"It's raining, it's pouring

The old man is snoring

He bumped his head

And he went to bed

And he didn't get up in the morning."

I was awakened by this serenade, performed about an inch from my ear far too early this morning. When the song failed to obtain the desired result, AJ resorted to trying to peel my eyelids back with his fingers.

"Mommy? Wake up now!"

I have been completely blitzed by a morning of trying to keep AJ entertained indoors, thanks to this fresh deluge.

We quickly exhausted old favorites like hide-and-seek, assorted puzzles, I spy, and crayons. Finally, I decided we needed to get out. We hurried to the car and headed out to do some errands. First stop, Restoration Hardware to pick up some paint for our back hall and some sample hardware for our kitchen cabinets. AJ immediately found a miniature pool table and spent a good 20 minutes rolling the little balls around the felt top, pushing them into the pockets, and then removing them to arrange them in numerical order inside the triangular rack. He was so enthralled, that even when I mentioned that the next stop on our route would be the toy store, he did not want to leave. Finally, he decided the pool table would be the perfect present for his uncle and we should get it for him (he might be right about that actually, however I�m fairly certain he has an ulterior motive).

We visited a toy store we�d never been to before in search of a present for his friend D., whose birthday party we are attending on Saturday. The store was a wonderland and we were there for well over an hour, trying out racecar sets and train sets, marble tracks and pogo sticks. Departing this particular store was somewhat more traumatic. I made our purchase and joined their mailing list, spelling out my name at top volume as AJ wailed piteously at being forced to leave the marbles behind.

His reward for such behavior? A trip to the grocery store to get milk, which, incidentally is the one thing I completely forgot to purchase. Looks like we�ll be heading out again this afternoon. I would much rather barricade myself in the window seat with a good book. Given today's schedule, however, that book is more likely to be "Green Eggs and Ham" than any of the stack on my nightstand.

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