Winter simplicity

The sky sifted out around 5 inches of white for us on Thursday afternoon, and by Friday, Connor was so enticed by the thought of rolling around in the snow, he could barely stand it.

I myself was much more enticed by the prospect of lounging under a blanket on the couch while sipping coffee...but I put Brenna down for her morning nap and got out our cold weather gear.

That's what we do as parents, isn't it? We go out of our way to make memories.

We built our first snowman, and I dragged Connor around the yard in a little sled that I bought the summer before he was 2, but didn't get to use last year because we never got snow. (Not to mention we were a little occupied by someone's arrival into our family.) I pulled that thing around and around while he ordered "do it again!" and my terribly out-of-shape self was quite winded by the time I declared enough.

It was the highlight of his week.

Brenna is doing much better these days. The infections seem to have cleared up, though her skin still isn't quite back to its normal. But she is comfortable again, and back to her sassy, playful self, which only seems to get more and more playful as she gets older.

She has found she loves to be spun in circles and tickled, and she will throw herself back across my lap to experience the falling sensation and will loudly cackle as I tickle around her ribs and neck. (note to self: must catch on video.)

Brenna is also sleeping less during the day, and much to my shock, is dropping her morning nap. Well, actually she is dropping her afternoon nap, which renders her an absolutely terror to be around once the clock nears 6:30. So my goal this week is to get her on a new one-nap schedule, figuring out all new feeding times too...and I'm pretty excited about this newfound flexibility in our schedule, opening us up for morning play dates and outings. I even signed both kids up for a 5-week music class starting in March!

While these days of cold keep us indoors and at home most of the time, there is also a kind of peace that comes with being housebound - life is just less hectic in the winter. I'm looking forward to all that comes with warmer weather, especially having more flexibility in our days with just one naptime to adhere to...but right now, I'm still enjoying the simplicity of the winter - our days and nights at home.