Reminiscent

This morning as Oliver left for school Lily sat on the bench and looked longingly out the window, "I wish I was a kid like Ollie so I could take the bus!" It made me laugh.

It was a productive morning of snuggling and laundry folding.

At bedtime I found Lily trying on shoes in her closet instead of falling asleep. I checked her before I went to bed to find some fashionable teal sandals with strawberries strapped to her feet beneath her covers. I slowly removed them and pulled the covers up to her chin before placing a kiss on her forehead.

Cooper stayed awake for a good chunk of the evening before I filled his tummy with milk at bedtime. He cooed, smiled and interacted and then quickly nodded off to sleep on my shoulder. He's been giving me a good three or four hour stretch to start the night and it's been pretty amazing. I think he just needed life to calm down a bit to settle into a proper routine. It's been nice not to be running so much with the big kids away. We miss them of course! But my time with just these littles ones has been reminiscent of early years of motherhood when Camilla first started school and I spent my days crafting and playing with the little ones while we waited for her to return home.  Now we have activities and schedules to keep and life can feel a bit more chaotic if I'm not careful. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I do sometimes miss those early days....