Days In

With all the snow we have gotten recently, we have tried several ways to deal with cabin fever, and wanted to capture a few... in no particular order...

Cars and trucks have not yet gotten old. Especially when there are so many pieces of furniture to pretend they are about to drive off of (as if a cliff, or... a boat dock), to their ruin. Alder likes to suspend a car, or a string of train cars, teetering on the edge of something and act panicky and dramatic, in that shouting, yet soft, make believe voice, "Oooooh noooooo, dare bout to faw doooooowwwnn." In more constructive times of play we like to take the cars our of the container, (when the container is not a barge in the ocean) and sort them based on different characteristics; all these are red, all these have stripes, all these have numbers, and this one is not similar to any of the others... BTW Alder has gotten into this thing where he likes to keep a winter hat on in the house, and usually wears adult sizes cocked to one side and/or, really elongated.

Eating. Here lettuce, carrots and nuts, and as if it were honey-dipped goldfish. Anything with vinegar, and Alder is pretty crazy about it.
Eating. Here, imaginary veggie dogs.
Replacing all the interior doors in the house. One more snow and they should all be painted too.
Cars and trucks never get old for Heath either.
Random stackings.

We talk about the birds at the feeder. Alder is starting to learn some birds! We like to see the flicker and red-bellied woodpeckers tackle the suet, and watch the wrens and sparrows jump underneath to grab scraps. And the occasional yellow-rumped and pine warblers add a dash of color, even in their fall plumage.
As Alder tries to lace up the boots, he is repeating, "Dis is my work".
When the roads were cleared, and we couldn't take it anymore, we ventured out out the bookstore.
This has become quite the focal activity. Alder and Heath just basically digging into some assemblage of baby toys, trains/tractors/cars/trucks, blocks, little toy people, farm animals. We help out on building some things and then they just go from there. We should also add here, that it is more amazing everyday how much they can already play together. It is clear, watching them, that they have something we don't have. Though with an age gap of nearly 2 years (infant and toddler), they undoubtedly communicate. Not only while playing, but also across the back seat in the car. They hand each other toys, make each other laugh ... Today in the car Alder "read" (from memory) Heath a book over and over, and they both LOVED it, squealing and laughing for a half hour.

Alder does like to have control over what Heath has to play with though, so we can see where this might be going.
...wood... For those that don't know, wood is our primary source of heat, and these days, that stove is basically a giant mouth to feed. And, a hungry one... that can be a picky eater when cold, and that does not like wet food. So keeping wood covered in the yard to keep it dry, keeping dry wood pulled up to the doors for convenience, and keeping kindling on hand is a job. A woodburning stove is warm and cozy and cheap heat, but it takes work and time. There ain't no switch-flippin' to get warm. But we like it or we wouldn't do it. Alder has taken to helping out some with gathering and stacking. His backhoe and dump truck like to ride in the wheelbarrow, and they especially like to "... faw dooooownnn!"

And we have spent lots of time enjoying the OUT-OF-doors of course. Lots. Here is a quick snowman on the back deck.