Taste of Summer

We have been enjoying marvelous weather here in Madison! What a nice change from much of this winter--sunny days with highs in the mid-70s, perfect for being outside. For this week it has appeared that we've mostly skipped summer and headed straight into spring. It's been fun to let Lydia wear spring and summer dresses and my favorite of all, BARE baby feet. I love the first summer (before mobility sets in) where my babies can be barefoot all day every day. Shoes are cute, but just nothing like those little baby toes. :-)

In other notes, we had friends in town last night from out-of-state, considering a permanent move to the area. A final-stage interview and house-browsing brought them here, but we spent the evening as if they were in town for a purely social visit. We went out to dinner then headed back to our place so we could put the kids to bed and continue hanging out. When we told Joshua to give his hugs goodnight he obliged, then we mentioned that he wouldn't see our friends when he woke up because they had to go back home on an airplane. Well, you should have seen that child bolt to our front window--he thought their airplane was parked in front of the house waiting for them to climb aboard!

Joshua is definitely all boy, with trucks, planes, and trains taking much of his focus these days. He's also daddy's little man and loves to do anything that daddy does. It's fun to watch him continue to put connections together, and rewarding that he can now string together sentences that form entire thoughts, so we're really getting to know him as his own individual person.

Lydia's a charmer and has all of us smiling and laughing right along with her. Her favorite song appears to be "If you're happy and you know it"--the clapping always makes her chuckle. :-) She's been having some sleeping issues recently, seemingly related to outgrowing her sleep-positioner and bassinet. She's rolling and squirming now, so without the more confined sleeping quarters she keeps waking herself up when she wiggles. This in turn means that she thinks mommy should get up and keep her company until she falls back to sleep. She's also been taking a growth spurt recently, so we're hoping this is a brief stage/transition and that we'll have our good little sleeper back soon. (At the same time I realize that 2-3 times a night is better than it could be, so I'm not complaining too loudly.)

Finally, garage sales start in earnest this weekend! Yay! I love the bargain hunting and finding toys/clothes for the kids at really good prices. I don't know if I like the hunt or the deals more. :-) It'll be interesting to see how browsing goes with two kids, including a rambunctious two year old that I'm sure will want to inspect all the merchandise for himself this year!