Shannon took off for Rochester this morning to see some family friends (and their new baby), so I had the girls to myself today. I loved it. But for Vivi having a bit of sleep-deprivation-related surliness which we relieved with a short morning nap, both girls were in great moods all day. Of course, they also both took two-hour naps, which helped their moods and mine. (Truth be told, I spent the entire nap period grading papers.)
But even aside from that, we had a lot of fun. It's fascinating to see them in their natural element - home, on an average day. VIvi, it turns out, likes to spend a lot of time deeply engaged in repetitive activities: at one point, she went up and down the slide for a good half hour while Julia and I had a tea party; she twice spent about twenty minutes methodically flipping through a single book (this one in the morning, this one in the afternoon). Vivi can also make six-high stacks of blocks, which I didn't know, and enjoys doing a "Stayin' Alive" style dance at random moments. At other points, the three of us played Christmas, which entailed my being Santa, Julia being Rudolf (who, being a Type A reindeer, both steered the sleigh and delivered the presents), and Vivi being an elf. And we also had an extended dance party just before lunch, which I think was the key their being tired little puppies.
Tacking on a long ski after they went to bed for the night, today was about as good as a day can get when it doesn't involve pepperoni pizza and a cold beer.