Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Spray Parks and Drama Queens

Spray Parks.

Yesterday, we went to a spray park with Mr. Matt and Jonathan.  As usual, since it was our first time going to this particular park, we got slightly lost along the way- even with Mr Matt's iPhone map thing.  The kids were patient and we only arrived a few dozen wrong turns later than planned. 

The water was cold, it was 93 degrees out, and there was a killer playground next to the water feature.  Definitely for the 5 yrs old and up crowd- it had giant slides, a spinning wheel, plate swings, a cargo net, and some sort of weird drum circle.  Ella was hot but she kept cool by making eyes at Mr Matt, eating mandarin oranges, and sippin on her water bottle.

You know that whole thing that people say about birthdays where even when you turn 5, you're also still 4 and 3 and 2 and 1?  Your younger ages stay with you and so do those life experiences and you have the prerogative to act those ages at will, right?  Well, Breckin went through his range of ages all in one afternoon.  He was 5 when he was on the spinning wheel thing, asked the bigger kids to stop it, they didn't, so he jumped off and skinned his belly and knees.  I never heard about it until bathtime.  Super brave, huh?

He was 4 when he did everything Jonathan wanted to do including butt dances in the fountains, making fart noises, and shooting the water guns at anyone who walked by. 

He was 3 when threw a huge-a-normous fit about still being in his water clothes and how he just wanted to change cause he was too hot to keep playing in the water and just wanted to swing again in his regular clothes and he just hates his water shirt.  Wah.  Breckin didn't really start having tantrums until he was 3, not 2, like most kids.  So, that was his 3 moment. 

He was 2 when he stayed on the plate swing too long, got motion sickness, and had to get off with a green face and sit in the shade for a bit.  We first noticed Breckin got horrible motion sickness when he would bring books in the car, try to read them, and complain of getting the ickies. 

He was 1 when, at bedtime, he only wanted to read a million stories even though he couldn't keep his eyes open.  That kids has loved books since he was 6 mos old and would sit through a dozen stories a night if we'd let him.  The more tired he is, the more he wants to read. 

He had a good time but he definitely had his ups and downs.  As usual.

Drama Queen!!!
Did I mention my kids like to read?  One of the first traits I've noticed in both of them is that they love to read.  Ella more so than Breckin which is hard for me to believe.  We started looking through books with her as soon as she could sit up in our laps.  And, she LOVES it.  Is there a bigger word than loves?  Cause now would be a good time for it.

So- here's our usual routine.  At bedtime (between 7:30 and 8:00), we grab an 8 oz bottle, change the baby girl into her jammies w/ or w/o a bath, head to the rocking chair in her room, and try to feed her.  She'll oblige to about 3-4 ounces of milk before pushing it away, straining to sit up, swinging her arms wildly in the direction of her bookshelf, and fake crying.  This translates to "See, I drank some of that stupid milk, now let's read."  One book must contain Elmo.  One book must contain baby animals and the rest are random.  She will cry and flail if we stop at one book.  She won't finish the chore of drinking her milk until we are through at least four books. 

And now, just moments ago, the book reading has gone to a new level. Drama Queen level.  We already know that if someone takes away her chosen toy of the moment, she cries.  With big, giant crocodile tears.  If you stop reading in the middle of the story or hold up a story and have to put it down because your son just fell and hit his head, she cries big crocodile tears.  She just noticed that those cute baby animal books have fur.  Chunks of soft, yankable, mesmerizing fur.  She reached out to turn the page of a baby rabbit and grabbed the fur instead.  I could not turn that page for at least 19.2 minutes.  She was IN LOVE with that fur.  I tried to turn it a few times and got instant crocodile tears and huge, giant wahs. 

I'm pretty sure this is going to add a new dimension to bedtime because we are going to have to pencil in enough time for adequate baby animal fur devotions.  Time to teach Ella about nice, gentle ways to love our animals- not baby girl's hair removal systems.   

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