January 2

My sister Emily texted early this morning, asking if we were available for a morning playdate. How could we say no? She, Max, and Jace arrived right after breakfast, and we all had so much fun! Lily and Jace - who were born 3 days apart - are both at such a fun age, and surprised me by interacting with each other quite a bit. Even though Max is just over a year younger than Caleb, they are also perfect playmates for each other. And Daisy didn't feel left out at all. She was happy to be part of all the excitement! Meanwhile, Emily and I sat, drank coffee, and laughed at our children's antics. Perfect.

Lily and Jace played piano together, and it was just darling.

Of course you want to see a video of our young virtuosos, don't you?

Maybe only the Mommies and Grandma will enjoy the video, but still. Posterity and whatnot.

Jace rocked his Hawkeye shirt and Daisy's sunglasses. That kid knows he's cool.

And Lily was really entertained by all of it.

After lots of running and building with Legos, Caleb convinced Max to play Lego Star Wars with him. Max has never played the game, and probably never even played with a Wii before, but he was a great sport. The boys had  so much fun!

Just as Emily was getting ready to load the boys up in the car, we noticed a squirrel right in front of the windows. He had found some bird seed buried in the mulch, and was digging pretty happily. The kids were so excited, and watched Mr. Squirrel for about 10 minutes. Who knew one persistent squirrel could be so entertaining!

He was really close, though, which was part of the appeal. We see lots of squirrels around here, but we don't normally get such great seats to the show! (Do you see the fuzzy blur just by Caleb's forehead? That was our squirrel.)

The rest of the day happened as normal - Lily actually napped today, though for less than two hours. At bedtime, all three kids were supposed to be brushing their teeth, but I happened to discover Lily doing this:

Yes. She is brushing the T. Rex's teeth.

But as soon as she noticed me, she immediately began pretending to brush her teeth again.

"What, Mom? I've been brushing my teeth this whole time!"

This girl is going to be trouble someday!