2009_09_05 Saturday

After breakfast at the diner, we walked to the local toy store for Jonathan to pick out a special toy because he had dealt as well as could be expected with the whole paci thing. He played around for a bit and finally settled on a Thomas the Train train and a basketball, which I found crazy because he has tons of balls. But, that's what he wanted, so that's what he got. He does love his Thomas train.

Then, it was nap time again. And, again, it became a full-blown crisis that he didn't have 'purple paci' so we let him sleep with Thomas, but that apparently was no match for PP. This time, his nap was awful; I'm not sure he slept at all.

While he was at least contained, Dave and I wrapped up the lovely carpet I had ordered for the dining room that didn't fit. And, we secured it to my car. Once Jonathan was up, we drove to the UPS store to ship it back and then headed up to the O'Conner's BBQ in NY. Especially for not napping, Jonathan did extraordinary. He played with all the kids, and even some of the parents. We were going to crash at the NY Hardwicks to avoid the long drive, but in the end we decided to push through. Jonathan didn't sleep a wink in the car!

Happy Anniversary, Jen and Chad!

2009_09_04 Friday

We went to Stroller Rollers this morning, but no one else showed up. Since it was such a beautiful day, we went anyway...after we checked out all the dogs in the dogpark. I pushed him a bit in the stroller, but then realized it was much better for him to get some energy out. So, he would run ahead of me, like I was chasing him. Unfortunately, though, he whiped out three times and really scratched up his right pinkie and both knees. He was a bloody mess. But, we looked at all the acorns and ripped off their 'hats' and made lots of friend with the people running by us.

Today was the first day without the dreaded paci but in the crib. I decided it would be too tramatic to move him into a toddler bed on top of no paci. Jonathan's nap did not go particularly well. He was very upset about not having "purple paci," but he did eventually fall asleep. Basically, it was the same scenario for bed time.

2009_09_02 Wednesday

This morning was our art class at Whole Foods. En route, I got stuck at a red light, and I heard a little voice from the back yell out: "Oh My God, cars are everywhere!" I nearly started crying laughing because he was right. Unfortunately, this class was jam-packed with big kids, and there was no craft this time. Instead, a local kiddy studio came by for story- and dance-time; they brought along pom-pons, musical instruments, and handkerchiefs to dance with. It was cute, albeit chaotic, and I much prefer the arts we've done before.

Once sleeping beauty stirs, we'll head to the grocery store for some staples.

2009_08_30 Sunday

Today, we visited the Black Moshannon State Park's bog walk. They had so many wild blueberries still ripe that we picked them off the bush. Jonathan got a big kick out of that. And, he ran along the boardwalks, hiding from us at the turns. He thought he was pretty darn funny. It gave me a coronary, since there was no fencing from the water/bog. I saw a snake -- an anaconda, for sure. We also took a stroll into the forest, where he and Opa found lots of mushrooms, acorns, and trees to hide behind. When the clouds rolled in, we hightailed it to a gas station (rolled in on fumes!).

2009_08_29 Saturday

Today was a very busy day for us! The roosters woke us up very early: 6:30 or so. We spent the morning helping Oma at her local farmers' market.

In the afternoon, we went to the Grange Fair to see all the farm animals (piggies, chickens, ducks, bunnies, mama cows, baby cows, sheep, and goats) and farm equipment. It was rediculously muddy, but we had a nice stroller to keep Jonathan above it all. My poor car, though. Right outside the event was a train-themed restaurant, where we had dinner. Jonathan got a real kick out of all the trains everywhere. They even had two real cars to walk around.

2009_08_28 Friday

Due to the rain, I cancelled our weekly Stroller Rollers walk in the reservation. Instead, I got us packed up and out the door en route to the Barony. Jonathan is just so great in the car; he occupies himself with his toys and books. We made it around 3 and spent the rest of the day playing with the peeps and chickens and the cool trains and blocks.

2009_08_27 Thursday

Today we embarked on a new adventure: we went to the Dover Community Children's Museum because it was "Everything Dino" Day. That wasn't really all that impressive, but the museum was cute. Jonathan got to play in an indoor lake house, which had blue mats for the water and green mats for the grass. They had a small space station, a Picasso exhibit, some cultural items, a 'televised' stage, and an electricity exhibit. The biggest hit, though, was the train tracks, which were no different than what we have at home, but somehow cooler.