One small day

We recently changed Brixton's schedule so he's now at preschool four days a week. This came on the heels of our parent-teacher conference, when the teacher gently suggested this would help his social life. ( Both of my kids form deep, intense bonds with just one special friend, a practice that has its advantages and its challenges.)

So, we made the change. I realized that even though I love having him home with me, right now he needs the peer group and the interactions from school. And next year he'll be in Kindergarten five days a week, so I guess this is good practice. (Hold me. No, I have no idea what I'm going to do.)

Now that we are down to just one weekday together, it feels that much more precious. I don't want to drag him along on errands. I just want to do fun things together.

Like go to the coffee shop and play with trains. Or build giant Lego structures and listen to all his inventive stories. Or play long meditative games of Monopoly while winding a ball of yarn.

Towards the end of the day, he put on his Halloween costume and we snuggled in bed together. He told me he was going to be my dinosaur and protect me.

I am holding on and savoring these small days.

a sneak peak...

 

Every so often we attempt to have a family movie night. This is harder than you might think because we have the following rules: 1. the movie must be something that adults can sit through without wanting to scream. (Sorry Dora, you're out.) 2. the movie must be something that kids can watch without the plot being too "scary". (This eliminates almost everything- including Cinderella, the life of a sea turtle, and Wallace and Gromit.) Mostly we have been without success. On Friday we tried to watch the Land Before Time which is about cute and cuddly dinosaurs. Also, a T-Rex. Yeah so that wasn't the best but we actually made it through two-thirds of the movie which is a record for us.

 

                                Cuddling up for the movie. They always get so excited by the idea of it.....


                  We went to a pumpking carving party on Saturday which is a neat way of getting the job done while also socializing with friends and neighbors, all of us up to our elbows in pumpkin goop.

 

 

The faces on our porch.

 

 

The next party we went to was a costume party so you get an exclusive look

at our Halloween festivities this year.

 

                                            
                                            Confused? She's a butterfly driving a truck, concept inspired by a
                                            favorite Caspar Babypants song.

                                             
                                              and Brixton really wanted to be a monster,
                                              a "fwendly monster." Check and check.

 It's nice when your outfit also makes a great table.

                        and thankfully the party came equiped with a swing to burn off some of the sugar.


I can't believe we haven't even gotten to the real holiday yet. whew.