This picture is actually from the weekend, but it’s a good illustration for this morning. Mama, Finn and I got up early and took advantage of this freakish beautiful weather to got for a walk around the neighborhood, something we have resolved to do each morning as a family. Finn is rocking a new backpack carrier, one that distributes her weight more evenly across the back, shoulders, and waist—and one I paid $8 for at a neighborhood yard sale a few weeks back.

She spent a good bit of the weekend accompanying me to the hardware and auto parts store, and was happily content to watch everyone walking by, examine the merchandise, and play with her fuzzy elephant. When it was time to examine something in better detail, she would hoist herself up, grab both my ears, and lean forward over my shoulder until I held up the spark plugs or paint can or shovel so that she could see what I was dithering about.