Milestone Minutiae

I've been making trail mix with peanuts, raisins, and white and semi-sweet chocolate chips. It started out as a snack on skiing days, but today I made it for after swimming lessons. I put some into a cup for each of the kids - Emmett ate all of his, but Luke and Henry didn't finish. Luke presented me with a cup with raisins and peanuts in it (and not a single chocolate chip). Henry, on the other hand, gave back a cup with some semi-sweet chips and raisins. I guess he has trouble finding the semi-sweet chips among the raisins - there's a pretty strong incentive for figuring this out, so I don't think it will be long before he does. (so I don't give you the wrong idea - Luke eats most of the peanuts and some of the raisins, he just "runs out " of chocolate before he finishes them)

Emmett and Luke both had "firsts" today - Brighton has one lift, Milly, that's way off to one side that Luke hadn't been to yet (the classes don't go all the way over there). So in the morning they went to Milly so everyone has been on all of the lifts at the resort. And then in the afternoon David convinced Emmett to give Lower Pioneer a try (it's an easy black diamond). Everyone made it down just fine. Today was probably the last good day of skiing this year - lots of fresh powder and temps near freezing made for good skiing, but the weather is warming up so the next few days will be slushy. Brighton's last day is Easter Sunday, and they have an egg hunt on the bunny hill, so we're planning to go and just have a good time. Who knows how much skiing will be done, but it will be a nice way to end the season.

Henry loves playing outside, and for the past few days he's been working on the tricycle. He'll often sit on it and push himself forward with his tippy-toes, but he's also been experimenting with pedaling. Today he's gotten pedaling down - he's riding around the driveway all by himself, looking very proud. He even steers!

Luke skied a black diamond run at Brighton on Friday. His instructor called it an "honorary" black diamond (I'm sure it's the easiest one on the mountain), but it's a black diamond! It was the same run (Lower Pioneer, I think) that David skied with an instructor who used a great deal of misdirection to get his class on it despite the black diamond label.

I'd been meaning to take the kids skiing all winter, but the thought was so daunting that we didn't get to it until 5 or 6 weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday when we went up to Brighton as a family to give it a try. It actually went well, so since then I've been taking the boys up any time our free days meet up with pleasant weather. We've got a nice routine going. Luke takes lessons in the morning and afternoon, and Emmett usually skis with a friend, Eden, who lives near the resort. Henry naps in the carrier on my back and loves picking up ice from the ski school floor. He's made friends with some of the ski instructors and is universally proclaimed to be a cutie. Henry and I wander around the resort, taking the elevator and doing laps on the stairs. Emmett has been wearing a watch and is unbelievably reliable in meeting us at the correct time. We all have lunch together, then Luke does his afternoon lesson while Emmett skis with Eden again. Emmett has had less

A few weeks ago, Henry started really fighting when it was time to get on pajamas. After a couple of brutal nights, I was fighting him into pajamas early enough that I decided to let him run around naked for a while. After going through the nightly routine with Emmett and Luke, Henry was willing to get into his pajamas and Naked Time was born. Now, when it's time for bed, the first thing I do is undress Henry. Then I help Emmett and Luke get ready for bed, read stories, and finally put pajamas on Henry. Works like a charm.