Thank God for the Rain!

Thank you God, I loved this rainy day! It rained yesterday, today and it's going to rain tomorrow. For those of you not living in central Texas right now this may not seem like a big deal but we are going on a 2 year drought (yes, two years without any significant rain) and this rain was much needed. It certainly won't get us out of our severe drought but it will give our green grass (what is left of it) a nice drink of water.

This may seem really weird, but I just love rainy days. Let me explain. Rainy days are the only days that my mind and body slow down. (Just ask David...) When it's sunny out I go, go, go and go (and go some more). It's as if the sun energizes me to get stuff done. I don't stop for anything and am constantly cleaning, cooking, baking, working, doing laundry or getting something done (even if that is working on my tan at the pool and even then I am making some list or working :) However, when it rains my mind and body go into rest mode. I love to sit in a quiet house and just listen to the rain. Sometimes I'll bake some cookies or read or do a little work but when it rains these activities are done over a longer period of time and I am completely relaxed. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I think it has rained like four times since Blaine was born and he was only awake during one of these raining spells so today we enjoyed the rain on the back porch. He was a little confused. He kept pointing and saying "rain" but then didn't really know what to do about it.

We eventually had to move our activities indoors. It's amazing how a bowl, some water, 10 ice cubes, dry noodles and grapes can occupy a toddler's attention for an hour. Science class Mama Lyon style: (I think they teach you not to eat your experiments in science lab but Blaine and I haven't reached that portion of class yet.)

I also have a funny story about putting Blaine in time-out. We've been putting Blaine in time-out for about 2 months. We tell him no once, no twice with a time-out warning, and third strike he's in time-out. I wonder when time-outs lose their effectiveness because Blaine had over 15 time-outs yesterday (but only 5 today.) Hmmm? The four reasons Blaine has been going to time-out lately: hitting me in the face (and then trying to kiss me), jumping on the glass coffee table, turning the TV on and off repeatedly (thus wearing out the $175 bulb) and opening and closing the refrigerator door. Today he really caught on to the time-out deal because he was putting himself in time-out. Here is how it usually goes down:

Blaine opens fridge for the third time.

Mama takes Blaine to time out and tells him why he's in time-out.

Blaine: Sitting nicely in time out says, "No, no, Mama. No, no."

Mama: "That's right, you did a no-no opening the fridge door when Mama said No. You are going to sit here in time out for 10 seconds."

Blaine: "Sit. No-no. All Done."

Mama: "Time-out is done now, you do not open the fridge, that's a no-no."

After the time-out I always hug Blaine (which is why I think he really likes time-out).

So today I was sitting in the living room and I heard, "No, no. Sit" and I saw Blaine run from the kitchen to his time-out spot where he promptly sat down. I looked in the kitchen and saw that the fridge door was wide open. Nice. My kid can put himself in time-out.

Funny, huh?