This morning, the kids were both singing the "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" song, and I could watch them on the spy camera and see that Simon was using his owls as the monkeys. Then, when the song lyrics indicated that the monkey fell out of bed and bumped his head, he would hurl the owl out of his crib. Then he would say, "How many left?" and he and Alice would say, "Two!" or whatever the right answer was, then go on with the song. Once all the owls/monkeys were out of the bed, Alice would conduct surgery on them, repair their broken heads, and send them flying back into Simon's crib, where the song would begin again. I tried to make a movie of this, but unfortunately the sound did not record for some reason, and I didn't realize this until I'd already uploaded the four minute video. Also, as always, by the time it occurs to me to make a video of something, the activity is winding down anyway. You just have to trust me that it was the cutest thing ever.
Once everybody was up, we let the kids open their "Valentine's Surprises" as we called them.
After they opened their presents, we had pink scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Then, soon, Grayson came over for a playdate. We got out the bouncy house, which the kids took to a new level when Alice figured out they could elevate it on the couch and have a slide. Sliding didn't work, of course, by they soon figured out that rolling did.
It's always fun to have Grayson over and imagine what it would be like to have three kids. It's really not much more work than two, for a three-hour playdate, anyway. If I could magically have another four year old right now, I'd probably say yes, but there's no way I'm voluntarily going through pregnancy and those first few years again.
For the most part, the kids did a great job playing together. Whenever there were disputes, I tried to urge them towards solving the problems themselves rather than figuring it out for them. My favorite part was where Alice and Grayson invented a game where he, wearing her superhero cape, was taken by Alice to each closet and room in the house where he had to fight the "bad guys" and be her "saver." It was a fun activity that kept them busy for a while, but at the same time I was surprised she was already so aware of the role of damsel in distress. Why couldn't they fight the bad guys together? Maybe I need to get more than one superhero cape.
After lunch, Grayson went home and we gave our kids naps. When they woke up, they got to eat apple halves and watch videos for a while. Alice's current favorite program is the Octonauts.
After they'd played for a bit, Zac revealed Valentine Surprise #2: Their first real lego sets!
