cold

...in both ways. Suddenly it's late fall, without any warning, and we've been sick. The coughing and aching seems to be passing slowly, but it was rough last week. Max got it first, followed by Liam, then me. Mike, as always, seems to escape everything with his iron constitution. Both boys were super-cranky and acted out all week, and the weekend featured some truly spectacular fits, the likes of which we hadn't before seen. On Sunday, the boys were up at 4:30 a.m., and by 9, they were so tired and crabby that nothing would make them stop screaming/whining/hitting/fighting. Finally we put on their warm winter coats, buckled them into their carseats, and drove around aimlessly until the warmth and enforced stillness did their jobs and the boys slept. That may have been a turning point, I'm not sure, but today they were in much better spirits and we finally achieved our goal of "having a nice night." (This has become very important to Liam.)