The good day

Yes, she was in her PJ's until about 3pm, but having a lot of fun making "action art"
I swear she was channeling Jackson Pollock.











Dear Alex had a great time with daddy outside in the fresh snow.
Sweet and funny little girl. "Are you happy daddy?" Was what she'd just asked me -
"Yes" was the only possible answer.

I'd said in my last post that today was going to be a good day - I was right and wrong, but it hardly matters. I was up late last night, truly loving that cozy feeling of the 'house in the snowy woods' and the oddly romantic notion that you'll only get from someone from the city that doesn't have to deal with the pain-in-the-ass reality of it every day, something that occurred to me after a brief email exchange with one of my truly nice country neighbors. I had that remembered feeling from when Dear Alex was a baby of taking great care to turn down the lights, make the coffee and prepare for the next day as Beautiful Wife and Dear Alex slept through a beautiful, driving snowstorm outside. My "good day" started at 7am, with the distraught screams of Dear Alex, with a litany of complaints. After the hug, the diaper, the reassurance, and the cup of milk, she went sort of back to sleep at 8-ish, leaving me wide awake with that startled feeling of "what just happened?" I had a cup of coffee and watched it snow for a little bit until the dear girl was truly up and ready to be lifted from the crib into my arms for a ride downstairs. We played, and played and scattered things from room to room until it was time to clean up and start all over again, and have breakfast and and a diaper change and another and more play. The only thing missing was mommy, who slept and slept and slept, until I was actually beginning to worry. Just before noon Beautiful Wife joined us, and all was right with the world. Let's say it was a low-energy day, and we had a lot of fun doing very little but playing and painting and just hanging out at home, with everyone just where they should be. Dear Alex told BW that she was "pretty" today without prompting (really did come out of nowhere) and that daddy was "awesome" (I think she was trying to say handsome, as coached by BW) but I'll take it...
As I've written before, it's the little things and the every day accumulation of details and wonder that make it all worthwhile. Watching Dear Alex paint and play and make music and love her beautiful mother made today the good day I thought it was going to be after all.
And yes, we did make it outside to play in that beautiful snow.