Pictures from my day

Anna and Timmy trot into the kitchen, where I am making lunch.

“Holding hands!” they declare, very pleased with their little selves. And, sure enough, they are. Is there ANYTHING cuter than toddlers holding hands? Right now, faced with the cuteness of their sturdy little departing forms, wrapped in so-cuddly fleece, joined by two dimpled hands, I just can’t think of one thing.
———
“Let’s play hide-and-seek! YOU count.” Malli organizes the troops, me included.

“One … two … three … ” I do my part. The children scamper away, giggling.
“Four … five … six … ” They climb onto the couch, giggling.
“Seven … eight … nine … TEN! Here I come!”

Giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle.

Four little bodies writhe on the couch. Their faces are buried in the crease where seat cushion joins back, their little bottoms are in the air. Their hands are firmly over their faces. If they can’t see me, I can’t see them!

Giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle.
———-

Anna sits on the kitchen floor in that knee-contorting way of toddlers, bottom on the floor, knees bent at 90%, feet facing away and to the side in an angle that would have me screaming in pain and limping for a month thereafter. Anna is perfectly comfortable. She holds a cylindrical block from the large purple block bin beside her to her lips.

“Loo, loo, loo, loo!” The block is not a block. It’s an instrument of some sort. “Loo, loo, loo, loo!”

Timmy looks up from his “tower” of three blocks. Grabs one of his blocks and puts it to his lips. “Loo, loo, loo, loo.”

Anna and Timmy smile at each other. Within seconds, the other children in the room have joined the band – a wind ensemble, it seems – and there are five of them, slightly moistened blocks held to their lips, all grinning at each other as they play.

“Loo, loo, loo, loo! Loo, loo, loo, loo!”
—–

Nigel sits on the arm of the couch. (New couch. Well, new-to-us couch, with wide, outward-curving arms. Perfect for leaning back and reading, I’ve discovered.)

“You sitting on the couch, Nigel?”

“No. I’m riding a HORSIE! Giddyap!”

Four arms on two couches soon become four horses straddled by four small, gigging, shrieking cowboys.

GIDDYAP!!