Cottontail

We had a nice Easter weekend here in Chicago. After 80 degree days on Thursday and Friday (woo hoo!) we had 70, sunny and breezy for Easter Sunday. Living in Chicago, we aren't too picky when it comes to nice days, and this is called perfect Easter weather.

My favorite parts about this Easter were getting to see my mom and brother who came to visit and telling AJ stories about Cottontail bunny. For about the last two weeks, I have been telling him bedtime stories about the bunny named Cottontail who lives in his backyard. We talked about how Cottontail gets ready for Easter and makes the eggs and likes to have picnics with AJ in the backyard. One night we decided that Cottontail would come the next morning and scratch on the backdoor and ask AJ to help him make some muffins for breakfast. Another night it was a story about how AJ built a house for Cottontail to keep him dry in the rain. I think he is trying to figure out whether Cottontail was real or pretend and has been disappointed that the stories we tell at night don't come true the next day, so he was thrilled to have his first tangible evidence that Cottontail followed through on a story by delivering the eggs to our yard as discussed.

It is a little tricky to navigate this world between pretend and real when he is at this age. I want him to enjoy pretending but also don't want to lead him on too much. The other night at dinner I wanted him to eat some sweet potato fries, so I told him that after he ate them I would pull them out of his belly button. (This is a vintage whopper along the lines of something my dad and grandpa either did tell me or would have told me!) And after he ate a few and I lifted up his shirt and "pulled" one out of his belly button from my folded up hand where I had hid one from my plate, I realized that he actually believed me. And then I thought about how all little kids inherently believe everything their parents tell them until they realized the difference between truth and fiction. I felt a little bad about the sweet potato story, but I also appreciate that this type of teasing in my family gave me a sense of humor for life and a pretty good b.s. sensor. I want AJ to be able to laugh at himself and the jokes of others and not to take things too seriously.

Despite having no photographic evidence of it, Davey did have a decent Easter. He looked very handsome in his new blue shirt that shows off his beautiful blue eyes and red curls. And he enjoyed a piece of lambie cake with his lunch. But he took a monster nap for 3.5 hours and, I am sad to report, missed the entire egg hunt as a result. I am sure he will enjoy next year's twice as much. To make up for it, Joe and I took him to the park and let him swing on the swings for a good long time, and he had a huge grin plastered on his face the entire time.

Apologies for the photo quality--I am still trying to figure out this new camera, and it often stumps me. The last photo is of the window box outside out kitchen window. The view is much improved now that my mom transplanted some of the pansies that survived this harsh Chicago winter for me this weekend. (Never mind, it looks like my photos from this new camera have too many megapixels and so I am limited to one picture per post until I figure out how to shrink them.)