A little closer to summer

Frederic's dad power washed our patio yesterday. Today, we were finally able to find a plastic cover for our patio table to protect it from all the rain we get here (not to mention the many, many birds in our yard). AND today turned out to be pretty sunny. All of those circumstances taken together meant that we were finally able to prepare our patio for summertime!

This is where our outdoor table goes:

(The gigantic hedge has been removed since this photo was taken, opening up our view of the side yard, where we hope to put a swing set this summer for Benjamin. And that brick structure is our barbecue grill.)

Benjamin helped me wash the table and chairs:

And then Frederic and I oiled them. Now we are waiting for them to dry a little bit before we put them on the patio. We can't wait for spring/summer meals outside, and moving the outdoor furniture means we can reclaim the glassed-in part of the patio as well.


The outdoor furniture had been dwelling there all winter, cohabiting with our indoor patio furniture, the metal containers for the fireplace ashes, and various and sundry groceries, making the veranda crowded and unusable. Soon we will be able to put away the ash boxes and move the excess groceries to their summer home in the laundry room, and the patio will be entirely available to us again. The nice part of the indoor patio is that we can still feel like we are enjoying the yard and the weather even on those days when it's sunny but chilly outside.

* * * *

We haven't seen Noah sleeping often lately, which makes it that much more appreciable when he finally gives in! I've started reading up in my trusty sleep book (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child), but it seems Noah is still in the "up to 6 weeks, the fussiness may get worse before it gets better" stage.

We're hoping it will start getting better soon! He has gone from sleeping all night long the first week to waking up every 3 hours to eat. At the moment he can do a 4-6 hour stretch in the evening, but he also has his "witching hour" starting around 6-7 pm. We don't remember that with Benjamin, so this is new to us and not much fun!