All is well with Thing One and Thing Two. We are still limping along without Flora who continues to have problems following her knee replacement surgery.

On Wednesday, our scheduled sitter had a death in the family and the substitute for her had a wreck (it was very slick and snowy) on the way to our house. Miranda came to the rescue after she finished her classes at noon. Unfortunately, we had something of a repeat on Thursday -- our sub nanny got sick and the woman in charge was on the road and didn't get the message so we were solo again. I got Wednesday morning, but Dad got Thursday until about 2:30 (I had to be out of town in court.) When I got back, Dad and the boys were busy erecting the new baby gates in the bath and bedroom downstairs. Dad isn't a big fan, but gave in. The way the bathroom door and hall are, there is no way to have a gate that swings out. It would be forever in the way. And, unless we can have the bathroom door open, that hallway is very dark. There is a similar problem with the "guest" bedroom (which we are using for the time being.)
The retractable gates are great in a lot of ways, but they aren't short enough to step over and you have to use both hands to open them. They claim to be good for up to 200 pounds of pushing force. Griffith and Allan seem hellbent on testing that claim.

The weather was actually pretty nice yesterday so after Dad left, I loaded up the boys (who hadn't had a nap) and we went for a run/walk. I managed to tear the stupid plastic cover for the stroller so I just had to wrap them up snugly and off we went. After about 25 minutes the boys fell asleep. Since there is no way to get them back in the house without waking them, I just kept running until I couldn't any more and then we walked. The nice weather is so hit-or-miss that you feel like to have to take advantage when you can.

We had a good time last night. The boys made bourbon brownies for their dad. The attempt at making a heart from Hershey's syrup was well-intentioned, but didn't work so well. They were quite tasty, though. They also managed to sneak out and buy 2 dozen roses (one for each, naturally) for me. Sweet little guys.

As you can see from the pictures, we had quite a good time -- playing with hats and all. Griff has been exceptionally loving of his brother. Not that Allan appreciates it. Griff will come over to his brother and put his head on his back or belly and pat him. A lot of times it is random, but frequently it is when Allan is upset and fussy about something. Griff is clearly trying to console him.

Tonight as we were going to sleep Griff kept reaching over to rub Allan's hair. He also kept trying to hold Allan's hand and pat him on the back. Allan (suspicous as always) was having none of it. We are going to have to work on him. We have managed to make Griff empathetic. Now we have to make Allan receptive. Nothing is ever easy.