Oh toddlerhood!

Joe was gone in Las Vegas for 5 days...actually it was 5 nights and 6 days. He went for a work conference (poor guy). And Levi chose that time to become a one man wrecking crew. Like full on "I am a toddler and I will destroy your house" mode. I don't think this change in behavior was actually due to Joe's absence. More likely it correlates with the fact that when Joe is gone I don't sleep well. As in I can't fall asleep until I am EXHAUSTED which is typically not until 2 am or later. And my earliest riser is up at 6! Not enough sleep makes me a very tired and grouchy mom. Oh and not very vigilant either. Apparently:/ And Levi definitely took advantage of his sleep deprived mother. 

The first morning I got up with all my kids and then layed down on the couch while they were watching cartoons and promptly fell asleep. I woke up 30 minutes later to discover Levi had torn apart an entire roll of paper towel and covered me in individual paper towel sheets. I still don't know how he got that roll of paper towels!

Another time he found a rogue marker and went crazy coloring on books. Library books! Later in the span of a two minute phone conversation that I attempted to have with a friend Levi scaled the kitchen table and stood on it screaming until he had my full attention. He then grabbed his sister's oatmeal and tossed it on the floor. That successfully ended that conversation. 

Some of his new favorite activities include finding his sisters' school supplies and dumping them all out...including all 96 crayons, smearing glue on every horizontal surface (though he prefers the entryway floor), pouring cereal across the entire living room, and dumping every toy bin in the playroom and then leaving the room without actually playing. He also loves to search out contraband. So far he has found scissors, his big brother's Legos, Joe's allergy pills, and my sewing kit. All of these items are stored out of his reach. Or at least I thought they were. Gone are the days of sitting quietly building duplos and reading board books together. The relative peace and quiet of babyhood has left my house. And general chaos and disarray has arrived in its wake. I'm not sure I'm ready because this kid might be my most destructive toddler yet!

(No actual pictures of his destruction were taken. I was just trying to survive and make sure he did too.)