Is this what little brothers are for?

Eli and his hemet

Well he is used to wearing a helmet with his bikes. We personally don't enforce them on our back patio. But at his preschool they all wear helmets during the outdoor playtime on their enclosed, cement bike play. And so he flipped this bucket and declared it his helmet. The mind of this little boy often gives us a smile and we find a pure joy in sitting back, when we can, and watching him go...

An ode to the farmers market

We really like going to the downtown farmers market.

We sort of think coming from Portland gives us farmers market credibility. And while I didn't go to allll the farmers markets in pdx, over 9 years I went to quite a few. This big one here in Albuquerque is by far the coolest farmers market I've been to. It's bustling. Lots of kids and babies being worn and pushed. Live music on a grassy lawn with big trees giving shade. Good music, most weeks. Today was great. Folk-y with lots of instruments and little people dancing about. I always get a latte and sit while the boys and I take in the scene. Sometimes I grab produce. Today they shared a croissant (with its chocolate insides on their little faces). And it's always sunny. That part doesn't get old, even with Oregon style afternoon rains the past couple days... this morning was about 70 and sunny. Perfect Saturday outing!

a thursday.

Well, Eli is off to preschool two days a week--Thursday is one. He loves it. He cried the first week when I said goodbye (and I'd suspected he would--he wanted to stay and play he just wanted me there too). But by week two he gave me a kiss and hug and off he went to play! So this morning Henri and I got some time for just us. After running some errands (post-drop off and he's still in jammies), he sat on the doorstep and played with my keys while I unloaded the car. It was the sweeter, calmer side of this busy one year old! And I'm often seeing more of that when he's solo with me. Eli gets home from preschool and needs his down time. He cuddled in my lap a bit while Henri got some lunch.