Another one of those list posts

1. This was the boys' birthday Shabbos. Barak turned three on Friday, and Iyyar turned one on Shabbos, so we combined the celebration. Barak got a birthday hat and party at playgroup, and Iyyar, well, Iyyar kind of did his usual. Presents were opened Friday morning (Duplo and sandbox toys) and Ada took them to get a doughnut in the afternoon. She let him have a whole doughnut, with sprinkles AND chocolate icing. I called in the afternoon to see how it was going and got no answer. When I tried her cell, she picked up. "We're outside, running laps around the building," in an attempt to burn off the sugar high. Oh well, it's been a while since he's OD'd on sugar--since Purim. He'll survive.

2. Our apartment was originally conceived as a poorly laid out 2-bedroom with a kitchen, dining room adjacent to kitchen, and living room at the opposite end. A previous owner walled off the dining room to make a third bedroom, and this is now the boys' room. It is now an even more awkwardly laid out apartment, with a closetless bedroom. A closetless bedroom is not an issue when the occupant of said bedroom is a single baby or small boy--you don't need to hang up baby clothes and they don't need that much stuff. Now that there are two kids' worth of clothes, and two ages' worth of toys, it's gotten a little out of hand.

So, for the last couple of months I've been trawling message boards, physical and online, in search of some used furniture. Last month I got a small dresser, which now holds pajamas, socks, and underwear, and has provided Iyyar with endless hours of pleasure as he stands there holding the open drawer with one hand and emptying out the Elmo underwear with the other. Having the short-term memory of a goldfish, the experience of smashing his fingers in the drawer has done nothing to dissuade him from pursuing this activity; now I turn the dresser around during the day so that the drawers are against the wall. Iyyar saw me do it, and gave me a look that said very clearly, "Well, that was a mean trick."

This past week, I finally, after a lot of headaches with the movers I won't go into, got an armoire for their room. It's a used one from Ikea, but one of the largest and most solid things from Ikea I've ever seen. It's huge. There are two doors (latchable with a baby latch) that open to a bunch of shelves and space to hang clothes, with two drawers underneath, and the whole thing stands on legs that leave enough space underneath to slide a few Rubbermaid containers of toys. The room is looking much more tidy now, and I'm quite pleased with my purchase.

It arrived while MHH was at work, and Barak helped me move things in. The bottom drawers are now for blankies--one has Iyyar's, one has Barak's. While we were doing that we talked about being careful with the drawers, not climbing inside, how climbing on furniture is dangerous, what things we do and don't climb on, etc. So when MHH got home from work, Barak ran in to show him the armoire. "Issa armoire. Iss got drawers and dere's blankies inna drawers anna money inna drawer. You can't climb on it. Gotta be very careful."

3. Back on the subject of blankie drawers--Barak has his preferred night-night blankies (yellow fleece blankies from Target, the first of which was a gift from Savta and subsequent versions of which were purchased by Imma), his quilt from Mrs. Peasley (knows as the blue blankie, for the blue flannel back), and his knit-by-Imma wool blanket, which is usually scorned and tossed on the floor. When I was putting blankies in the drawer, I left the blue blankie on the bed (it's hands-down the prettiest) and folded the rest and put them away. Barak, when he saw me put away the knitted blankie, instantly objected. "No can't put it inna drawer! Iss pretty. It goes onna bed."

Aww.