We’re starting to get Tara into a more regular routine, in anticipation of starting her in day care. She will be going to M.’s, the same place that Anna went for three years. However, I anticipate that we will start her in preschool sooner than we did with Anna. Anna’s preschool takes two-year-olds and we like it a lot.

Tara’s routine has been to sleep 11-12 hours at night, and to take two 1:45 naps during the day. The bedtime ritual (when I put her down) consists of the Beatles’ song “Blackbird,” which takes about one minute to sing. That’s it. Really. I don’t know how long this will last, but we can only hope. Tara will go to M.’s a couple days this week to get adjusted. I’m sure she’ll take right to it, because she is so low maintenance, and there will be lots of other kids for her to watch.

Last night we had a nice outing as a family. We took Anna to Play It Again Sports so that Jennifer could look for a hockey helment for her. Anna decided after about 15 seconds that she had no interest in wearing a used hockey helmet. Jen had wanted to take her to hockey practice with her on Sundays, but Anna really had not shown any interest in skating. I suggested we try lower-investment sports like soccer; we already have a ball and old shoes for goal markers.

After our short shopping trip, we went to Souplantation for dinner. This was the first successful dinner outing we have had, I think, ever. Everyone was well-mannered throughout dinner, and we didn’t even have to leave early. Tara sat in a high chair and ate a jar of peas, and chewed on her toys and the table. We were surrounded by tables on all sides, and everyone was flirting with Tara; we interacted with five different tables, included the women who stopped us on the way out because she wanted to hold Tara. I knew she was cute, but jeez.

We are currently riding a terrific wave of sleep with Tara sleeping long at night, Anna going without waking us up, and getting to bed early. Jen has managed to sleep eight hours straight for the first time since before Tara was born. The whole family managed to nap together yesterday afternoon, so I’m feeling well recovered from the Saturday volleyball tournament. However, if I’ve learned anything from parenting, it’s that everything changes, probably sooner than I’d like; don’t look for me to be changing the name of the blog anytime soon.