Proximity

I took the kids to an indoor pool party today, in honor of one of our little buddies' fourth birthday. (His name is also Mateo, so it's hilarious when the two of them hang out together. You say "Mateo!" and two little heads swivel around.) It was a really fun party and we had a great time. The water was like a bathtub, which made even a perpetually cold person like me happy to sit and play for quite awhile.

While we were there, I was struck again by how cautious both kids are when confronted with new situations. They tend to take a long time to warm up to things, so we were in the pool for at least half an hour, with them either hovering around me or clutching onto my shoulders, before they started to get into things. Even then, when they wanted to go down the little kids' slide, they wanted me with them. There's nothing good or bad about it, it's just the way they are, but I think it's interesting that they are both so much that way.

Tali can be very independent in some ways, as can her brother, but for the most part I think they'd be happy if one of us were with them 24 hours a day. It's okay - it gives me hope that they might live near us when they grow up :) Seriously, though, I know these years are limited and that school will bring them all sorts of independence, so I'm trying to appreciate their close proximity instead of wishing they'd do a little more on their own.

Anyway, the pool party was super duper fun and we ALL had a good time, which was great. Because of all the sugar and getting home after naptime has usually started, we decided to just skip Tali's nap, so both kids were up all afternoon. We ended up seeing Apa, taking a balance bike ride (with Rosa along in the moby) around the neighborhood with Galen and Megan, and watching some of the movie Babies, which they were fascinated by. And, I gave the older two a bath with Rosa still in the moby wrap, which I was pretty proud of myself for. Sacha came and took her off my hands for the very end, but I did manage to wash their hair and all that stuff with her on board.

Tomorrow, we have another birthday party, this time at an art place, and then Sacha and Mateo are going to take Mateo's saved up "share" money to the humane society to donate it. Meanwhile, I'll get some time with just Rosa and Talia, and then we'll have dinner with Apa, who has made us a bench for our front entry and is going to bring it over. So exciting! Busy weekend. Glad to be getting into the swing of things. Although I know this is only the beginning of figuring all this out, I'm relieved that it's gone smoothly thus far. Having our family complete and everyone in close proximity is pretty awesome.