Nice Boys and Small Spaces

Leon and Dari have been very excited to check out new places to show Bimba during her visit here. Amazingly, we have not made it to the ZOO yet but there are a number of fun things we already checked off the list. We have been trying to spend as much time as we can enjoying the lovely early fall weather outside and took a couple of trips to the mall and the surrounding museums. Often the walks are a bit long for Dari and it is a big help that Leon is just so mellow and basically does not care about having Dari sit directly in his lap (not on top of him, just RIGHT in front). For longer trips, I fold back the seat and put Dari behind Leon. That, thankfully, elicits the same non-reaction. I think it's great, in addition to plain practical. There's a saying in Slovak that you can fit a lot of good people is a small space, and I keep telling the boys that it is doubly true for nice little brothers. Fingers crossed that it sticks...

On another sunny weekend we drove out to the National Arboretum, where we checked out the "dwarf" trees (bonsais). This was definitely a highlight for Bimba but I think Leon enjoyed it also. He later decided to be more "hands on" in exploring the plant specimens they had there and sneaked a (to me) unknown berry in his mouth. I noticed right away and a quick internet query (thanks, Facebook friends) assured me that he was going to be fine. However, the episode forced me to update my calculations of risks facing 18-month-olds - Dari STILL would not even contemplate tasting a berry (including the tame, fridge kind) and it's just something I never had to worry about. Well, lesson learned. Maybe we need to feed Leon more still, or he will go scavenging for potentially dangerous desserts ;)

In case you did not notice, Dari is sharing a ride in the above picture as well. It is kind of funny to imagine Leon's legs being the bigger pair, though. The boys also hitch a shared ride whenever we go to Target - a quick stop at the dollar aisle and some milk from Starbucks easily get us through our monthly shopping list.

All these outings are also logistically easier now that Leon sleeps only once a day. That is the schedule he's been on at school for some time now but I took the plunge and switched him completely. With this, too, he kind of just went with the flow.