Valentine's Day

Here is my latest attempt to photograph the boys together. Isaac was silly but agreeable. Unfortunately, my flash kept going off in Jonah's face, and his eyes show the effects.









Below, blurry but sweet...Isaac loves to stroke Jonah's soft head. Jonah doesn't seem to mind.





We were on our way to a fun Valentine's brunch with Kari and family and a bunch of friends. I didn't get any good pictures there, but she has some cute ones on her blog:
http://landon-t-c.blogspot.com/2010/02/adler-and-his-buddies.html

Adam and I have boycotted this "manufactured" holiday until now, even though I always kind of wished he'd surprise me and celebrate it after all. My parents always gave us those wonderful heart shaped boxes of Russell Stover truffles, and they still send us funny cards in bright red envelopes that I always save to open on the actual day. No, I never wanted to celebrate Valentine's with Adam just because the stores with all their hearts and rosy-colored displays implied that we should...But I think I've always felt a little left out.

This year, I thought about how hard the monotony of winter cold and snow can be, and I realized that Valentine's Day is part of how we get through this time. Each cold and dreary month needs a bright spot, and in February, that means hearts and chocolate and bottles of wine by candlelight. So we agreed to celebrate this year, and I got us a babysitter and a restaurant, and we had date night on the 14th.

And somehow, even aside from our candlelight dinner, this was the best Valentine's Day I can remember. In the morning, we opened the cards from my parents, and Isaac thought the cat with the big, artificial grin like a pair of vampire teeth was hilarious. We spent the rest of the morning at the home of some of our favorite people, eating brunch, drinking mimosas, and watching 2-year-olds with trucks and trains and babies making their first eyes at each other. After nap, we all took Smokey on a long walk through the neighborhood in the crackling air that burned my fingers and my lungs and frosted my cheeks with cold. It was so cold. But the late afternoon was beautiful, as the sun sank behind the Victorians and the snow grew gray and shadowed. Then date night - our candlelight dinner alone, at a little table in a favorite restaurant just blocks away. We walked there, and we walked home quickly, before the warmth of wine and happiness was edged out by the frigid air. Add to this the fun of sitting on the floor in Isaac's room, before bed on Thursday night, making 10 valentines (paper hearts with stickers and scribbles) to drop in the "mailboxes" of his preschool classmates the next day. And Isaac's delight after school, as we pulled all his valentines out of his bag to see who they were from, and as he carried them around the house all weekend.

Everything is more fun with a child standing beside you. And I can say it now - I love Valentine's Day.