Tonight (or Yummy the Wild One)

Yummers slept for 3 1/2 hours this afternoon.  This is not totally unusual for him.  But today, I didn't put him down until noon, and he dozed soundly until 3:30, when I brought his "guys" home from school.

Once homework was finished, we played outside in the warm, fresh air until dinner time.  The big boys played with the neighbors, and Yummy followed them everywhere: outside playing basketball, upstairs to build and wreck Legos, and even sneaking out the open gate to see his favorite Karen and her turtle Daisy (Karen even took him to play at her house and kept him for a bit so that I could finally get something done!)

      So, at 7:30 tonight, when all the other kids were tucked into their beds (with contraband flashlights and books later found with Isaac and Brady), Yummy was wildly jumping in his.  He would hold on to the railing of his crib, and jump as hard as he could for several jumps, and then land flat on his back or little bum.  And then he would laugh my favorite belly laugh and do it all over again.  When he needed a little break from the jumping, he would pick up one of the many stuffed animals that live in his crib, and hurl it over the edge onto Avery, who was desperately trying to pretend she was sleeping. 



A quieter moment in bed for Will

 I listened to this from my bedroom for about 20 minutes, at which point a very tired Avery came in, begging for some respite from her attacker. 

So Will and I retired to the basement for a little play time.  I built a train track and he pulled around the trains, naming them each by name as he played with them.  He loaded their cars with trees from the crane, and then systematically took each tree out and laid it perfectly side by side, just to repeat it again. 

I thought about how rare it is for him to just come down to the basement and play.  The other kids used to play and play and play for hours on end with the toys, but not Will.  He really just wants to follow me around most of the day.  Then I realized that it is because the other kids always had each other to play with.  Always another warm body around to bounce a ball off of or crash cars with.  

And it made me miss my little kids, who just seem to get older by the minute.