up, down, balance

library day.  because it was rainy, and our books were due back.  

william insisted and persisted about riding his bike there, until we gave in.  it's a bit of a haul from our house (maybe around three and half kilometers), but there was no way we were getting him in the burley, so on went his rain gear and he rode in between us, keeping up a good pace for most of it.

on the way home he continually stopped and then listed all the things he'd had to eat in the morning, stating that was only enough energy to get him to the library, not back.  greg decided to get henry home, as he was looking dangerously close to sleep, so he could get a full nap, and i rode along with william.  at one point, about halfway to home, the road goes downhill for quite awhile, so you pick up speed quickly if you want it.  william was flying along happily when his wheel brushed up against the sidewalk curb and landed him, face first, on the sidewalk.  i got him vertical again.  he was covering his face with his hands and i held my breath as i was afraid to see the damage.  what was revealed was a minor scrape on his nose, but the brunt seemed to be borne by his teeth, which he was crying about. i look.  a little blood around the gums, some gravel in the mouth.  not a happy sight for a mom, but still, at least the teeth were all there where they were supposed to be.  okay, breath out.

he was very much not wanting to ride after this and we talked about being brave to get him back up on the bike to make the rest of the trip.  he cried for most of the ride home about his teeth hurting.  he said when he got home he wanted his teddy bear and wanted us to find all the berenstain bears books we had so we could read them.  and when we got home he also ate one of the ice pops he'd bought from the ice cream truck a few weeks back, to make his mouth feel better.  every now and then throughout the rest of the day i'd look at his teeth and gently try to wiggle them, searching for evidence of some larger injury.  it's hard to say if any of them are loose or not.  i guess teeth are meant to wiggle just the tiniest bit, right?  he's not complaining they hurt anymore at least.

later, after dinner, after baths, after pajamas and toothbrushing, we went on an owl walk.  part of the idea was to get henry to sleep, who never did end up taking a nap after all, and part of the idea was to find an owl.

william with the headlamp.  the glare from it and the darkness of the woods necessitated the flash for this picture...

at one point we were walking through a clearing and heard the wings of some bird in the trees in front of us and later saw it fly out.  greg insisted, in a whisper to me, that it was, unfortunately, only a pigeon.  i said it was awfully late for a pigeon to be flapping around, but i'll concede we might have frightened it into action.

so, unfortunately, a night with no owls, for us anyway, but our other goal was accomplished...

little sleeper

in the end, a day that balanced itself out.  you fall down, but hopefully you get to keep all your teeth and you get an ice pop.  you don't spot any owls, but you catch a rare glimpse of a nighttime pigeon.  you skip out on your nap, but you're lulled easily into sleep by a nighttime walk.  you hold your breath, and then you exhale when it all turns out alright.