We did our final cleaning blitz on Saturday in anticipation of our real estate agent arriving at noon today with her camera and the listing paperwork. (Bedroom and bathroom photos still to be added--they needed a bit of enhancement to make them lighter.) Either because of our noise or just because it was the worst possible time to do it, Edward cut his nap short and came out of his room while we had the kitchen disassembled (anything movable out of the room) to mop the floor. As a testament to the fact that we usually accomplish this task while he's otherwise occupied or asleep (and, let's be honest, we don't do it that often anyway) Edward was very interested in this process. He kept asking "What's that, Mom?" as I explained about the mop, bucket and the fact that he couldn't come in the kitchen because the floor was wet.

The whole thing must have been quite distracting, because he didn't notice the refrigerator stripped of all its adornments (including magnetic alphabet) until this morning. (After we finished cleaning, we went out to the library and for dinner because we couldn't face watching him progressively negating our back-breaking labor.) He walked in with John to have breakfast and immediately said, "What happened? My letters? My 'W,' my 'C?!" We're not sure why these two letters were singled out, but it was a funny way to start the day.

Later, when Kim, our agent, arrived, he did not understand why she didn't come straight to the kitchen where he was eating lunch. "Where Kim go?" He kept asking as she made her way through the rest of the house snapping pictures while he finished eating and we cleaned up after him. Or maybe it was just that he didn't understand why someone would be taking pictures without pointing the camera at him. (Blog readers may be wondering the same thing as we now have two posts in a row with no Edward photos!)

Today's nap schedule worked out perfectly though--he went down just as she was ready to sit down with us to sign all the listing agreement paperwork and didn't wake up until after John and I had both had a little time to just sit and veg. We needed it! After naps I took Edward and Daniel to a park across the street from a friend of mine so we could have our first chance to visit since Daniel was born. It was great to see her and we managed to squeeze in a fair amount of catching up while following Edward from swing to slide to merry-go-round.

Unfortunately, he took a little spill and managed to skin his knee just where his previous "owie" was finally almost healed. At first it seemed like we'd just be able to "brush it off" and keep playing, but he seemed to lose interest and we'd been there almost an hour so I kind of nudged him toward the car by telling him he could show K. his sunglasses. He never really cried this whole time. But once in the car he started whining and worked himself into full-scale hysteria in the five minutes it took to drive home. I had to call John from the garage to have him come out and get us because I knew Edward would not walk while I carried Daniel.

John got him in the house and cleaned the scrape before putting on the all-important band-aid. But he just kept crying and even turning on Thomas the Tank Engine on TV wasn't enough to distract him. Or at least not fully. We kept telling him we couldn't watch Thomas if he was crying so he'd stop and watch quietly for a bit, but then cry, "My owie!" and slide right back into the wailing. After dinner he was still whining about it and was actually limping and doing a stiff-leg walk to avoid bending the injured knee. So I imagine it really does hurt quite a bit. But we couldn't be too solicitous or it would be a really long summer of every little bump and scrape requiring medical treatment.

I hope it feels better by morning. He won't forget about it--he was still talking about his last owie and telling me to be "very careful" washing it in the bath last night and it happened a week ago last Tuesday!

In Daniel's world, the sleep situation is a little better. It's hard to establish cause and effect--he's not crying as much since we set the cradle on the floor, but he's still waking up and needing the pacifier or some parental soothing. I think it's an improvement as long as he'll be comforted without eating. I'm just not up for being a 24-hour buffet for the next nine months! I think the waking has to do with being very congested and having trouble breathing. Our doctor told us when Edward was an infant that babies are "obligate nose-breathers," so it's tough when your nose is full of snot and you don't realize you could be breathing through your mouth.

Here he is awake and interactive: