Recovering

   There are stickers on the wall in the hallway. They are perfectly arranged at eye level if you are a two year old. Their psychedelic color palette adds a touch of whimsy to my otherwise staid and traditional decor. I think I will leave them there for a while. They make me smile.
   There are also small handprints all over the french doors, there is a stack of Clifford books beside my chair along with some carefully collected twigs and sticks, and a few choice rocks that are begging to be added to my collection. If you look carefully you will also likely find a few crayons that have rolled under the sofa accompanied by a stray sock or hair bow. This morning I found a trail of goldfish back to my bedroom. As you might surmise, Little One took up temporary residence over the weekend.
    She came with three bags full of clothes, shoes, diapers, and the like. Her mother, The Daughter, also asked that I please potty train her while she was off traipsing to the Big Apple. We worked on it a bit the first day, but after a 5:45 wake up call and no nap on Saturday, the potty training went out the window. The Daughter tried to convince me that my expertise would prevail over her own inexperience. I am not buying it. If I did it, she can do it. I put the potty away.
  The Husband and I will spend the better part of the next two days recovering from our "staycation" with Little One. We will not be eating any macaroni or raisins or drinking any whole milk. We will, however, be taking long naps and getting in bed very early. We are clearly worn out. But our hearts are full.
   The Husband taught Little One to climb a tree on Saturday. It was all she wanted to do for the next two days. She became the official "tree monkey," and everytime she called herself this, she would laugh with glee. There is nothing better than a gleeful two-year-old. Take a look at some of the wonder for yourself!

And no, she did not take a spill! After raising three sons and the one daughter,

 I am a great believer in the benefits of allowing little people to explore and get 

more than a little dirty. Thus Little One received nothing but encouragement from

 her Pappy and her Nonna in her quest to find some buried treasure on the driveway!