Weekend Shenanigans

After Milo’s first week of kindergarten (which went great, by the way!), I spent such good moments with my boys. The four of us had a lot of down time and talked so much. It was funny, after an entire summer of having the three of them to myself, I kind of started to take it for granted. With Milo in school, it felt a lot calmer and quieter around the house, but I really missed him. Oliver and Emil did too. In fact, all last week they could sense when 3:30 was rolling around and started getting antsy to go walk to pick him up.

This weekend we did a lot of walking, some play grounding, and Milo even rode his bike while I walked (fast) the double stroller on a 3-mile jaunt around our town. He did great; stopping at every street before getting my approval to cross, riding on the right when passing opposite-walking or riding people, and making really good judgment calls. Hard to believe he just learned how to ride that bike a month ago! When Andrew returns from his latest trip, the first thing Milo wants to do is go on a run/bike ride with him!

We also made it to the Botanical Gardens, where Emil stayed out of the fish pond and safely in the sandbox! He did manage to go under water on Sunday during our last trip to the swimming pool this summer (but he went under on purpose this time!). 

And I managed to keep the house somewhat tidy with the help from some timer-eagar little boys (have you ever tried this? I learned it from our once-nanny-now-friend Elisa (also an amazing photographer) on encouraging little ones to clean up their huge messes at the end of the day: set the time for 2 or 3 minutes, then have them work together to try to clean up all the toys before the timer goes off… and the next time, try to get them to beat their last time. It’s actually really fun to get in on. I think I need to make more of life’s chores into games, personally). But keeping the kitchen clutter-free is a daily struggle. 

I do prefer it mostly cleared-out, tidy, and very clean, so I guess it’s worth all the work to keep it that way! 

Oh! And on Saturday afternoon, Milo had his very first-ever circus class!!! He absolutely loved it. My friend Ingrid took him this week so I wouldn’t have to drag Emil out during his nap time, but I’ll surely get some pictures of it next weekend. So cool, and right up his ally. Sunday morning our friends invited us over for waffles, of which Emil ate 3. He is a waffle- and pancake-hound.

Milo was much more pensive, but less sad and dramatic these past three days. He seems to be going through a real emotional growth spurt. Have you ever experienced this with any of your kids? I was going to say that he has been extremely moody all summer, but really I think he’s been sorting through some parts of life in his mind that can be difficult. And out of respect to his privacy I will leave it at that. Love him so much. I love all my boys like my heart is too big for my body. They fill me with joy, and I feel overcome sometimes at my luck in getting to watch them grow every day.