On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Day of Christmas

So yesterday, I wrote a post, but due to poor internet connectivity, I lost the whole thing.  So, here is an abbreviated version as well as today's note.

Dec 26 - My little love, Max, and I made Christmas cookies today!  I've been wanting to make cookies for days, but even with several trips to the store for supplies, it just didn't happen until today.

David had his first day at his new job today and is very excited about the opportunity.  We miss having him work from home, but at least his commute is only 7 minutes door-to-door. 

Dec 27 - Our friend, Dan, and son, Brodi came from Denver to visit today.  David had to put in a few hours at work, so Dan and I took the boys to Garden of the Gods to climb the rocks and run around.  I think we sufficiently tired them out. I have some great photos of them, but they are all on Dan's phone. I will add these later.



Dec 28 - Wow!  What a day!  Poor Max wasn't feeling his best today and Cole refused to sleep.  So, we did what any sleep-deprived parents would do:  we packed a cooler with snacks and stocked the diaper bag, and then loaded the boys up into the car.  We decided to lull them to sleep while we drove to Park Meadows for a little retail therapy.  Just kidding.  Well, kind of.  We did load them up for a drive so they would sleep, but it wasn't totally selfish, I promise.  A little give and take.  After a nice long nap during our drive, they were like new. 

Cole screaming through his nap

I'm back to sleep training with Cole.  I'm looking for ways to corral Max while I work on teaching Cole to fall asleep on his own.  Max isn't into independent play.  I can't seem to get him to sit in one room while I go into another.  He also doesn't quite understand how to whisper or not talk, making bringing him with me into Cole's room impossible.  Short of actually gating him into the playroom, I'm out of ideas.  Those gates may go up soon and I'm looking at some toddler programs to get him out of the house here and there for socialization while I work with Cole.  What in the world do people do in this situation?