The day was efficient both for getting work done and for spending quality time with the kids (two things I've recently been a bit anxious about).
This morning the girls woke up before Calvin. I heard some feet pitter patter into my room while Jack and I were still asleep. I didn't move or open my eyes and for a moment tried to see if I could tell which kid it was. Then I heard the empty Diet Coke can on my nightstand (from last night) lift up and get put back down, and I knew Clara had tried to see if there was any Diet Coke left to sip. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see both girls. Clara decided she wanted to go to the kitchen table and draw me a surprise, but Jane got in bed with us and lay there peacefully, awake but quiet, while I dozed with my arm around her. I think Jane in particular really benefits from cuddles.
Eventually Calvin woke up and called to us from across the hallway. I picked him up and we all went into the living room. I had to avert my eyes so that I wouldn't see the surprise drawing Clara was still working on for me. I brought Calvin--all bundled up in his beloved blanket--to the couch, and he cuddled next to me on one side while Jane cuddled next to me on the other, and they both watched me do a jigsaw puzzle on my phone. Jane kept giving me helpful suggestions for the puzzle. Eventually Clara proudly presented her drawing for me - a pink butterfly with orange spots - and explained we have to save the drawing to put on the wall in May, not April. For some reason.
Then the girls went to play together in their room, and managed to do so peacefully for at least twenty minutes. And the entire time they did that, Calvin just leaned against me and watched me work on that puzzle. He was entirely content, not even wiggling around. It was great.
Later in the morning we got out the dress up clothes, and after both girls got decked out we played the freeze dance game for awhile, first on my phone with Spotify, and then through an official app with Alexa. Clara loved it. Alexa plays different styles of music and asks the kids to dance like robots, queens, turtles, and other figures before they have to freeze. Jane mostly watched Clara and smiled shyly, but when they said to dance like a queen she suddenly stood on tiptoes and jutted her chin in the air, held up part of her dress elegantly with one hand, and toddler strutted around the living room. It was awesome. Even Calvin put on a purple necklace and wiggled around with them a bit.
Later in the day I locked myself in my room and got a lot of SPL work done, which always puts me in a good mood.
Then in the afternoon, one of our new babysitters, Mariah, came over with her7-year-old daughter. Since Mariah hadn't been here in several weeks, and only once before, we decided Jack would leave to work on the job hunt and I would stay and let the kids get used to her. But only about half hour in they seemed very comfortable--and in Clara's case, really really happy--to hang out with Mariah and Abrielle, so I went in my room and left the door open while I did some more SPL work. That worked for about 30-45 minutes until Calvin remembered I was there and wanted to hang out. I reset him in the living room and shut my door, and he handled it fine. I got work done the whole time they were here, and meanwhile I could hear them having a wonderful time. They played with Alexa and then practiced expressing different emotions and other games, and by the time I emerged everyone except Calvin was sitting on the floor in a circle, feet touching, and bounching a ball to each other while they made animal sounds. Clara and especially Jane were laughing so hard. In fact when Jane saw me, she asked me to go away, lol. (Exact opposite of how she usually reacts.) The evening was a huge success.
And as I type this, I can hear Jane happily singing a song (that it sounds like she made up, which she does a lot lately) in the other room.
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