first day back, and toddler time

Today was Heidi's first day back at work, and my first day solo with the two kids.  

This was a little intimidating (no, a lot intimidating) because for many, many years, like decades--when I watch kids, I'm not the only responsible person in the house.  There are always others around.  Even when Heidi was born, John and Dan were five and four, old enough to help with a lot of things.

But today went great. We had a good time. 

Yesterday I saw a reader board for the Community Center advertising Toddler Time.  We went over and checked it out this morning, and it was great--well worth the three dollars.

She slept the whole time, quite happy in her outrageous, goofy hat.

After about an hour she came in search of her bottle of water and swigged almost the whole bottle down in just a few minutes.  Yeah, a girl gets thirsty tearing around like that.

When it was over, we put the socks and shoes back on and found her coat, and headed home for lunch. We had a quiet hour and a half snuggling on the couch, playing with plastic horses and watching Wild Kratts before we had to pick up the kids from school.

Lydia took over the baby for the last hour or so of the afternoon, and the others, one by one, trickled back home and joined her.

It was a lovely day.  The weather was gloomy and foul outside, but inside the gym and inside the family room it was cozy,  with warm yellow light, snug and fun.

Lots of Love, Val