Sometimes Caitlyn likes to read (she turns the pages and makes up a story which may or may not have anything to do with the pictures she's looking at) to me at bedtime, instead of the other way around. Last night, it was The Legend of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching, complete with special appearances by Pooh, Cinderella, Christopher Robin, and several cats. Tonight, she opted just to sing along with her lullaby:

"Rock-a-bye-baby cradle of leaves
Sing me lullaby of dweams
Tuck clouds under my chin
Blow that moon out - pfoo - please."

She's not in tune or on rythmn, but she is singing.

After the craziness of Solstice and Christmas, things have settled down around here. Naps are back, bedtimes are (mostly) reasonable, meals consist of more than dessert. And many of Caitlyn's animals are sad.

"Ollie is wrapped in his blanket; he's sad."

"Why is Ollie sad?"

"From all the people at Christmas."

"Oh. Were there too many people here at Christmas time for Ollie?"

"Yes. He's sad."

"I'm sorry you're sad, Ollie. All the people are gone now."

"But he's sad. He misses the people."

I'm roughly translating this as "Ollie (and therefore Caitlyn) thought Christmas was crazy and overwhelming, but it was fun and he (she) misses it now that things are normal and routine again." In other words, I think our Christmas Season has been a success.