{a brief interlude}

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here, mostly due to the boys being sick. They have really been tag-teaming me, so just as one child is recovering the other comes down with it. But, they seem to be on the mend now. And while they are still just a little bit under the weather, it has provided me with a brief interlude to stop and catch my breath ... and even blog a little bit.

Usually, Colin is running around the house filling baskets and bags full of "supplies" he needs for whatever imaginative game he is playing. And usually he forgets what he was going to do just as he has collected everything, so that there are many, many neglected piles in every room of the house: cars, blocks, silk scarves, empty tissue boxes, sieves...

And Archer... Boy, Archer is on the move these days and can usually be found climbing up and down the stairs. (The one benefit of having an older brother is that even though he'll teach you to climb up the stairs at eight months, at least he'll teach you the safest way to climb down again.)

But yesterday, there was actually a half hour or so when I found myself without a single thing to do. Colin was curled up in his special chair "reading" a pile of books. And Archer was banging away contentedly in *his* kitchen--instead of mine. This was so out of the ordinary that I was a little beside myself at first. I kept going back into Colin's room to check on him, until finally he said, "Mama, I can't talk, I'm trying to read right now." How many times have I said those exact words to him?! Still, I am more than happy to eat my words if this is a sign of good things to come.