January 12

Today was a good day. 

Eli slept last night, and napped nearly the whole time Daisy was at preschool.

When he was awake, he was hilarious. He is pulling up on everything he can find, trying to cruise, and even climbed up on top of a Star Wars treasure chest that Caleb got for Christmas. He had no idea what to do with himself once he got up there, but luckily I was right there to help him back down.

When we picked Daisy up from preschool, she asked if we could have a picnic for lunch.

It was 23 degrees out. 

So we improvised. 

I warned the kids that Eli would likely crawl right over the picnic and maybe attach their food, but they were prepared.

I wasn't far off. He did destroy the picnic a few times, but mostly he was content with dumping his plate of food in his lap.

I made the kids a fancy lunch with skewers of food: sausage, cheese, and bell pepper on toothpicks, plus apple slices cut like flowers. Sometimes, guys, I am on it. Hopefully those are the times the kids remember.

Caleb pretended his skewers were light sabers.

Jedi Master Caleb!

The girls went down for their naps, but Eli was not having it. I spent a solid hour trying to get him down while Caleb read independently and played some Dreambox, but finally I just quit.

Caleb wanted to take pictures of Eli being cute. I picked a spot and adjusted the camera settings, and then he directed me: "Make Eli smile!"

He did a pretty good job!

The kids all ate their dinner in record time, so while they took their baths, I baked up a batch of these brownies. Then we all enjoyed them together, with almond milk for the kids and coffee for the adults. Eli even had a few bites of brownie, and loved them. Now they're all in bed, and I begin the task of mentally preparing myself for Caleb's swim and fitness class tomorrow. I have a few ideas for making it better; we'll see how it goes.