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Instead of wordless Wednesday, here is text-only Thursday. I sincerely hope it will be the first and only.

There are no pictures on the blog today because I have extended my amazing phone-losing skills to the camera, which became the latest object of mine to disappear on Saturday, April 21. As far as I can tell, it jumped ship somewhere between the nature center and home. We are looking into replacing it, but given what a major purchase it is, and given how reluctant a decision maker I am... It could be a little while.

It was a bit of a rough day, that Saturday. But it was an important day, as far as the parenting of Miles. That was the day I became persuaded that Miles really, for reals, needs to be able to sleep independently. (of course, this is not a new idea...)

That's not to say I didn't know it was ridiculous that my five month old can go to sleep on her own without so much as a lullabye, if she has to (but I do love to sing her My Lagen Love, and she loves it too), while my nearly three year old has a house-melting conniption if we leave him alone to fall asleep. It's just that the house-melting conniptions tend to wake sleeping babies, and frequently when he is left in his room, even in the absence of a HMC, he gets into disturbing levels of mischief.

Used to be innocuous things like putting all his possessions into the diaper pail or coloring on inappropriate objects, but on Saturday after 2 hours of nap attempt, I threw up my hands and did about 30 minutes of housework. All was quiet in the room, and I was hopeful... until I found he had unwound an entire cassette tape, run it all over his room like a spiderweb around various furniture, and completed the exhibit by wrapping the last of the tape several times around his neck. When I approached him, aghast, he only said, sepulchrally, "Mum. Yoot at my net-yace."

Sleep-train THAT.

Still, something had to give. So we began anew. To date, in the last week, last night was the first night in 6 days that he came into our bed during the night, and every night since Saturday he's fallen asleep without anyone in the room (except Monday, but he was comatose within 20 minutes; I barely had time to leave). So that's progress.

 Other news:

• The kids are adjusting nicely to their 3 days a week at Miss Jessie's house. Miss Jessie has been an exemplary care giver, convincing Miles to nap every day and Adele to eat more from a bottle than she's ever done before (sometimes up to 14 ounces during the day! which really helps her sleep at night). Miles comes home having played with friends, talked to Macaws, and learned a Bible story, and Adele plays and naps happily since her first day (in which she screamed non-stop).
• Adele has had exactly one illness, minus having had the sniffles a couple of times, and it was a teeny, innocuous and short-lived stomach bug. Day care has, thus far, not caused her to be sick with all 200 cold and flu viruses at once, as I'd feared.
• We are now within a week of the end of classes, and within two weeks of the end of exams. This means a great deal to our family.
• We're excitedly making tentative summer plans, such as at least one visit to Rochester and one to Maryland. 
• Miles has received his first acceptance letter. He will attend preschool next fall, though probably only for 2 days a week, due to our work schedule. 

I am impressed if you made it through this much text, unrelieved by the images that the modern mind craves. Please implore the fairies, on our behalf, to send us a replacement camera. Also, I could use some rain boots.