Tali and Mama time

Tali and I have time with just the two of us every Tuesday and Thursday morning, while Mateo is at preschool.  I have suddenly realized that this time is very limited now, since the new baby will be coming and then both Tali and her brother will be in preschool next year at the same time.  So, I thought I would write a little about what we've been up to on our special mornings.

On Tuesdays, we have a standing playdate with Amanda, her son, Cooper, and Larkin, a little girl that they babysit.  Often Erin and her sons Mateo and Ciaran join the party, too.  In nice weather, like yesterday, when it was in the 40s and not raining, we try to get the kids outside as much as possible.  In rainy weather, we usually end up at one coffee shop or another.  Portland has a growing list of cafes that cater to families and Amanda and Erin have encyclopedic knowledge of all of them, so there's never a shortage of places to go. 

Here's a photo of the kids this week at the park.  It got so cold that even the bigger kids got too cold, so we ended up at a cafe shortly after this.

We've tried indoor play parks and are going to the library next week, so there's a lot of variety.  Natalia loves to play with all the other kids, who are all older than she is except for baby C, although sometimes you wouldn't know it.  She'll be begging to play with Cooper and then get all shy and refuse to even look at him when we finally get there.  Anyway, it's a nice part of our week and I hope we can continue it even after Drizzle is here.  Also, Tuesdays are our grocery days, so we usually throw in a frantic grocery run before the playdate starts.

On Thursdays, I try to keep the morning open for just us.  We usually spend some time taking care of stuff around the house or cooking.  She's usually thrilled to play in the sink while I throw a meal together or straighten up or whatever.  Then we do what she wants to do, like riding her tricycle outside, going for a walk, or going somewhere else.  She asked to go to the Children's Museum tomorrow, so we're going to do that. 

She is such a special, sweet little girl and I cherish the one-on-one time I get with her every week.  We're going to have to work hard to make that happen with every kid once we have three of them, but I hope we can build up to it.  I'm just putting this out there in gratitude for the alone time I've had with her during these past two school years, and in hopes of continuing it in some fashion even after she starts school and Drizzle becomes part of our lives.