William visits.

Have you ever heard of aqua-beads (some call them water pearls, or aqua gems)?

I first saw them being used with developmentally disabled adults, and they love these things.

I couldn't wait to try them out with William. I spent about $5 for this batch. They say that these will last up to four years.

He adored them. We just put a couple old shower curtains on the floor and went to it.

Yep.

That's mildew.

(That's why we don't use those old shower curtains anymore.)

Ree's not the only one who keeps things real.

He played for a good long time and then began to get a little fretful.

I thought he was going to take a nap.

Silly me.

This is the card board tube that our new livingroom rug came wrapped around.

(If you look carefully, you'll get glimpses of that rug.)

 

 You put a ball or a small car in one end of that tube,

and it rolls out the other end

and shoots across the livingroom and into the library.

This is hysterically funny stuff when you are two.

...and requires a small boy to jump off the couch,
run across the livingroom and into the library,
greeting the buffalo and the deer every single time.

Bob's fairly easy to get along with.

He's heard, "Hi buff-lo!" a couple dozen times.

He just patiently responds with "Hi, William."

Buck's not so patient. You can see he's getting annoyed.

"Cripes. Is that little critter ever going to run out of steam?"

William's off the couch and on the move once more.

He's got taxidermy to greet and toys to collect.

He starts winding down. We read a story.

The idea of a monster in the bathtub doesn't interest him,

but William falls asleep anyway.