Mike Meyers Helps Put Our Baby B to Sleep

We've been busy at Chez Downs the last week, but for the life of me I can't remember why. Oh, yes. Life. It keeps getting in the way. The girls (Margaret and Patricia... I have to remember I have three girls when I say that) have been busy with Summer Safari where they are performing in Seussical the Musical Jr., coincidentally in the same building where I work. So I get to peek in every now and then and see how rehearsals are going. They perform on Thursday in the morning and evening. On Friday, it was raining (as usual. It's been a wet, cold summer) so we all went to the Clinton County Fair after I got out of work. We were somewhat disappointed, not so much because of the sogginess but because it was just dull. It's a small fair anyway, but it seemed to be lacking in things to see this year. So it wasn't hard to convince the older girls that it was time to go without having gone on any rides on the midway. Brigid, on the other hand, loved the cows and horses she saw and got very excited whenever we were in their vicinity. Several cows and a few horses moo'ed and whinnied just for her.

That night, Jack and Patricia headed up to the lake on their own because Jack had to help his dad with the hay early the next morning, so it was Margaret, Brigid and I on our own in Plattsburgh for the night. Margaret wanted to go to Border's for the big Harry Potter roll-out. Although we had ordered our copy through Amazon.com, she still wanted to go and watch the show. Plus, she had arranged to meet her friend, Maggie, there. Maggie was getting her book from Border's. We did a little grocery shopping and then headed over to the mall about 8:30. The Border's gala was going to start about 9 and Margaret wanted to be there in time to see what was going on. We had "Butter Beer" in the cafe -- a Sprite, caramel and cream concoction that, apparently, Harry drinks in the book. Brigid loved it. The parade of costumes was fun to watch as more and more people showed up to wait the three hours until the book was released. The mall closes at 9 so that end of the building was desered. I let Brigid run around unencumbered, which really wore her out. Finally, Maggie and her mom and sister showed up. They were going to stay; I had to get Brigid to bed. It was about 9:30 by now and she was starting to get floppy. So I left Margaret there -- she'd get a ride home with Maggie's mom -- and went home to get the baby to bed.

Brigid has had an affinity for "Shrek" and will watch both I and II all the way through, one after the other, if we let her. Well, after leaving Margaret at the mall, I sat with Brigid in the rocker and she wanted to hold the "Shrek" boxes while we rocked and she nursed. She wouldn't let go of them when I tried to take them away as she started drifting off. She fell asleep and as I transferred her to the crib, I tried again, but she clutched them and would cry out if I took them away. So I put her to bed with the "Shrek" boxes. When I got her in the morning to bring her in with me, she wanted to bring the boxes in with her. Jack said we've got to find her a Shrek doll or blanket or something. Those boxes are pretty hard to sleep on.

Meanwhile, Margaret didn't get home until after 1 a.m. because Maggie's number in line was a long way back. But I figured she could sleep in ... afterall, this is the last event in Harry's career, or at least until J.K. Rowling decides to write another because she's gotten used to those royalty checks flowing in.

Sleep in she did -- for her, anyway, getting up at 9 a.m. We decided to do a little garage sale shopping before heading up to the lake ourselves. It was the first nice day -- sunny and warm -- that we've had in a long time. We found a few things and then went up to the lake where we found Jack, Patricia and Grandma out at the ring. Patricia had just been up on Curly Sue and Jack was trying to get her to jump some rails without much success. Margaret wanted to ride, so we hung out at the barn for a while. Brigid loved visiting with Curly while Margaret rode Firefly on the lunge rope with Jack. After a successful stint in the ring, we all went to the sandbar for an hour at the beach. Brigid is a waterbaby, no doubt. This kid wants to be in the water...I mean really in it. She keeps trying to go under, to dive, to dunk. She gets angry if we don't let her try it, but we're afraid to let her go in like that. And because of all the rain we've had, the water was on the cold side so she was visibly shaking. But she still wanted to be in. We called it quits after about an hour and headed back to the camp. Brigid hadn't napped much -- about 10 minutes in the car on the way to the lake -- and as much as I didn't want her to, she passed out right at dinner time. I was afraid she'd not want to go to bed at a reasonable hour as a result, but she was so, so tired.

We had a campfire after dinner where Margaret and Patricia regaled us with their songs from Seussical. Brigid was content to sit there and eat the the chocolate that was supposed to be used for S'mores. I didn't have to worry too much about her not being sleepy. She fell asleep not long after the campfire ended.

Sunday was another sunny day, and Jack and Margaret got up early to do some riding. Firefly is a talented horse and a bit to handle for an inexperienced or young rider. But Jack is working with Margaret on him and she's doing very well. She may be able to ride Firefly in the next show the girls are going to do in August. She's very excited about that prospect. They went on their ride while I got Brigid ready to go. Patricia was dressed and ready: we were going back to Plattsburgh to go to Mass at St. Peter's instead of going to Lyon Mountain. Jack had to work anyway, so we figured we'd go to Mass and he could stay at the lake and go kayaking, something he hasn't been able to do all summer.

We made it to Mass in Plattsburgh, then had a nice lunch, just us girls, afterward at Perkins, and Brigid was hungry but fussy. Sundays throw her off her regular schedule where she's eating lunch at 11 and having her nap by noon. We got home and it was after 1 p.m. and she still hadn't fallen asleep. I brought her in bed with me and finally we both took a nap. I was beat. It was a beautiful day, but I just couldn't wake up. When she got up from her nap, she wanted to watch "Shrek," so Patricia sat with her and watched the movie and I collapsed back into bed for another hour. Margaret, meanwhile, was lost in Hogwarts, where she had been since getting her book from Amazon on Saturday morning. I'm surprised she didn't have the book open on her lap while in the saddle. Sunday night I had a nice email from Grandma Wright checking on our plans for vacation next week when we go to Buffalo, a call from Aunt Sandy, who was also checking on our plans, (while at the same time Grandma was calling HER to tell her my plans LOL) and then Aunt Sandy put Cassandra on the phone to talk to her cousins. Margaret and Patricia are looking forward to a visit to Build a Bear with her. Like they say in the military, four days and a wake-up before we head to Buffalo.

I had a day-long retreat on Monday at work, so I didn't get to see my girls until almost dinner time. But everyone was tired Monday night, that's for sure. No arguments from any of them when it was bedtime. Brigid has been getting very good at going to bed drowsy insteady of sound asleep, and she hasn't been screaming and crying when I've put her in her crib. I hope this is a sign -- a good sign -- that she's getting used to falling asleep on her own, surrounded by her crib doll, beardog and Shrek. I've got to find her a Shrek substitute. Those boxes are leaving creases on her cheeks.