a birthday weekend

After the ridiculousness of Town Night, you might be surprised to know that for my birthday on Saturday we ventured down to Arlington Town Day. It's mostly a venue for local businesses to promote their services, but there are also additional kids' activities and I really wanted Nate to do something fun. We got in line for the pony rides, but he decided he didn't want to go on them (which was fine with me because standing in line for a 30-second jaunt on a walking allergen dressed in costume wasn't all that high on my to-do list) so we moved on to the bouncy castle, which was a hit. We had a good morning wandering around Arlington Center (the weather was perfect!) and made it back in time for a family siesta, some football, and a yummy grilled dinner a la Thad.

Yesterday, we topped off the birthday weekend with a trip to the aquarium, where Nate pointed out, quite correctly, the lionfish. They have a new seal area, which would be more interesting if we didn't go with a two-year-old and could actually focus on the exhibit. After watching fish, penguins, tortoises, rays, and a glimpse of the seals, we wandered over to the North End to my favorite pizza place, Regina's. We haven't historically had much luck eating out with Nate, but he was quite well behaved this time. He had some trouble while we were waiting for our food, but they gave him some dough to play with. Then he ate half a pizza. It really is the best!

a lousy day

Today was one of those days when I should have just gone back to bed. Nothing particularly terrible happened, but all those little things that could go wrong seemed to do just that. I've blocked out some of the details of the day, but here are a few highlights for your viewing pleasure (I hope someone can at least get a good laugh out of my misery!)

Nate had a good morning at school (probably because he wasn't with me - the jinx) but when we got home he was very cranky. Even though he was clearly exhausted, he didn't want to take a nap and spent over an hour literally kicking and screaming before falling asleep. That evening was Arlington Town Night, which we had been planning on attending for months. But since Nate's nap started so late, we had to wake him up to make it to the festivities. He seems to have inherited my sleeping style, and was not pleased to be stirred from his beauty rest. Despite his mantra, "I don't want to go to Town Night!" we made it downtown, picnic dinner in hand, shortly after 6.

There were a number of kids' activities - pony rides, bouncy castles, trucks, a train ride, and a clown, to name a few - and they were advertised as going until 7:30. We said we would do one activity and then have dinner, so we waited in line to "drive" the police car. When we made it to the front of the line, Nate decided he didn't want to go in, but wanted to drive the fire engine, which was a scant thirty feet from the car. So we go over to the truck and realize that they've just closed the doors. We stand around for a couple of minutes and then realize that the guy in charge of the truck seems to be completely ignoring everyone (at least we weren't alone!) When we asked he said that the truck was now closed (in the five seconds it took to walk from the police car) but might be open again at some undetermined time. So we decide to find a place to sit and have dinner. Nate spent the meal watching the train driving around and even remarked excitedly, "I can't wait to ride the train!" We finish up eating around 6:30 and make our way to the train line, which we are told is now closed for the night. What?! Turns out, they closed the line early so they had time to close up the ride. Poor Nate - he was so bummed! Although I think I felt worse than he did, since we made him wait and eat before we tried to get in line. So we mosey on over to the ponies and, low and behold, that line is closed as well. Our saving grace was our next door neighbors, Jackson and Matthew, who happened to be standing nearby. Nate loves those boys, and anytime they are around he's in kid heaven. He also noticed some light-up tchotchkes and, since we were feeling so guilty, we happily shelled over five bucks for a light saber. He dueled with Jackson and Matthew for a bit, and the three kids decided they wanted to go on the bouncy castle and other rides. Off we go to find out that (wait for it) the rides are closed. Awesome. They duel a bit more and it's finally starting to get a little dark. Since everything ended so the field could be cleared by 7:15 for the fireworks, we decide we should find a place to sit before the show. Then we wait. And wait. Nate eats a pear. And we wait some more. Finally, just after 8, the fireworks start. Nate thought they were pretty cool for about a minute, and then turned to us and said, "I want to go home." Despite some protest, we did stay for the whole show, and we all ended up enjoying it, but we were all happy to get home. We made Nate turn the light saber off in the car, so as soon as we got home he turned it back on to play. Then it stopped working. Awesome.

apples apples everywhere

This past weekend the household adults were feeling under the weather, but the actual weather was really beautiful so we made the most of it and were able to get outside and pick some apples. We went to Autumn Hills Orchard and found this great variety of apple called Cox's Orange Pippin (seriously.) We learned that it used to be the most common apple in England but never really caught on here. It's definitely our kind of apple - tart and firm, good for eating raw or cooked. Poor Thad ended up carrying not only 20 pounds of Cox's Orange Pippins, but also 29 pounds of kid. For Nate, he was interested in the apples for a short time, but the big hit was - drum roll, please - the tractors.

preschool: week two

Well, our second week of preschool wasn't quite as smooth as week one. And by "smooth" I mean pleasant. As predicted, at some point Nate was going to realize that this whole school thing is not a fleeting experience but one that happens week after week, and that point was last week.

Our regular schedule has Thad dropping Nate off on his way into work, and my picking him up in the afternoon (just after lunchtime for Nate's class). This turned out to be a very good deal for me, because Thad had the upset portion of the day, while I was greeted with a big hug. In fact, Nate said to us one dinnertime, "Mommy came and picked me up, but Daddy left me there." I like being the good cop for once!

The first rocky morning had a reasonable drop-off, but, according to the teachers, deteriorated pretty quickly. Nate kept insisting that he wanted his lunch box. The teachers thought he may have been hungry, so they offered goldfish, which he turned down (clearly, he must have been really upset if he turned down goldfish.) After a bit of back and forth, they realized that he wanted to eat lunch because we said I'd pick him up after lunch. Clever! The next couple of days were more tearful right off the back (since the lunch box ploy didn't pan out), and he actually chased Thad down the hallway one morning.

Each day he eventually calmed down and was able to play and participate, and we assume that the crankiness, like his happy start, will be fleeting. And, if not, we've only got 18-ish more years of school left (unless he follows in Thad's footsteps, in which case it would be closer to 28).

trucks galore

I am fed up with trucks. They have taken over my life! Not only am I inundated with toy trucks and truck books, but we have major road construction going on right outside our door. They've been slowly making their way down our neighboring street (we live one house in from an intersection) replacing the water pipes. Over the past month or so, Nate and I have spent hours - I'm not being sarcastic - watching the workers dig holes, move pipes, cart around rubble, fill in holes, eat lunch, etc. He has had the opportunity to sit in the small excavator, and even operate the bucket on the big excavator (with some help from it's operator, that is.) We can see the trucks outside the window when we eat breakfast, and sometimes they are parked in front of our house overnight. Nate is in heaven. And I think I might be stuck in truck hell. I'm glad there's so much entertainment in the neighborhood and I do see the value of having running water, but I spend the majority of my day at home and all the noise is driving me crazy. I've been fine for the last few weeks, but this week we've had a backhoe with a tamper pressing something on the road so forcefully that our house is vibrating. Thad said he was glad that we had closed kitchen cabinets because otherwise all our dishes and glasses would have fallen off the shelves. I'm glad it's almost the weekend so we will have a couple of truck-free days! Of course, we're considering apple picking, which will likely involve a tractor. As long as it doesn't register high on the Richter scale, I'll be okay with it.

he's a Mainiac

Mainiac on the... lake? The song's not quite as catchy that way, is it? We concluded our summer tour of New England in the great State o' Maine (yes, I realize we missed Rhode Island. Maybe next year) with a trip up north with cousins Krista, Zvonie, Freya, and Annika. Despite a bit of rainy weather, we spent a lot of time outdoors, canoeing, digging in the pine needles, and even "swimming" (more accurately, standing knee-high in the water.) Not surprisingly, Nate spent much of his time playing with the toy trucks and digging, and was a bit of a bad influence on the Dogic girls, who are typically not covered in dirt. Nate also really liked looking at the "pilly pads" (aka lily pads) around the lake, and we saw a couple of loons while we were boating (and, no, I don't mean Thad and I.) We also learned that Halie, who is probably 8 or 9 now, actually likes the water. She's never liked swimming but this time we couldn't keep her from wading around the lake. I'm glad she had fun, but she stunk up the car on the ride home. Or maybe that was Thad?

preschool day two

I wasn't tremendously concerned about Nate having separation issues at preschool, but he cares even less about my presence than I'd expected. This morning was day two of preschool orientation, which involved leaving him in the classroom for a two-hour period while I hung out with other parents (as much as I'm trying to be p.c. by saying "parents," everyone there was female. Such is life.) drinking coffee and talking about leaving our kids. It was a basically an unofficial, non-anonymous support group.

When we arrived at school we put some stuff in Nate's locker (clothing and diapers, mostly) and he then waltzed on into the classroom, leaving me and my big belly stuck behind a group of parents waiting outside the doorway with their sniffling kids. I eventually make my way inside and Nate's clear across the room playing with playdough and a garlic press, and he clearly can't give two poopy diapers about me. Everyone else seemed to have a parent still attached, and I couldn't decide if I was supposed to stick around or leave, so I had to track down a teacher to see if I was dismissed (I was). Then I try to find the parents' hang out room, and I am hanging out by myself because I really am the first person to unglue herself from her toddler. I did score some points with the other moms because coffee had been set up but not brewed, so I cleverly plugged in the coffee pot, resulting in a much needed caffeine drip for pretty much everyone who entered the room.

There were a couple of parents with tearful kids (who had, in turn, tearful parents) but in general our presence in the building with pretty unnecessary. The school - mostly the administrators, but also the classroom aids - did a nice job updating us on what our kids were doing. It was like having our own personal spy. Nate was playing with playdough. Cyrus painted a picture ("was it of a dinosaur?" his mother asked. "I don't know," says the teacher, "it was a lot of paint.") Nate had seconds at snack. No surprise there. Saydee is not crying, although she's not talking much either. Now Cyrus and Nate are playing with trucks... you get the drift. Then at the end of the day we made our way back to the classroom and the kids were let out into the hall. Out comes Cyrus. And Saydee. and pretty much everyone else. But Nate's still busy doing his own thing, playing around and completely oblivious to his anxious mom out in the hallway.

After school, Nate and I went out for a special lunch at Brueggers, and he informed me that he played with playdough, the sand table, they read a book that was not about rabbits, the teacher sang a song, and he played with a cement mixer because someone else (perhaps Cyrus?) was playing with the dump truck. All in all, a good start to the school year. Let's hope it stays that way!

school days

Nate started preschool this week! Last week we got a letter from his teachers with a nametag that he decorated. His first day was yesterday, when Thad, Nate, and I went in for an informal meeting with his teachers. That morning we got acquainted with the classroom, met a few of his classmates (they had us come in groups of four), and found his locker. Afterwards we hung around the playground for a while. Overall, it was a successful outing! Tomorrow I'll be dropping Nate off for a half day (well, I guess it's more of a quarter day because his regular school day is only a half day) and lucky me gets to hang out in the library with the other parents (woo hoo). I will report back with all the details soon!