St. Louis Trip - Part 1

I'll take this moment of not-so-quiet, wherein my children pretend to nap, to catch everyone up on our travels. We left Monday morning on our drive to St. Louis. We broke up the trip and stayed the night in Ottumwa, Iowa. Jack saw the hotel pool and said "I can't even BELIEVE they have a park indoors." We swam, tried to put a wetsuit on Jack AFTER he was wet (not a good idea), had dinner, and got settled for the night. We conned my mom (who we were caravanning down there with) into staying in the kids' room.

The next day we drove the rest of the way down to the Lake of the Ozarks. We passed many amusing signs/bumper stickers ("Wrangler butts make me nuts," "Come eat at the Poop Deck") and were invited to eat at an astonishing, for the Ozarks, number of "Asian" restaurants (Touch of Asia, Taste of Asia, Asian Cuisine).

We got down to the lake and settled into our condo (Charlie, BJ and Beth were staying in theirs and we had one in the same building.) It took Ryker about half an hour to eat sunscreen and then dump it all over the floor, get cleaned up and put into a swim diaper and then poop in that, leaving him with no more swim diapers but very protected chin and cheeks. We went swimming and had dinner at the Kellys. After the kids were asleep Chuck and I ran to Target for a few essentials and then stopped at Randy's (not to be confused with Andy's across the street) for frozen custard. We sat outside under the yellow bug lights and hundreds of dryer sheets (picture on Flickr), nose-to-nose with the SUVs and pick-up trucks parked in front of us, in which all of the other patrons were sitting and eating their treats.

The next day my mom's friend Genie brought her pontoon over to the dock by our condos and we took a boat ride. Jack was VERY nervous (pictures to come) and held on tightly to BJ's arm. She couldn't really feel her fingers, but the scenery was nice. Ryker looked a little like a drunken sailor and quickly fell asleep. We puttered around, looking at all the huge lake houses, about half of which were for sale. We ate at a restaurant, tooled around a bit more, then headed home. I neglected to put enough sunscreen on Ryker (ironic, after he almost ingested it the night before) so he looked like a leper. Or a really messed up raccoon. I also didn't have enough on myself, so I'm a bit charred.

On Thursday we came back to St. Louis. It's a three hour drive so we broke it up by stopping at a McDonalds Playplace. (Note to any adult thinking that it might be fun to get up there with the kids: It's not. It's not big enough for you. And it's dirty. And babies can't navigate on their own so you'll have to hoist them through 2-foot-high climbing areas. And your preschooler is not capable of taking your baby down the tube slide by himself. And slides aren't slippery, so you'll just sort of stutter your way down the slide yourself and then your shorts will hike up and you'll get to the bottom and your husband will be taking pictures and laughing so hard he's crying. So just skip it.)

We got Imo's (one of my favorite pizzas on Earth) and after the kids went down Chuck and I went to a movie! Exciting.

Today we met my friend Taylor at a park for lunch and let the kids run around. Now we're back at my mom's trying to rest. The kids aren't as into that as we are. Wish us luck!

TVs Are Confusing

For months now, Ryker has put up with Chuck and me urging him to say hello to people when we greet them. It's cute to see him wave. Now he happily waves at people as we leave school, people mowing their grass, people taking walks, and at the three of us as we sit around our house.

The concept of polite greetings has been grasped, but the concept of TV has not.

I had golf on the TV this afternoon (it was that or infomercials) and Ryker was sitting in my lap. A man made his putt and waved at the crowd, and therefore at the camera. Ryk beamed up at the TV, waved and yelled "HI!"

If I Was Ryker

If I was Ryker, my day yesterday would have consisted of two things.

The first would be asking what everything was and saying I wanted it. Really, when you think about it, you could probably get through most of your day with only those two phrases.

"Wha-dissss?" to the person at the bakery.
"That's a blueberry scone."
"Want disssss" (pointing at it) - "Want dat" (pointing at coffee). I'd be set.

The second part of my day would have been making the mistake of taking 2 or 3 steps un-assisted, WHILE AT DAYCARE. The mistake inherent in that is that I would then be repeatedly stood up and my toys would be placed just out of reach so I had to walk to get them. But just to show them all, I wouldn't go get them. I'd sit down and cry instead.

Preservation

Without another mechanism for bottling up and preserving my feelings about today, I thought I'd blog about it.

Today was great. Nothing too extraordinary - no huge vacation taken, no major milestone achieved. Just a good solid day where I was really happy and so proud of my family.

We woke up and had to hustle to get out of the house. We had promised to spend the first half of the day helping our new childcare move to its new location. Jack started off a bit rocky - but found his kazoo behind a picture on a shelf and then found his sock in the back of his underwear, so life was good. ("Momma - that was two AMAZING twicks!!!)

Ryker hung out with Grandma Bernice while Jack, Chuck and I went to the move. We felt good about helping, met parents we hadn't met yet, and loved the new space. And Jack REALLY enjoyed helping move. He brought his "big strong muscles" and really did help - he carried boxes and bags and chairs and toys. And every time I asked him if he wanted a break he said no, that he wanted to keep going. He was the only kid there helping.

We came home, took short naps and then played for awhile. Then we went out for dinner at a local place we love but haven't been to in awhile. It has a ridiculous salad bar and lots of other yummy food. The boys were amazingly well behaved and drew compliments from perfect strangers (who also thought they were 5 and 1 and a half).

On the way home we put on I've Been Working on the Railroad, which Jack and Chuck and I sang along with loudly. Ryker clapped to the beat, giggling the whole time and attempting a few notes of his own.

Home again, we got through the bedtime routines with no drama. Jack came in to say good night to Ryker and was worried about why Ryker's ear was red (from how he was laying on me). "Do you think he might need me to kiss it? Kiss. There. I love you Ryker....I love you Momma." And off he went to bed.

Ryker read Goodnight Moon with me and tried his hand at the quiet old lady who was whispering "hush" - putting his finger up to his mouth and blowing loud, wet bubbles. Close. Then he dove towards his crib.

Night night to a good day.

Literal

We were driving home yesterday and I was yawning uncontrollably. I said "I'm sleee-pyyyy. You can call me 'Sleepy Momma'."

Pause.

"Umm Momma, I mean Sleepy Momma, I'm hungry."

He's Just Not That Into Me

I was (re)tucking Jack into bed last night and I told him that I love him very much. I told him never to forget that.

"I do forget that sometimes, when I'm at school."

How sad, I thought. My baby gets to school and thinks that I don't love him anymore!

"Well Jack, when you are at school, you just think about me and think 'Momma loves me very, very much.' Just keep thinking about that and think about me giving you a kiss and a hug and telling you how much I love you. Okay Bud, can you do that? Because I love you very much and I love you all the time, forever and ever."

He patiently listened to me rant and when I had stopped, he broke the news to me.

"Okay Momma, but I don't think about you while I'm at school."

Jack's Rules to Biking

Jack has developed some interesting bike safety habits with his big boy bike.

First - after taking a spill on our driveway, he insists on walking his bike down to the end and then getting on. Our driveway is not that steep, I promise.

Second - he wears his helmet anytime he thinks he MIGHT want to bike. That includes at the water park, inside during his snack, while playing with sidewalk chalk, and during meals outside.

Third, and my personal favorite - whenever he sees a car coming, no matter how far away, he stops his bike and rings his bell until they pass him. Then he triumphantly yells "they SAW me!"

Jack-isms

Time for another installment of Jack-Isms (@ 3 years, 10 months):

• "Hah-bent" (Event)
• "Talkers" (Speakers - as in the speakers I have at my Hah-bents at work.)
  
• "Peanut butter and sanwich" (PB&J)
• "Bee Smorning" (This Morning or Morning - never just says "morning")
• "I trust you!" (I promise!)

And a bit of his monologue in the car home yesterday:

"Momma, I was on the pwaygwound and DaHoosh was up there - you say "Da" (waits for me to repeat "Da") "Hoosh" (waits for me to repeat "Hoosh") - DaHoosh - and DaHoosh was up there and den he pushed me off! I didn't do NUFIN' to him and he pushed me! And I cried and cried a wittuwl bit and I didn't do NUFIN' back to him and I told da teachers. And I WAS DaHoosh's fwiend but den he PUSHED me. So I'm not his fwiend anymore. (I interrupt to explain about second chances.) But if any dose kids push me eighty-forty nine times den I won't be dem fwiends anymore...DaHoosh used to wisten a wittuwl bit but den HE PUSHED ME...But I wisten. (I interrupt to ask who else listens.) Ummm, mostwy just me. And Natawie twies to wisten. She almost wistens. And Miss Mari and Ester and Miss Jean and Miss Pwistie wisten."

Does He Need Gloves?

Several people have commented recently on how funny one of Ryker's habits is. I thought I should put it on the blog, even though Chuck and I hardly notice it anymore. Everyone else seems to think it's hysterical.

About a month or two ago Ryker began putting shoes on his hands when he crawls around. He crawls to wherever he sees shoes, then picks a matching pair and comes back into the living room with them on his hands. He'll go back awhile later and trade them out for a new pair. He doesn't discriminate either - he'll wear Jack's Crocs, then my heels, then my flip-flops, then Chuck's running shoes.

Not sure what the deal is with that, but he likes it and it entertains our guests. The only drawback is you have to go hunting for your shoes when you are trying to get ready. We've found them in very strange places. He once put Chuck's shoes in the bathtub.

The Flip Side

Here's the other side to Jack - the side that makes it so hard for us to see him being mean...

The other night I was tucking him (back) into bed and he says "Momma, I blew a kiss through the wall to you and Ryker. I sent it through my blue wall and through Ryker's white wall to you guys. I tried to send a hug but it didn't work."