not yet four

The boys and I were out on a walk today because it was the first beautiful day of fall weather. Lucas and Finley were walking ahead of me and I was following with Sebastian in the double stroller [because if I decide to just carry the baby in a carrier, inevitably either Lucas or Finley will declare they cannot go one more step and it's all downhill from there...]. It was near the end of our walk and I was trying to keep Sebastian from falling asleep so I could put him down for his nap once we got home. All of my poking and harassing wasn't working so I had to take him out of the stroller and just carry him.

So now I am pushing an empty double stroller with one arm, holding Sebastian with my other arm, and trying to keep up with my two kazoo-blowing, bucket-swinging, stick-wielding adventurers who are wandering ahead of me "collecting nature." We all come up to a driveway where a woman is pulling her trash can in from the curb. She looks at Lucas and Finley and then at me and the stroller and says, "I sure hope you don't have a fourth one in there!" As I push the stroller past her, she peers inside the empty baby seat and gives a big relieved, "Whew!"

And I, being excellent at small talk and unexpected interactions with people, just said the first thing that popped in my head: "No, I wish!"

And you know what? It wasn't untrue.

gray on top, green on bottom

just an old man with his bucket hat