The Evening's Memorabilia

(5-6pm) - Baby A and I go to fetch D at daycare and the 3 of us walk over to the grocery store, with A in the awesome floral baby sling (that LePapa wears inside out so that it's navy and not girly-floral) and D in the stroller, eating rice crackers and hummus. I'm forever grateful that she likes such a healthy and easy snack! 

(6-7pm) - We make it home with $45 worth of random groceries and hang out outside a bit while LePapa prepares food. It's chilly. D wants to wear gloves, but not her scarf. She seems to think that if she answers with a cheerful "no, thank you!" then we will respect her refusals. Supper is brussel sprouts, sausage and Mini-wheats for D, and brussel sprouts, pizza and salad for us, followed by chocolate ice cream for all. Our most frequenly heard phrase whenever we sit down for a meal together is "Tell me a story."

(7-8pm) - Usually D sits on the carpet and plays with her Playmobils after supper. Tonight she insists that one of us come with her right away. She says she's scared to leave the table by herself because I told her a story that had a scary part. The scary part is that one of the characters had a green face. Oops. We play on the carpet for a while. Her little Playmobil girl is called "Meesh" but then it evolves into "Leash." I introduce my guy as "Patrick;" she calls him Hectic and then Panic. LePapa walks around with A in his arms but after a while he wants to nurse and then sleeps in my arms for a bit.

(8-9pm) - We forego the bath to play a family round of Candyland. When LePapa gets to the Candy Castle first, D says, "Let's keep gaming until we all get to the castle with the green guy." Pajamas on, the 4 of us lie in bed and read: Pinkalicious, The Gingerbread Man, Now I Eat My ABCs, and My Pretty Pink Counting Purse. D drinks "hot milk" that LePapa has frothed for her with the espresso machine. Baby A is awake now, and look up at the books like they might be a bit over-stimulating.

(9-11pm) - I lie in the dark, D falling asleep on my left as I nurse A on the right. When D falls asleep, I get up to rock A to sleep, read a bit of my novel (Lionel Shriver's So Much For That), and spend some time on-line, sitting at the desk with incredibly poor posture as baby sleeps on my chest.