Library Visit

I am so proud of Xander and Nick. We went to the library today to drop off books and pick up some others about moving. The kids don't know we are probably moving yet, but I wanted to have the books on hand.

First of all, I drove them all the way to the library and started to get out when I realized that I had left the library books at home. So they had to sit in the car for double the amount of time. They were angels for the first half, started to be upset, and then were angels for the rest of the ride because I gave them a snack.

When we got to the library, Xander and Nick both walked in while we held hands. Xander took the books and returned them by himself. We walked to the children's section. There were two little girls playing. Xander walked right up to them and said, "Hi guys! My name is Alexander." The girls didn't interact much but they were nice. The older girl was, at least. The younger was a toddler, probably 2.5 years old, and acting a bit like a toddler. Nick, on the other hand, acted like a perfect little gentleman. Remember how I left the library last time? In tears of embarrassment because of Mr. Nick? Now he is nearly 22 months old and it was completely different. He played happily and quietly with the farm animals and magnetic cars, cooing every once in a while or saying, "Moo!" At one point he looked up and pointed to the giant dragon hanging from the ceiling and let out a pretty big roar. I figured that was just cute. Especially since he didn't repeat it. I was able to browse the children's section while Nick played (appropriately) and Xander sat reading the book he had picked, occasionally updating the two girls. ("That's my little brother. His name is Nick. I got a new Pokemon DVD that I hadn't watched before. Last time I had Pokemon Battle Dimensions.")

Nick even cleaned up after himself periodically, even though the only one who had instructions to do that was Xander. I gave them a five-minute warning, then I told them to clean up. They did. I told Nick to say bye and hold my hand, and he did. We walked back out of the library. It was amazing.

Oh, and then they behaved for a quick trip to the grocery store, during which Xander pushed the little cart, unloaded the cart to pay for the items, pushed the items out to our car in the cart, and went back into the store to return the cart (with me and Nick, of course).