We now have a six year old (dog), a four year old, and a two year old in the house. The boys spend all day, with minimal intervention by me, laughing, playing games, and discovering things. The imagination of the older one and the language skills of the younger one have really allowed for their relationship to form nicely. They are both so fortunate to have best friends and playmates from the time they awaken until the time they go to sleep.
We had about 40 adults and children attend our son's outdoor bonfire birthday party. The kids really had a great time playing in all of the snow, on the playground, with dump trucks, buckets, and especially with colored water in spray bottles. We played a couple of games where the kids raced to find pinwheels and snowflakes in the mazes (paths) but they were so busy playing together that participation was sporadic so I didn't even have to bother with tug of war or freeze tag. The adults entertained themselves by the bonfire ... for over four hours!
For me, this winter has gone by quickly. We recently were able to make our first snowman since snow first fell around Halloween, five months ago; Spring is here! Our son completed almost a year (8 months) of preschool two days a week. One of his last days of school was crazy hair day. And he completed a tot level ice skating class.
This summer, the boys will resume swimming lessons and in the fall our four and a half year old will take violin lessons from a local teacher and join the other Suzuki preschool children in town once a week to play as a group. We are going to register both boys for a preschool close to our home, but I am not sure yet if we will have them attend. Maybe we will join the ski team, go to MN more, or just let them stay home and play with each other. Being that they aren't yet in school, we have a lot of good options.
