Toddler Adventures at Marbles

It's 4:00 a.m., and I have been wide awake since 3:00 a.m.  You would think that I'd be upset by this, but for whatever reason, I woke without grogginess or any of that "hangover" feeling.  First time in a long time.  So, I've taken out the trash and tidied up the kitchen a bit.  It's not sparkling clean (is it ever anymore?  Oh wait... yeah, about 5 minutes after the cleaners get through with it, or however long W's nap is after they leave).  I passed out at 10:00 when W went to bed, and apparently, that was enough for me to get some much-needed REM cycles in.

W & I went out after his quick 40-minute nap yesterday to have lunch with some friends at Neomonde.  Now, let me just take a quick second to say that that place has grown since I was last there with my college roomie nearly a decade or more ago.  I remember it being a kind-of hole-in-the-wall place with one refrigerated case holding their sides and a small chalkboard displaying their menu above that.  Well, now there are 3-4 refrigerated cases and a much broader menu spanning 4-5 chalkboards.  There's lots more room for seating and a small grocery store off to the side.  Just wow.  Guess they've been doing well over the last 10+ years.  The prices were more than I would have thought, but it was close to what I've paid at Greek Fiesta, who (btw) has better grape leaves.  But I digress.

One friend from lunch happened to have the same errand to run as me, so we both headed over to the Farmer's Market for eggs.  We walked around a little, though cold and windy yet also sunny, after getting our eggs, and got to just hang out and chat.  Some of our "group" was also going to Marbles to take advantage of the $2 Thursday admission (after 3 pm), so we decided to go too.  And boy am I glad that I did!  We were there from 3:00-close (7:00)!  I think W had a blast!  There was so much for him to explore and touch.  I was pleasantly surprised at the older kids who were there.  They were very careful around the smaller children (my kid, who is tiny and still very young, though still tall for his age) and he didn't get pushed around or smacked into hardly at all.  He got bumped a little, but nothing that made him cry or fuss.  There was one point where another toddler about his size (not sure on age) was standing next to him, and W tried to touch his very blonde hair.  He never really made physical contact so the boy never turned around, but W wanted to talk to him so badly.  He kinda crouched down and opened his mouth to talk, but all I really heard was 'ahhhh' and mild (fake) coughing.  It was so cute.  I wished I had my camera already recording to catch that interaction on video, but I didn't.  Ah well.  Trust me.  It was cute.

We will definitely be going back on another Thursday or possibly mid-week to use up the 2 tickets I won at a raffle last year.

W fell asleep on the way home, and since it was 7:30 and I hadn't eaten since 1:00, I stopped for emergency dinner.  I drove around hoping that W would fall into a deeper sleep so I could just move him to the bed upon arriving home, but it didn't work out that way.  He woke up as I pulled into the garage, so I fed him some food--all he wanted to eat was brussel sprouts and spit out every piece of chicken he attempted to eat--and then he basically passed out somewhere around 10pm.

Our days aren't usually that full of excitement, but he's getting to the age where I think it's good for him.  I want to expose him to more social interaction, but it's difficult finding the right fit for him and me.  While watching W at Marbles, I learned (well, my suspicions were reinforced) that W is quite the independent little person.  He didn't much try to check out what other kids were doing and proceeded with his own investigations.  I probably facilitated his explorations more than he would have because I had never been to Marbles from a kids' perspective and wanted to see what it had to offer.  We didn't have time to play with everything, and some things were not age-appropriate for him.  It was interesting for me to just watch him and see how different I was when I was young.

Oh!  While we were at Neomonde, W refused to sit still while I ate.  I basically had to sneak bites of my food while he did laps around the dining area.  He wanted to move and check out all the people and the new place.  The other children in our group (ages ranging from 5yo-8mo) were pretty content to sit and stay with the group...or perhaps the moms were keeping them better corralled.  I'm not sure.  Either way, at one point my almost 14mo toddler lead a group of other kids to check out the outdoor fans on the patio.  Hehe.   He just got them to follow him, lead them where he wanted to go, and pointed at what was of interest.  So funny!

At the end of the day, the pedometer on my phone told me that I had definitely moved more than I usually do.  (I don't usually get notifications for any movement.  Hah.)

Anyways.  That was our day.  Tomorrow will probably be comparatively more boring, but I'm looking forward to it all the same.  Kids really do make life interesting.

Comments

Popular Posts