September 24, 2013

So I discovered today that you can cut the stroller commute to the park in half if you wear rollerblades.

Luke shrieked like he was on the best roller coaster ride ever.

And I also discovered that pushing 65lbs uphill (two boys + the stroller = roughly 65lbs) on inline skates is....a whoa-baby workout.

The fundamental differences between these two is particularly highlighted at the park.  Levi wouldn't go down most slides or climb most of the equipment before this summer.  He's just very cautious and calculated.  Luke is more....ready-fire-aim in his approach.  He LOVES to play on the equipment now, but he's just unsturdy enough (and daring enough) that I have to follow him very closely.  So I have to follow him up the steps, and then literally sprint around to the other side before he dives face-first down a slide.  He has zero sense of caution.

There was a little girl there who was being very sweet with him, trying to be all gentle and talk baby-talk to him, and I'm thinking, oh sweet cheeks, you better get out of his way...!!!!  He turned on the Luke charm, though.

I took the boys to the library this morning.  It's impossible to take a toddler/preschooler to the library and have it be anything other than embarrassingly loud.  Levi is so sweet but he's a typical kid who has one volume of voice in a quiet library: embarrassingly loud.  Enter the library: MAMA!!! (peering down to the lower level) WHAT'S DOWN THERE? HOW DID THOSE PEOPLE GET DOWN THERE? CAN WE GO DOWN THERE?  Push the button on the elevator (starts the agitated jig - he's afraid to cross the crack between the elevator and the floor)  OHHHH!! OHHHH!!!  CARRY MEEEEE!!!! CARRY MEEEEE!! Get off the elevator: (sees the turtle tank) WOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!! (finds a truck book) MAMA!  BUY THAT!  CAN WE BUY THAT?!  (sees the Matchbox car collection of the month) LOOK AT THOSE CAARRRRRSSSS!!!!! I'M GONNA GO SIT ON THE BOAT!  MAMA, CAN I SIT ON THE BOAT?  MAMA?! MAMA!   MAMA THE LIBRARIAN'S NOT HERE! WHERE DID THE LIBRARIAN GO? MAMA!  While I'm trying to nonchalantly remind him through clenched teeth to speak in a soft and respectful voice.  The librarian came up to me and said, "I just love his voice! He's so enthusiastic!"  Yes, why yes, he is very enthusiastic.

I bought some new letter and number puzzles and set them out for Levi's "breakfast challenge."  It sure helps to give him something to keep busy while I make breakfast.  I piled all the letters and numbers together and he had to figure out what was a letter and what was a number and put it on the appropriate puzzle. This stumped him a little bit and took a few minutes to figure out.  He gets letters and numbers mixed up sometimes. It was a good challenge. :)

He wanted to do Play Doh today. I made him a mat with his letter and tried to show him how to shape the Play Doh to the letter but he wasn't terribly interested in that.

He did want to color and dot paint so we had the lunch time mess again.  It was a little more controlled than the last time, though.

This is what happens when you mix purple crayon and slobber:

He looks like a wreck because he cried REALLY HARD about the hooked-finger crayon-ectomy that I performed on his trap. He was really enjoying that tasty crayon.

And yes, I'm going to shamelessly brag: look at what Levi did without any direction from me!! He was really proud of all his little 'projects.' :)  I'm just having a ton of fun seeing how his fine motor ability changes by the week. It's fascinating.  Little kids are just cool. :)