Fridays at home

I said to Avi, "I wish you would let me cut your hair," and he replied, "We watch Fraggles?" which I understood was his bargaining chip, so I clarified, "You'll let me cut your hair if we watch Fraggles?" "Yeah!" he replied.  And so this morning, Avi got a hair cut.  
And got to watch Fraggles.  I love how he sits with his hands folded in his lap.
In the bathroom upstairs; he always asks questions sweetly, like, "Can I sit up here, Mommy?" to which I replied, "Sure," but then couldn't quite get him to pose for a photo.  I kept saying, "Say cheese!" and he'd say, "No!"
He received an early birthday present from Grandpa, all the way from Texas.  Avi loves his new chair, and what this photo doesn't show is that his name is stamped on the back.  So everyone knows to whom it belongs.  If you can't read, he'll remind you.  Though last night he insisted that both Leeor and I take turns sitting in it while he used our legs as a slide. 
My guys.  They love to play rough together and Avi's laugh is the best sound.  I was listening to them last night and rubbing my little girl in my belly, wondering what she would make of it all?
We have a couple of names picked out for our girl, and I floated one of them by Avi today.  He said he liked it and we practiced writing it on the easel in his room.  Our morning was very sweet.  He didn't want to go anywhere.  He wanted to sit in my room and play with my box of hats.  He instructs me to put on certain hats while he dons others and then we look at ourselves in the mirror and crack up.  There are these moments of mischief woven throughout our time together, like when he dumped out his cup of cheddar bunnies on the kitchen floor and proceeded to step on them (apparently, he hadn't wanted them in a cup). I told him I didn't like how he was acting. So then he offered to help me clean up.  And we read one of our favorite books, Mama, do you love me, where a girl comes up with all these scenarios in which she misbehaves and asks her mama whether she'll still love her or not.  Love feels like the easiest part.  The last line of the book says, "I will love you, forever and for always, for you are my Dear One."  I just want to freeze time right now because it's all going by too quickly.

Avi has been playing out a scenario with his bath toys in which they "go to work." Last night it was his froggy.  "Froggy goes to work," he said, moving him carefully around the edge of the tub.  "Then he comes home to me," he declared.  I wondered if it was hard for froggy to go to work.  "Yeah," he said quietly.  I know it's okay that I go to work, that Avi is thriving and developing well, but it's still hard.  It feels even harder to imagine returning to work after having another baby.  So I treasure these Fridays at home and try to stay present in all of the sweet moments that happen when we make no plans and just see where the day takes us.