Michael woke me up with his phone call to let me know that he’s arrived safely and started walking. He sounded so happy! I think he really thought his week in the mountains was never going to happen. The weather was really nice at the time, so I’m hoping it holds for the week. He is planning on hiking from the Matterhorn to Chamonix, France. Pretty cool!

I was so happy that he called because I was totally asleep and the boys were really quiet this morning. Oh yeah, and also so that I know he’s ok.

We had a quiet day today. In the morning, Rowan really wanted to go Bobby Car riding, so we did and I videoed it (finally). Then in the afternoon, we went to MiniMAL to pick up some last minute stuff. The boys are so happy when they’re out that they are really well behaved. I wish I could walk around more with them, but for shopping, it’s impossible without the stroller. The only place I feel comfortable taking them w/o the stroller is to the park.

Some cool things happened. Elijah was playing with Hector (this “Cotton Monster” stuffed animal) and he looked at me, grabbed Hector’s hand and waved it at me and said “haaaiiieee”. Too cute! Michael and I both make Hector wave at Elijah and say hi, this is the first time he’s done it back. He won’t wave himself, god no, but at least he’ll make others wave.

We also had a lot of fun tickling and laughing on the couch. Elijah usually doesn’t like to sit in my lap except to put his shoes/pants on or read a book. But today he actually sat on my lap and we had a long tickle sesson. His laugh is so contagious! I like to “poke tickle” and say “Does this tickle? Because I don’t know, I still have to do some research.” And they laugh and laugh and laugh.

I also have decided to make “Harmonica Time” the same as “Diaper Changing Time”. They hate changing their diapers so much and it’s always a power struggle. Today I hid their harmonicas until it was time to change diapers. Then I took it out and let whoever’s getting their diaper changed have one. The other one has to wait. When I’m done changing them, then they are also done with the harmonica. I let them lie there a little while longer if they’re having fun. They didn’t like it when it was taken away, but I think that’s the only way they will continually show interest in it (it will become the “special” toy) and also they are learning to give things back, even if they are having fun with it. I did this with the toothpaste. For some weird reason, they both like holding the toothpaste tube, so when I’m brushing Rowan’s teeth, Elijah gets it, and when I’m brushing Elijah, Rowan gets it. At first they ran away with it and screamed when I took it away, but now they gladly give it up because they know they will get it again. Rowan is sometimes reluctant but Elijah will always give it up very easily. I also do ask them nicely for it - “Can I PLEEEAAASE have the toothpaste back?” and I always say “Thank you” to them.

This evening was a little lonely. I will probably get a lot of stuff done this week. I keep forgetting how productive I am when Michael isn’t here to suck up all of my free time. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. The only bad thing is that this move will suck up free time instead! Damn!