Normal life

Here are the boys and their favorite sitter reading together.  It is a lovely thing to come home from a Saturday afternoon matinée to a tidy house, boys having already eaten dinner and sitting happily together reading on the couch.  We love our babysitter!

After much deliberation we decided that it is time to put Robert in a toddler program a couple of times a week.  Harry at his age had been in some form of childcare for 2 - 3 days a week since 3 months old.  Our circumstances are different and so Robert has mainly been with me.  I try to make sure he gets out to activities like story times at the library and has playdates and he is a social child.  However, now I think he could use even more time playing and now that he doesn't nap, I could use an hour or 2 to get things done around the house, without worrying that he is wrecking the DVD player (happened) or having to have him tag along and try to help with the cleaning and really make it impossible to clean.

So the picture above is Robert with what he thinks he will need to have to go to "school".  He's got on his dress shoes, backpack (full of toys he selected), Harry's mittens, and a winter hat.  He was rather disappointed because he wanted to head out of the house instantly and get on the school bus.  I have tried to explain that unlike Harry he won't take the bus to school, but hopefully he'll be happy once he gets there :-)  I'm still a bit uncertain about letting him go, but it has to happen at some point and we both seem to be ready overall.

This is Robert with my friend Susan and her daughter Willa.  They are reading a book on the cold floor of the kitchen (not that it isn't cold everywhere right now), because Harry was trying to watch Batman in the living room (the old version that I watched as a child - it is hysterical).  The little ones were running around roaring and then standing right up in front of the television.  I don't know if they were purposefully torturing Harry, but they were doing a good job.  I am also in the room, but I was putting together the last preparations on dinner.