Another Day of Snow

The Twin Cities received another 12+ inches of snow last night, Chris was away for the better part of the day "powder" skiing in the mountains, I mean, hills, of eastern Minnesota, and my Monday morning was moving unbelievably slowly. Oliver's days are so predictable (eat, play, eat, play, eat, sleep, eat...) that even though they can sometimes feel tedious, (Oh, you want to read that book, again?) breaking the day up into pieces mentally - and knowing that soon we'll be transitioning to lunch or a nap - helps move the day along. Except for today when I assumed it had to be at least 10:30 a.m. and it was only 9:36 a.m.! So even though suiting Oliver up for playing in the snow and the tantrum he threw when I made him come back inside each lasted longer than the amount of time we actually spent outside, I managed to suitably kill enough time until lunch.

What a difference a couple of months makes in Oliver's interest in the snow. When a blizzard hit in mid-December and dropped over 18 inches of snow on us, Oliver wasn't able to walk yet and his coat and snow pants were so big on him, he could hardly move. Then he got snow down his pants and he suddenly wasn't having fun anymore in the winter wonderland. A neighbor had cleared the entire block with his snow blower bright and early this morning, so when I set Oliver down, he hit the ground running (well, toddling) down the sidewalk. It took him a couple of attempts to learn that the freshly-fallen, powdery snow in the snowbanks wouldn't support him when he leaned against them or put his arms out to brace himself. But once he realized how fluffy the snow was, he enjoyed swiping it with his mittens back onto the sidewalk. Luckily he's too small for that tiny pleasure to have been too counter-productive. While he explored the snow, I finished shoveling where the snow blower had missed and then chased Oliver down the street.

His dad will be proud. He'll be a snow-loving baby after all.