was a bit freaked out by the staircase to get up to them. That was probably OK, because I was little worried that he'd get up there and freak out and I wouldn't be able to get to him because (1) I'm almost 6 feet tall and probably wouldn't really fit in the staircase and (2) I was wearing the baby in the Snugli.

But then, Daniel spotted a small toy firetruck that was behind the gated area around the play equipment. It had obviously been dropped from above and couldn't be retrieved. Daniel could not understand why Mommy couldn't get it for him, and he really couldn't understand when we had to leave it behind and go get in our car. He realized all this when we were in the middle of the parking lot halfway to the car. At that point, he refused to walk any further, sat down and then laid down in middle of the parking lot, crying. Nothing I enjoy more than carrying a screaming toddler to the car.

*sigh* (get used to this -- Dave & Dottie arrive tomorrow in the late afternoon and are staying until next Thursday, yep, that's six nights and five+ days)

as I was saying, *sigh*

I'm stressed out about their visit and they are not even here yet. I think it's time to up the Zol*oft dose again. Or drink heavily. Starting, um, now.