Museums galore

We had such a blast last Sunday that at the end of the day we felt like we'd been on vacation. We went to AMNH and the Children's Museum of Manhattan (yay for memberships!!) roamed Central Park and ate out all day. Any one of these usually defines our weekend, so all of it in one day was a real treat. But we were on a roll (actually a scoot, but...)

Once again, the changes in P were so obvious at the museums. He focused on exhibits even longer and asked more in depth questions. When we were in the Dinosaur wing there was a toddler going up and down and up and down a set of stairs. I remembered P at the museum shortly after we moved to NY - that was all he wanted to do that day - those stairs. This time he stood on the same set and asked pointed questions about the duck billed dinosaurs. A Siberian diorama captured him for 20 question filled minutes. It featured hunters bringing home a beluga whale to their village. We chatted about the lack of agriculture in that climate and the need to eat meat. P was in hearty disagreement. There was a sprig of grass towards the back of the window and he pointed to it as proof that produce was possible. Sun requirements for tomato plants didn't really register for him, so we had to just nod along with his description of the diorama: the beluga whale was beached and the men were doctors, bringing it back to the village to heal it. Yes. Same kid who routinely tortures Baby Brother.

His change at the Children's Museum was even more marked. When we went last month with Malek he clung to my side and required constant interaction. Within 15 minutes of arriving on Sunday he was off like lightning. He happily bounced from one fun activity to another (I promise a lengthy video for the grandparents in the next couple of days), experimenting with all the different activities. He swirled the turning windows for an eternity, seeing shapes float, how liquid moves, how colors blend. He poured, dumped and funneled enough sand to make a beach. True to turning three, costumes are finally fun, so he dug into the costume bin and played jaguar for a bit. He almost squeaked when he found the porcupine puppet that he fell in love with during our last visit. The place was Chaos Filled but he didn't seem overwhelmed this time. In fact, we didn't leave until they announced the museum was closing.

Its now Friday night (yes, this blog is my exciting Friday night date) and I'm hoping this weekend is half as nice as the last :)

The Scooter

Scooters are really popular for kids in Brooklyn. Expecting those short legs to walk everywhere (and at a decent clip) is a lot to ask, unless you're comfortable carrying those short legs a good portion of each errand. So kids scoot. P was hot to scoot and knew exactly what he wanted. A pink 3 wheel scooter.

The Micro Mini rocks. Its steered by leaning and is super stable. We live uphill from the scooter store, so P really worked his first ride. He then devoted the rest of the spring afternoon to focused practice in our park. The next morning he was on his scooter with Ethan before I was even dressed. They went down hill for 4 avenues and P mastered his steering. He was soooo pleased with himself :)

We all left the house at 9 am and spent the day in the city at museums and scooting around the Upper West Side. At 7 that evening P still wasn't quite ready to head home so we decided to do some scooting in Central Park. The last hill (its always the last hill isn't it?) on the way to the subway was excessively steep, but P'd had nary a bruise the entire weekend and understood how to use his brake. He rounded the bend, hit a bump and flipped, helmetless head over scooter, and skidded on his face. It looked horrendous. Granted, the goose egg that immediately formed looked formidable, but he really walked away pretty unscathed for as huge of a fall as it was. A gory black eye and a scratched elbow, both of which are healing very nicely, were his only battle wounds. While he has been much more alert going down hills, he apparently wasn't too traumatized because he asks for the thing first thing each a.m...

But when P and I joined E in the city to file our taxes Tuesday I realized P's speed was finally a cause for concern. With 3 days of practice he was now at the end of the block before I'd even locked our front door. He sweetly waited every other tree after I discussed my concern with him, but it was obvious this constant stopping ruined his fun. After all, the whole goal appears to be going fast enough to dramatically pick up the kicking heel and sway the handlebars side to side while coasting and saying "neeeee-ahhhhhm." All fun and games in the park but infinitely more dicey around NYC traffic. Ugh, now what? Take the thing away or keep up with him?

So E and I had to get scooters :) And there we were, in rush hour foot traffic heading from packed Union Square to Wash Square Park, following our three year old on his scooter while he shouted "neeeeee-aaahhhhm!!!" and weaved between surprised pedestrians. It was fabulously fun, and pretty funny too, but the amount of trust it required was pretty taxing. And there, in a nutshell, is the big parenting kicker for us lately. Trusting him and his abilities while making sure his inexperience (and occasional lack of reasoning : I'll cut that car with my magic sword!!!) doesn't get him killed. I had no idea parenting could be so exhilarating and scary all at the same time, or summed up by buying a scooter.

Seth's Skateboard: The inspiration

So Uncle Seth came to play on Saturday. He arrived via skateboard... making him The World's Coolest Uncle. He and E pushed P around inside and then later the kid had a ride on the sidewalk. P was so proud of himself he kept checking in with Baby Brother for commentary, sometimes more interested in Baby Brother's astonishment than his actual ride:) His excessive skateboard excitement finally tipped the toy scale and after Seth left we purchased P the pink Mini Micro he's been yearning for. Oy.

The Stoop

The park is steps from our front door, so we usually head there for a dirt pile or monster hunt. But every once in a while our time is too limited or our energy too exhausted - yet the spring sun begs us to stay out. Then we hang on the stoop. Neighbors stop by to chat. P calls out questions to walkers. And the stairs turn into a racetrack filled with bubbles! Warm and fuzzy Brooklyn moments :)

Equally fabulous is the stoop freebie. Its freecycle without the hassle. We have gotten and given books, furniture and toys in this manner and P is becoming quite the stoop hound. He scored one of the ever popular baby strollers last week and joyfully pushed Baby Brother everywhere. Of course BB is scared of speed, so P had to go as fast as possible...

The thank you

P painted a thank you note for my parents for his Florida vacation. My mom enjoys birds and P included her fave titmouse (or was it the nuthatch? Mom?) alongside his lovely drip paintings. The paint is so thick on these it takes a full week for them to dry. And of course the originally colorful but oh so cheap washable paint dries to one big brown blob (which killllls me). I've seriously considered nice acrylics and large plastic sheets and then I remember the direction bean and flour experiments inevitably go. Anyway, I'm posting it here so that when my mom gets a painting that looks like smooshed shit she'll know it was originally quite lovely...

The Lean-to

P, E and I played in the park two weekends ago. Sticks rule P's universe lately and the day featured sword fighting, strange stick configurations and finally a lean to for Baby Brother. It was amazing to see him So Very Busy and not needing attention every two seconds. He loves Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" and colleced pine tree branches as "grickle grass."

Fancy Monster Tricks

My mom politely informed me this morning that my blog activity was sub par :) so I'm going to try and get a bunch of pics up since she's jonesing... hopefully our internet connection will cooperate!

Mr. Articulate

My little problem solver. What started as crying and pointing progressed to grabbing and then growling and now finally to little zen statements. And they crack me up. My mom's most quoted favorite is from when P was a year and a half and she was carrying him while she cooked. It came time to open a jar and she told P that she needed the arm he was in to open said jar. He'd have to get down. "No, switch hands" he told her.

There's (sometimes) more analytic ability to his pronouncements these days. We played with Yoav a week ago and the two became a bit fruity as the afternoon passed. Yoav was teasing P, telling him his name was this or that. How he intuited that this was The Hotspot for P I do not know, but there is nary a better tease out there to get P's fur fluffed. He started out correcting Yoav. "My name is NOT shoaeiwthoaefh, its Phoenix Hudson Schulton." Within a few minutes this entire sentence was screamed rather than stated. I explained to him that Yoav was just teasing him, maybe he'd like to make a game of it? This worked, for about a minute, and then P's internal definition of P was just toooo insulted and he was pissed again :) He asked Yoav to stop, saying he didn't like it. Yoav thought it was all very hilarious and didn't understand why P would want to stop such a funny game, so he continued. P didn't find it funny at all and couldn't fathom why Yoav wouldn't stop such silliness. This sort of frustration usually spirals into physical pushing on P's part. This time, he went into another room. A few minutes passed and I peaked in hoping he wasn't peeing all over Yoav's toys or something equally creative and found him quietly playing the xylophone. He looked up and said "I was mad at Yoav so I came in to make some music and take deep breaths. I feel better now."

Wow. I wish I had that kind of clarity when I get mad :) But once P resurfaced Yoav reintroduced his game and then accidentally tossed P's stuffed dragon. Oops. Bad combo - you Don't toss P's toys :) I prepared myself for fistcuffs and a chat about safe expression when P grabbed his dragon and roared. It then breathed fire everywhere, burning Yoav's house down. Whenever Yoav uttered a new name or blinked, the dragon roared and burned more toys. We ushered the boys to the playground as quickly as possible where the energy shifted to happy swinging games and I sent up praise (again) that Spring has sprung.

Bugs: To kill or not to kill

We went monster hunting with Malek and his mama again yesterday. We've come up empty handed so many times now that the boys spent a bit more time on "truck breaks" than "mumble grumble" jaunts. It had rained the night before and the earthworms were thriving in the spring dirt. When P unearthed one with his truck, the boys' curiosity came alive and they tinkered with the idea of smushing it. P wanted to know what would happen if he killed the worm. Well, I said, it will die. His (fear-filled) obsession with cops and jail has helped him nail the fact that he isn't the right age to be locked up. So, he pondered, if I can't go to jail, what really happens if I kill this tiny worm? Its so funny to watch someone who can't always get their boots on the right foot struggle with big, ethical questions. I could practically see the motto of our 'Horton hears a Who' book swirling through his head "A persons a person no matter how small." Yet, mama grabbed that moth in the kitchen the other day (whoops) and Grams and Aunt D seem passionate about fly killing....

Malek solved P's problem by diving at the little bug with a "let's kill it." "Noooooo!!! shrieked P. "You Can't Kill It!" From then on he was the worm's savior. If he felt Malek had a worm out of the dirt for too long he would lunge for it, saying it was dehydrated. Ahhh, lucky little worm. If only the next bug would be so lucky.... I can already see him wondering "what happens if I kill this ant...."

The Dinner Party

P is reeeeally enjoying Baby Brother's new family (thanks Grams!). Bat Mak (has wings and an accent) plays a great silly villain. Beek Mok is the go-to guy for any missing character. Need a kangaroo? Beek Mok. Medusa? Beek Mok. Uncle Seth? Beek Mok. Horroray is a Beek Mok back up, the secondary go-to guy when Beek Mok is busy. And Baby Brother is still, well, Baby Brother.

So after playing coop (despite the fact that we don't belong to the neighborhood food coop, most of P's friends do and he therefore pretends to shop at said coop) he wanted to take his food back to the castle for a dinner party. He served us sardines (yes folks - that's pretend meat he's playing with now!) and chocolate fondue with strawberries, cherries and pound cake.

Bunnies in the backyard. Or, the Little Man.

The playgroop twins brought their bunnies back from upstate last month and P was anxious to meet the new additions. Leslie had chopped kale prepared for the kids to get in touch with their nurturing side and Phoenix thought this was sooooo neat. He often likes us to feed him, too often likes to feed us, regularly and maliciously feeds Baby Brother (pretend poop and other pleasantries) and too rarely gets to feed others :) So this was perfect. The rabbits were an unbelievably soft and sweet surprise for a bunch of city kids.

P still seems nervous around the largish group of kids (any more than One being largish for him) and hung right by me (On me, actually) a lot of the time but did venture off some. But he seemed much more settled this time. There are a couple of other kids that stick by their moms, so I'm not concerned, just chuckling, since the other kids Have to be more fun than me. I joined a few moms at the food table and P just sat on my lap listening and playing with a fascinating magnetic dress toy. Some of the moms chatted with him about his Florida trip - winning his heart. Then when I came up short on his cable car questions (Dez and Nini have a couple of cool cable car toys), their mom, Leslie, not only answered his questions, she read him a book about cable cars. As usual, the child is enamored with all of the Adults in his life, blowing the moms extra bye kisses at the end of playgroop.

On a warm day last weekend we came home to a very busy stoop with multiple neighbors out gabbing and kids playing ball. P wanted to run up and get his ball and "come back down to chat." As he ran back down the stoop stairs I expected him to veer to the boys playing ball. Nope. He dropped his ball and marched right up to the group of dad and stood there, listening and nodding and watching. They stopped talking and looked down at their knee level ... but he wasn't sure what to chat about and marched back to me. Doh. I can't blame the kid. Half the time he sees the neighbor boy, the kid is so grumpy he won't return P's "hello!" But the two neighbor dads, forgettaboutit. They chat him up like an old drinking buddy. I'm sure they feel grumpy half the time too :) we adults just hide it better.

So it wasn't completely surprising when he told me that he is a "grown-up now." I can lead the kid to other children, but if Ol' Stewball only wants wine, that wet river ain't gonna do him any good...

Magic Dust

E had to work this weekend so P and I accompanied him to the city each day in an attempt to get some time with Papa. We could chat on the subway and then meet for lunch. It was a great solution to a sorry situation (P's started missing E quite a bit lately) and we found lots of fun in the kids section at the Strand (a fantastic used book store by E's office).

After being out all weekend it was hermit time (and laundry time!) for us. We followed our usual Monday rhythm of play and homemaking. Today consisted of P building a space ship out of our furniture, Baby Brother played the evil stepmother to Baby Behu's Cinderella, Bat Mac acted as an evil vulture chasing after BB, Beek Mok starred as an evil Medusa that monster-napped Baby Brother and P was generally the hero with sword. That's his solution for everything lately. Medusa won't give up BB and P tells her "hey, I have a sword." Oh, well, Baby Behu also played the part of policeman with P happily putting characters in jail with a "you need to be Nice!" When I mentioned jail might not be the best place to study niceness he said we'd show them how and then released them to his house for studies. :)

As the clean laundry piled up and my voice tired of Medusa and vulture talk, we took a break to make bread. Then P realized he hadn't played with flour in a Long Time! He was desperate to remedy this oversight despite the recent vacuum job. We chatted about our comfort levels and agreed on an approach. Out came the flour and quiet finally overtook our house. After checking in a couple of times and realizing that he Really was trying to keep the flour on the table I retired to the other room to fold clothes. He called me back in a bit later and I noticed a Lot of flour Off of the table. But not in the usual, whoops, that slipped off the table sort of way. I told him it looked like he was experimenting, what was the angle? He loaded a spoon with flour and let it fly. Wry grin and a long whisper. He was quite obviously working on something rather than just feeling ornery, but I wasn't sure how long I wanted this experiment to last. After a few more flings I could make out his mumblings. "Bibbity bobbity boo!" Ahhh! You're working on magical dust, eh? He was excited that I understood. He gets strangely embarrassed about copying something he's seen, almost concerned that he isn't doing it just right, leaving us guessing as a test that his act is identifiable, recognizable, just right. I suggested we Bobbity Boo in the woods lest we share our home with meal moths and he was so thrilled he slid his coat and boots right on.

BB played the part of Cinderella and P was the fairy godmother. He tried flicking the flour with a stick (aka wand) but was disappointed with the results. We returned to the house for more flour and a spoon and that produced the desired dust back in the woods. We also romped in the leaves and "walked the plank" on fallen trees. Then P discovered the joy that is mudballs. He pummeled BB with them and then turned them on me. The earlier experimental energy had morphed into all out nappless craziness and we headed home for a head to toe bath (a P rarity). Poor little Baby Brother. He'd stayed clean from His last bathing for a whole 3 days :)

P, on the other had, was bathing for the second time today. Seemingly still feeling the ornery vibe, he was using his squeezable frog to shoot water up and out of the bath. Fortunately for both of us, I had the mop out anyway from all of the flour :) So he repeated his little test over and over until he proclaimed :" When the water goes up, it comes back down!" "Uh, uhuh" I replied, feeling slightly grouchy holding my mop. "Can you make sure it comes back down Inside the tub please?" "No, mama, look!" he urged. "I shoot it up and it comes back down! I make it go up, but it Comes Back Down!" Then it hit me. He was having his Newton moment. It wasn't orneriness at all - it was discovery. In our clean little cubicle lives the one can often feel like the other for the cleaner, but for the mess-maker its all just living and learning.

The kid ain't claustrophobic

Right after breakfast P asked me to get the cat carrier off of the top shelf of the storage shelf in the hall. Wha? P thought it would be fun to send BB on a flight, but Under the plane instead of with us. (We do a Lot of fake flying here at Chez Schulton) He merrily shoved Baby Brother in and then teased him relentlessly. It only took a moment or two until he decided BB seemed to have it pretty good in there and climbed in himself. He wanted me to carry the two, caged, and check them with the luggage. They were then pulled around (aka, rode on the conveyor belt) and loaded on the plane. I then began washing breakfast dishes, assuming there would be a yelp for quick release. All of the dishes later, P was still crouched in the cat carrier chatting (through me) with BB.

P.S. If you've noticed some new hairstyles for P in the pics its because he wants to grow his hair out, long. I've mentioned he could see better with a little trim, but he's not interested, he wants it Long :) Ahhh, so there is still a little hope for a hippie here:)

Hard Boiled Baby Brother

P's a fan of hard boiled eggs. When we cooked some the other day he decided to hard boil Baby Brother too. Of course, Baby Brother protested, making the scenario only more enjoyable for P. BB then had to be peeled, but with the carrot peeler. This quickly evolved into making BB into a chocolate chip Baby Brother cookie. Then he had to be cooked. Then flipped with the spatula. Then he became Baby Brother Goulash which required lots of stirring, mashing and ladling. This looked too fun to P, so he had to join BB in the pot.

More Moma

P's prolific painting spells inspired an order from a discount school supply. When all of the groovy new colors and bottles arrived he was jazzed into another paintathon.

Hunting Monsters with Malek

We hunted monsters with Malek last week. This consists of gathering sticks as we go, swinging them around while questioning, where, oh where, could that monster be hiding and acting surprised at shadows or other park-goers. Meanwhile, Baby Brother squeals a bit in fear amidst all of the fake growls. P and I do this on a fairly regular basis; whenever the late afternoon draaaags from the absence of a nap, the existence of 4 sturdy walls and the non-existence of warm weather. Malek got into it right away, but then again, he was a pro growler and pretender before we even began the expedition. The boys hunted all over the park, past waterfalls and rock walls, and even past a small "forest fire."

Bronx Zoo

Somehow this post was lost.... Right before we went to Florida we visited the Bronx zoo with some playgroop pals (the twins Dez and Nini) and one of their friends. The Bug Carousel was a huge hit and we were repeat riders many, many times. After that, P said he was ready to go home, he desperately wanted to play with his toy bugs. Leslie had graciously given us a ride to the far flung location and I was still too carsick to consider pursuing the hour and a half train ride home, so P said he would wait a bit. Towards the end of our stay we visited the World of Darkness exhibit which, of course, scared Baby Brother. Which, of course, thrilled Phoenix. Renewed by his laughter and finally starting to settle in to his new location, P played with the other kids instead of huddling in his stroller. Leslie had to laugh that P finally found his groove right at closing time - a common phenomena for him at her house for playgroop too. He was sad to leave, but the thought of his toy bugs crawling on BB helped the return transition :)

Dread Pirate Phoenix

His long road to a gun toting, Republican, corporate lawyer has begun :) Just as I'm sure my parents scratch their heads in wonder at me, Phoenix's fake-fighting fascination makes me chuckle. He recently found the patch from my eye surgery and, per his recent fascination with all things costume, he merrily wore it while swinging his "sword" (our knife sharpener). Typically, in Baby Brother's direction. Occasionally he'd stab BB and quip the constant "that Hurt?"

He was cranking out some impressive ninja moves so I grabbed my camera - just a little too late. The below video lacks all of the high kicks and fancy moves he was previously sporting, but it does capture his snarl face :)

Florida Finale

Since Phoenix hates being cold almost as much as he hates heavy winter clothing, we've been fresh-air-free for months. Florida was the perfect remedy. P was particularly pleased that he could choose to exit the house (through the doggy door) whenever he wanted rather than being separated from freedom by 3 locked doors and a couple flights of stairs.

One day he grabbed Woody (from Disney) and BB and plopped them in a stroller we had borrowed. He pulled his princess hat down to block the sun and traipsed off towards a shady spot (video below). The shady trees we climbed had all manner of bugs and he was extremely tempted to squash them - asking if that was ok. "Just one bug? It ok mama. It can just go on to its next life." This from the kid who had been upset his grandparents were eating meat for dinner the night before :) Then we built a lean-to for Baby Brother, chaffing him that he would spend the night down by the alligators. (In addition to taunting BB, sticks are a sure thing. The 6 year old that lives below us has a stick collection by the stoop that would rival some of my father's burn piles and P is apparently inspired.)

We also spent time looking for alligators in the ranch's ponds. My mother drove us around and teased us about getting too close just as we teased BB about being eaten. Trackers we are not, so we eventually just enjoyed the birds, the air ("it phmells good mama"), and our pistachios (that P is slightly allergic to but was determined to eat nonetheless.)

Disney World

I have distinct memories of visiting Disney World when I was 3. It was so magical. Some thirty years later my take on the Magic Kingdom is, less simple, to say the very least.

P has had little Disney exposure so far. His grandparents introduced him to the joy that is Buzz Lightyear. And during the blight that was February we all watched Peter Pan to quench his recent thirst for swords and pirates. We also saw a (non-Disney) Cinderella production at the local marionette theater. P Adored it. Cinderella entered our play-world, and fueled by our Cinderella record, she hasn't left since. (My personal favorite so far is Phoenix deciding to buy her a dishwasher so her stepmother would lay off :) We also have a Sleeping Beauty record set to Tchaikovsky and a Snow White record, both of which get play time. But Cinderella, oh boy, she and P are Tight.

So I struggled with the decision. Should I take a kid who doesn't have a clue about Micki Mouse to the Magic Kingdom? A life size castle, dancing bears, twirling tea cups and tree houses? All right, I didn't struggle that hard. I promptly gave my lefty, anti-corporate tendencies the boot and voted for over the top family fun. P seemed to sense it was something special when I mentioned the word "castle." But mentioning that it was Cinderella's castle, well now. The child was on fire to meet this girl. Whoops. How am I going to work that?! So I mentioned that Cinderella might be busy cleaning, but we could definitely see her castle. No, he told me, she doesn't clean in the castle.

Then we got sick and postponed our trip. As I'm talking to our travel agent on the phone I hear P moan, "we no go to Disney world now?" So even though our rescheduled trip occurred during half the country's spring break, we Were Going to Disney World. My mom bravely came along.

If going during Spring Break wasn't enough of a handicap, P's exhaustion tipped the scales. He'd had so much fun at the aquarium the day before with Gramps that he had zonked right before dinner, only to then be up half the night. The 90 minute drive that had seemed a cakewalk during my planning stages transformed into a squeel-fest from the back seated tyrant. 'Turn the car Around and go get More mint ice cream like Gramps did Yesterday. Now.' He was too tired to understand distances and too amped about castles to sleep, so we validated and nodded for the last 30 minutes, praying for free ice cream with our tickets.

We finally entered the park (tram ride, ticket purchase, monorail ride and security check later) and he saw the castle. Ahhhh. All will be well. "I want mint ice cream." Such is life with a focused three year old. The place was more packed than Times Square preparing for New Year's. But once P had his ice cream things started to look up.

A huge parade passed right by us - with Cinderella atop a huge pumpkin coach float. Thank gawd. She wasn't cleaning after all:) Snow White was there too with a couple of dwarves. Hook and Pan soon followed. The best show for my mom and I though was Phoenix. He didn't smile and wave or look excited. Instead, he had this frown (see pictures above) that clearly said "How the hell?" And when the parade was over, that's exactly what he wanted to know. "Mama, how they in our world?" Ugh. One of those tricky Santa Claus moments. So I told him the truth, people in costumes etc. He was quiet for a while and then later told me that he thought he had the solution. "Maybe the characters came to our world with magic." :) What can you say to a child who wants to believe, other than, yah, maybe...

The lines for the rides were unbearably long. We did less in a day at Disney World than I've ever done there in about an hour. But Its a Small World seemed to be worth it. He tried using the cool frown again, but just couldn't swallow down the grin and point reflex. He wanted to make sure Baby Brother was looking at everything and that BB was scared of any tunnel-like parts. As soon as our feet touched land P wanted to go on it again. As we exited and he saw the enormous line he turned tail and took off. I had to chase him all the way back down to the boats where he was determined to "just get back on."

We took a break at the 100 acre woods playground. Seeing Pooh's house (he called it Piglet's since Piglet was hanging out of the window) and entering its small door had him reallllly working to hide a goofy grin. He kept shaking his head in disbelief that he was Really There. He "ate" honey from the pots sitting around and walked in and out of the small home a hundred times.

Then we went on the Pooh ride. It was dark and supposed to be spooky and P Loved it. He kept laughing and shrieking "you Scared Baby Bwother?" (BB is scared of both tunnels and darkness). After 40 minutes in line and 5 minutes of laughing, P wasn't quite ready for another ride. He started to notice all of the kids walking around with toys and decided it was time to go shopping :)

He'd seen a number of pink pyramid shaped princess hats and requested one a couple of times since entering the park, but I figured a Buzz or Cinderella toy would would win him over. We went into Tinkerbell's shop and P pounced on a princess hat. Personally, I had no problem with it (and would rather see it on my son than daughter, hehe) but I wasn't sure about my mom. Silly me - whatever her grandson wants:) He also picked some figures to act out story lines and happily pranced out of the store in his tough boy camo shirt and pink hat. And promptly fell asleep in his stroller.

I carried him through the Buzz Lightyear line and woke him when we reached the ride. We climbed in our space ship and shot our lasers and twirled our rocket. He was so focused he barely mentioned BB. It was the perfect ride for him and the perfect test for me. I had to let go of all of my overanalyzed theories and hangups and just enjoy his joy.

My mom was a trooper. Carrying whatever I threw her way, producing an umbrella when the sun hurt P's eyes, driving during screams and squeels, and being infinitely patient with how the day unfolded. Then she drove all the way home while P (loudly) teased Baby Brother about monsters in the dark fields and demanded Grams pull over into said field and turn the car off to scare BB. Reaching the ranch, not 30 seconds from the home she had to be Very ready to return to, she turned the car off to patiently let P enjoy the darkness.

P took a Long time to unwind and want bed. When he was finally ready he brushed his teeth and put on his princess hat to nod off to sleep.

Dining room dance queen

Amidst P's painting today, he danced. Guess it was a right brained kinda day. When E saw the video (after, that is, he wiped the tears from his eyes from gut laughing) he said I must have shown P those moves. Um, no. While its true that I am a dancing spaz, none of those moves are mine. Especially not the dramatic leg lift ending... He's never seen any sort of dance production (that shall have to be remedied this summer!) so his influence is of unknown origins. I'm guessing past-life Russian ballet with some sort of intrinsic modern twist thrown in....

Mama dreams of MOMA

I Loved painting when I was little. Whenever I pretended to run away from home I carried my little yellow knapsack with a sandwich, a doll and crayons and paper. I couldn't fathom leaving the house without stuff to scribble. Then along comes my offspring. The first time P is introduced to a new medium he delves in deeply for an hour, resurfaces and never really looks back. I've set up countless art possibilities and the only things slightly artistic P returns to are play doh (especially the peppermint scented!) and glue. We spend days in play-doh-land and the child could drip an entire glue factory without feeling satiated. But he doesn't actually want to Glue anything together (nature collage, magazine collage, paper collage, bean collage, no thanks), its just the dripping, pouring, squirting, running, well, you get the idea.

Wanting P to have a healthy vision of productive adults (consistently involved with the child but not constantly revolving around the child), I've decided to try working some during the day. Maybe it will also help him spend a little time in independent play? I told P my plan this morning and asked if he wanted to do art beside me while I worked? Oh yes, he says, and Baby Brother needs a little easel too - he'd alacazat him and then BB can magically be an artist too! We traipsed to the art store for my paper and something to interest P, but I had low expectations. He'd be back to his trains by lunch.

Then we saw it. Little plastic squeeze bottles. The perfect size for a child's hands. Almost identical to the food coloring containers in our kitchen that he's obsessed with. Something that would produce a squirt similar to... Glue!!! We snatched them up along with some paint and hurried home.

That was at noon. P was still painting at 7 tonight. He took a break twice, to eat and dance, but otherwise he was absorbed in his work. I feel like an ass for not seeing the solution sooner. He isn't so fond of finger painting (then he has to (gasp!) wash his hands) or painting with brushes. But he Loves color. (Typical child, the brighter and more covered in glitter, the more fun!) He Loves mixing colors. But watercolors just turn into a puddly, muddy mess and mummy has reminded him way too often that pricey food coloring stains Everything. But ketchup and glue squirters with saturated color, well now, hello nirvana.

His interest is deepest with new things, so I try extra hard to Butt Out when he's experimenting. Always a challenge for me:) P eschewed the brushes we'd bought, requested certain colors to be mixed in his squirters and then set to work in an inventive way. He laid color over color, overlapping again and again. (I was glad for the 80# paper) Then he took a nearby stick and drug it through the colors. He'd pick up the entire project to let the mass slide and then squirt some additions with his other hand. It was methodical and focused and fascinating to watch. I'm fairly certain the by-products of his enjoyment are far lovelier than anything I've ever thought of. So, it was a good thing the store didn't have my paper, it was way too much fun to watch Him work and refill his squirters every 2 minutes. Maybe the world can stop revolving around P on Wednesday...

Beach Babbler

P's rhyming habit started about 2 months ago. It has slowly progressed into a verbal delight with all things nonsense. The child has always babbled nonstop at home, now he does it with rhymes and made up words. He's adopted (thank you Grams!) some more Uglydolls - so that Baby Brother can have more family. Their names perfectly display the complete bullshit he constantly spews :) They are: Baby Beehue, Beek Mok, and Bat Mac. The two that have been sitting unnamed for the past few months in his castle have now moved to the couch and are called Horroray and Eerhu. Yes, those are the names of his dolls. And yes, he remembers them and corrects us when we get them wrong. The above pic is from Florida. P set BB's family up to watch us swim. While they have each developed personalities and voices, fortunately we do not yet all travel in a pack.

The below video is P on the beach in Florida. He was cold from the water and wanted "a break" from his suit. The mumbo jumbo captured here is pretty much standard P speak these days.

Mote Aquarium with Gramps

P loves our aquarium at Coney Island so we decided to try the Mote Aquarium too. Added bonus: Giant Squid. (Ever since the squid and the whale exhibit rocked his world at the AMNH P's been pretty fascinated with giant squids.) He teased BB all morning about how scary it would be, cackling at BB's every moan of anguish.

He breezed past all of the beautiful fish and headed straight to the squid. It was fairly grotesque, it's enormous body preserved in a large tank. He loves that none can be kept in captivity, that they (so far) require the freedom of the deep. He shoved Baby Brother at the tank, taunting him. "You scared, Baby Brother?" This squid was 37 feet long when found off New Zealand. P Really wanted to know why its shrunk to its current 23 feet, something I still need to google... He had more questions than the elderly helper had answers so I see a library trip in our near future.

After that were (of course) the beloved sharks, and more BB taunting. The tank contained Enormous (and ugly) grouper that made Phoenix a bit nervous, which he expressed through BB's thoughts. "I want Baby Brother to be scared the gwouper will break down the glass." Then the touch pool containing the much adored hermit crab - a creature that ranks amongst sharks and wildebeests in P's heart. We also stroked a chocolate chip sea cucumber, a sand dollar and urchins. You could attempt to snag a stingray (sans stinger) but they adamantly avoided P's hand.

After a lovely picnic with Gramps we headed to the manatee, turtle and dolphin rehabilitation center. P was really interested... until he saw the gift shop. I know they have to make money, but geeeeez. He didn't care a lick about the diving dolphins once he saw the plastic squids.

We went around the bend and dipped our toes in the breezy bay. P was tired, chilled by the wind ("No Blow!!) and blinded by the sun "I want some shade") so it was an unusually brief water affair. On the way home Gramps spied some ice cream - Ben and Jerry's (food coloring free!) mint to be exact. Quite possibly P's favorite food on earth. Ahhhh, a perfect ending to a lovely day.

Florida Update

Wow have we been having fun! So much fun, in fact, that there are no spare minutes to blog :) I'll post this weekend about the aquarium, swimming, alligator hunting and Disney World, but for tonight, just a quick video from today.