exhausted

We invited friends over for dinner tonight, friends with a very sweet and mellow and smiley two-year old. The wife is pregnant with their second, and we checked carefully about what is and what is not on the diet. I even got something I'd observed the two-year old eating last time I saw him. I'm fairly pleased with the menu we came up with.

Some impressions:
. Koa immediately knew what she was in for and did everything in her power to be on a different floor from the rest of us. At one point, a brown blur went shooting by -- if you didn't know what to look for, you barely saw anything.
. Theo was curious and wanted to sniff, but was extremely cautious and didn't get too close. Usually he's out and about, flopping on the floor, playing, and entertaining.
. Conversations lasted about two seconds each.
. Dinner went reasonably well. And then it didn't. The two-year old hated the special food I'd gotten for him and refused to eat it. He then announced he was having ice cream for dessert. I hadn't planned to serve any, but fortunately, we had some on hand. (phew)
. Theo figured out that the kid was tied down and paraded around during dinner.
. The two-year old was ALL DONE and let us know that repeatedly until the rest of us were all done too.
. At some point, the screaming started and nearly simultaneously, the rubbing of eyes started.
. Then, on an excursion to get another book, the child fell on the tile floor, which was slippery with humidity, and really started screaming. Poor kid. By this time, he was tired, cranky, annoyed at being told not to touch anything, not interested in any toys or books, throwing things. Did I mention he's two? And is cutting a couple of teeth? Bad combination.
. I forgot, or actually, it didn't occur to me, to kid proof the house. I'm not sure it's actually possible in this house, and the parents were extraordinarily attentive, but still. If we ever invite a two-year old over again, I'll have a serious talk with the parents about whether it's a good idea.
. Our visitors were here for 2.5 hours and finally declared uncle and went home.
. Just before they left, they did a diaper change, which easily took two people and might have taken a third had the third had a clue what to do. More screaming, worse than what had occurred after the fall, ensued.
. Soon after the front door closed, the cats came out of hiding.
. And I'm exhausted.

Sweet friends, sweet kid on every other occasion, and tonight was not his night. Maybe next time...