Yard Sale, Army Crawling

Xander gets a ride on our neighbor's trail-a-bike.
He couldn't reach the pedals very well, so I jogged behind them.
All the stuff is from our massive three-family yard sale.

The most relaxing part of the week is always Monday morning, after Xander's been dropped off at school and the nanny has arrived to take care of Kai. The boys are wonderful, but wow, a lot of work. Fortunately, every day is filled with moments that make it all worth it. 


This week's big activity (aside from Xander's play date with a friend from school on Saturday) was the yard sale. We teamed with our upstairs neighbors and one of their friends and filled the front yard and driveway with an incredible amount of stuff. We've been going through closets, the garage, storage shed, and under bed storage for a month to cull only the finest items for the sale (like my used Fimo, which I insisted would sell, but did not, and Micah's antifreeze, which I had doubts about but was one of the first items gone that day). Net income after subtracting the price of coffee and banana bread (an attempt to increase attendance): $80 or minimum wage. On the other hand, we donated a trunkload of kids items to Children's Hospital, and another truckload to Goodwill.


Lately, Xander has been a sweetheart. And a goofball. For example:


"Mommy, I love you all the time. I love you when you snuggle. I love you when you don't snuggle."


Sitting on the porch eating breakfast with Micah: "Daddy, I love you."


"Frackles! Pickles! Frackles! Pickles! That rhymes, right?"
"You mean freckles?"
"NO, frackles."
"Like spots on your face?"
"Yes, frackles. Frackles! Pickles! Frackles! Pickles!"


"Gyroscope, gyroscope, gyroscope."
"Are you singing a song, Xander?"
"No, I'm just saying gyroscope."
We laugh.
"It's NOT funny!"

Me, reading a Dora book. "Will you come to my birthday party? (pause) Xander, are you going to go to Dora's birthday party?"
"No, mom, I'm not in the book."

Saturday morning there was lots of giggling coming from the boys room.

Kai is officially mobile. He rocks on all fours, and pulls himself along in a surprisingly fast army crawl. It's fun to see what interests him: the computer, certain toys, mommy. He gets really excited when I come home and nearly launches himself out of the nanny's arms to get to me.

He loves eating. His menu has expanded to include spinach, broccoli, yogurt, and tofu. Whenever he hears someone eating something, he looks around and sees if he can get in on the action.

Pear and spinach: a big hit.

Kai has perfected the teary-eyed, hold me look.

  

Kai has also perfected the chunky baby look.

I leave you with a peaceful image: I'm reading on the sofa, Micah's making dinner in the kitchen, Kai's asleep, Xander's entertaining himself with something. Ahh, a moment of relaxation! And then, from the bathroom, Xander calls, "Who wants to wipe my bum?"