I was all upset because I set a New Year's goal to write on my blog at least once a month and I thought I had forgotten last month. It's only January, and already I have failed in my goal. But then I got on today and realized my last entry was January 1st!! Hooray! So I am blogging again today and hopefully will be able to keep this up all year. It's only once a month, right?

This morning has been pretty normal for me. I just got the kids off for school and we all waved as the bus drove away. I walk into the kitchen to finish clearing the kitchen table. As I went down the hall to put something in the dirty clothes, I notice Russell in his room. He has completely emptied his diaper bag all over his room and is chewing on something. It is a lego. He easily gives it up to me with a bunch of spit -- he is always very easygoing about most things. I shoo him away and pick everything up. As I finish, he walks in, snacking on something he obviously pulled out of the garbage can. I hate it that he does that, but it is seriously his favorite past time. I really get after him for that and swat him on his bum, pretty hard I thought, but he runs away laughing hysterically.

So I put the lid back on the trash can and go see where he went. Someone left the bathroom door open and he has opened cupboards and began throwing random things into the bathtub. I pick everything up, shoo him away, and shut the bathroom door. I take a bathroom break and soon hear too many noises in the kitchen. When I arrive, he has pulled off a plate and fork from the table (we had pancakes -- sticky with lots of syrup). He was pouring it all over himself and the floor and licking it up hungrily. Nice. So I picked him up, cleaned him off, and put him down. He started running as fast as he could back to his sticky spot of the floor. I have to hold the back of his shirt while I tried to rinse off and squeeze a rag. Then I let go and raced him to the sticky spot. I have to wash it up while I keep him away with my leg. He wails for a little while and then walks away. He doesn't throw many fits, unlike the rest of my children... After that, I finish clearing off the table so he won't pull down more dishes. I walk down the hall and find him again in his room. This time he found his new package of diapers I just opened last night and has pulled out all of them and proceeded to throw them all over his room. I shove the diapers into a corner and call it good.

I still haven't started any laundry, and Erin was crying all morning that she didn't have any pants to wear (she had several pair, just not any that she would agree to wear). I go into the laundry room to start a load. Russell follows me. The laundry room is his favorite place in the house besides the garbage can. I let him help me put clothes into the washer for a minute, but somehow he sneaks around me to grab the detergent cup. I use liquid detergent and keep the bottle and the measuring cup right behind the door. He knows that. He loves to grab the cup, pour out the little bit that is usually remaining in it, and then get down and spread it all over. He had succeeded in grabbing the cup and emptying it onto the floor before I noticed he had it. So I grabbed it, scooted him out of the laundry room, got the washing machine started and shut the door. He walked away, not a care in the world, and I went back in to clean it up.

I come back into the kitchen and he is in the garbage again (AAAAAAHHHHHH!!). He apparently couldn't reach anything good this time, so he has just tipped it over. A can with tomato sauce is spilled on the floor and he started walking towards me with an empty can of cream of mushroom soup. 

Where is he now while I'm writing this blog, you ask? I'm in the kitchen, so at least I know he hasn't been in the garbage, and the bathroom doors are closed. He is downstairs... but you can count on it that he is wreaking as much havoc as possible. How can a 1-year-old, the most pleasant baby I have ever had, cause this many problems??? I have decided my only recourse is to sell him to the gypsies. Does anyone have a number I can call?