Friday afternoon with dad

I had to work late last night, and go in early this morning, so I came home in the middle of the afternoon today so that Rachel could go see a movie.

The girls were awake when I got home, and about ready for a snack and some water.




After that we had to spend some time rearranging the kitchen cupboards.




Parker woke up, possibly from the ruckus, and I found him standing at the top of the stairs, looking slightly surly. He is a champion at waking up grumpy, so I had to deal with him in exactly the right way to avoid unpleasantness. I usually give him a snack after his nap, so today I went the extra mile and gave him a zero pancake and a zero waffle. It was a new presentation, and I knew it would go over well, which it did.




With some numerical breakfast foods in his belly, and the sleep shaken off, Parker was ready to have some fun, starting with a noisy little fake radio he has. It features a slot-machine spinner on it with some funny characters, and when it lands on one particular character, about 25% of the time, it just cracks him up.





Miranda spent a bit of time playing one of her favorite games: try to get your hands into Daddy's mouth.



And when that was played out, she went on to discover how funny it can be to see someone, and then not see them, and then see them again. (Editor's note: I believe this video may represent the pinacle of cuteness yet achieved on this blog. Also, that's Woodie Guthrie in the background, Parker's latest fave.)



Then I got dinner ready for the grill. Pork chops and peppers marinaded in soy sauce, garlic, peprika, and salt and pepper.



At around this time, one or both of the girls discovered an unguarded box of wipes and did what they always want to do with them. They must have been so happy.



Eventually Mom came home, and we used some bix boxes to create our very own living room playground.



At dinnertime, Elizabeth and Miranda practiced using their spoons. They're not exactly using them, of course, but they are much less spastic than I remember Parker being the at this age.




And then it was time to start putting children to bed.