We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
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Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 - 12:10 P.M.
Counting Down
By this time next week, Rod and Jack will be well on their way! Perhaps close to almost there.
Jack is packed. Since he will need warm clothes, relative to what he's been wearing, we had to dig out his autumn wardrobe to get ready for the trip -- and at that point it made as much sense to pack as not.
I have also gone to the Dollar Store and bought $20 worth of little toys for the trip -- I figure that things he's never seen may keep Jack's attention better, and certainly it's better to take along things that won't matter if they get lost. It's even more important that Rod have something with which to entertain Jack, since the trip will be grueling for him. I keep thinking that flights that distance should have some provision for the CPAP sicne it's so commn to use them these days -- but until they have such provisions, Rod is doomed to 24 hours plus without sleep and with a restless (and probably reasonably well-rested) little boy.
So, I'll wrap the surprises in tissue to make them take a little longer to get at, and pack half of them in the diaper bag and half of them in the suitcase for the return trip.
And I will try not to think too hard about what these preparations portend.
Adventures
Periodically Rod gets so busy at home that Jack gets a chance to get really bored. Or maybe Jack just gets really bored because he's developmentally ready for something new at a time when that's not on Dad's schedule.
Whatever the base cause, it happens. And when it happens, Jack gets very fractious and hard to get on with!
That had happened last week. Jack was being restless and cranky, he was refusinging to sleep, he didn't want to eat anyhting we had to offer, and he was just being contrary at every turn.
Mamma, who doesn't have much tolerance for the dreary everyday either, diagnosed boredom.
So, I devoted an entire week and a half to adventures for our boy!
We went to the park, we went swimming, we went to a carnival, we rode the bus, and went to the library, and for long, long walks! Bu the end of it all, the house was a disaster, but our boy was filled up and content to play quietly at home again for a while.
The Park
On Thursday, I took Jack to our favorite park immediately after I got home from work. Just as we were about to leave, Jack made friends with a sweet young lady of about 8 or 9 who was willing to take Jack down the slides and around the play structure endlessly.
I decided that we'd stay, and they continued to play until it grew too dark and mosquito ridden to tolerate anymore. His little friend, Oorta (I think that's how it's spelled) asked if Jack could come back the next day -- and so we did. They again had a wonderful time -- this time Rod joined us for a picnic beforehand. It was lovely! It was especially wonderful to see jack playing actively with other children and really enjoying himself--I was all but forgotten both days. Oorat asked us to come back on saturday, but on Saturday, the family had a lot of chores and adventures, as usual, so I promised we'd be back on Monday.
Ypsilanti Heritage Festival
On Saturday, we went to the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival. Jack had a wonderful time patting the goats and lambs and llamas and calves and ponies ... He enjoyed playing on the riding toys the festival provides, he loved the water table!
One serious disappointment, though, was the carrousel.
We got on board and Jack was very excited to ride the horse. He's never been on a carrousel, though, so I stood very close to him. Then another parent got on board and sat his child on the next horse over and also stood very close to him. It was very cramped--there was no room for parents to stand next to the horses, and as the carrousel started I was instructed to step back behind Jack's horse. Obviously that meant that Jack came with me -- there was no way he was going to stay on a precarious horse alone with a stranger.
The poor boy clung to me for the whole ride, staring at "his" empty horse and whimpering with tears in his eyes. He had so wanted to ride that horse! I was tempted to try again -- but I strongly suspected that we'd have the same experience again...I wish I were better st standing my ground. No other parent was instructed to stand away from her child.
Outside Influences
Jack has reached the age when influences from outside the family are starting to make themselves felt.
After spending several days at the park playing with the same children, Jack was climbing on our furnture. He bounces on it a few times, chanting "jump, jump" -- then he tured aroudn, climbed down, and declared proudly to Rod "I a chicken".
*sigh*
I wish he had been a little older when he encountered the concept that being responsible was "being a chicken". So far he doesn't interpret that as a bad thing, but I think it's probably not far off. After all, the same boys who called each other "chicken" are quite clear that being reckless is better.
Yes, I am a spoilsport, I know.
Startling Dad is Fun!
Jack has a very cool puzzle of a 10-foot long train. Each car is a letter of the alphabet, with a corresponding cargo. A is a load of Apples. B is a Butterfly sitting on the car. C is a load of carrots. Etc. Jack can't quite get the puzzle pieces to fit together yet, but he likes to bring the pieces one-by-one and tell me the letter or the cargo and then I fit them together.
A few days ago, Jack and I were playing with his alphabet train puzzle. I asked Jack for the A and he brought it to me. He has a few missteps, but Rod was croggled to watch as letter by letter, Jack brought me the correct letter.
By the time we'd gotten to N, Rod was flabbergasted. Only later did he realize that Jack and I have a very methodical way of playing with the puzzle. Once we had the train completely assembled, we started to take it apart, starting with Z and making out way back to A. As we took a piece off, we named it and Jack put it back into the box. So, of course, when we are putting thr train together, as long as he brings me the next piece on the strack, he will usually have the correct letter.
I didn't realize that Rod hadn't noticed that before -- it seems to me that associating the order with the alphabet is an important part of the process of learning his letters. I still think it's pretty cool that he's figured out that the order matters.
But I think Dad was a little disappointed that Jack's achievement was a bit more "age appropriate" than he'd first thought.
The Bus!!
Another part of our week long adventure was taking the bus into town! Now, taking the bus was almost the definition of "normal" for TJ and Corey -- I didn't even learn to drive until I was almost 35 and even once I knew how to drive, we didn't always have a car.
But for Jack, a car is the norm. He rides in a car several times on most days and he loves spotting buses almost as much as he adores trucks and contruction equipment!
A few days before, as we hurried past on out way from the shops to the car, Jack had stopped to admire a bus that was sitting on the curb waiting for the appointed time to return to its rounds. When we didn't have time to climb ionboard, he was absolutely devastated, so I decided that on Tuesday, we would go for a long ride after work.
We went to the shops nearest out apartment at which the buses stop and we waited at the bus stop.
I think Jack was sort of mystified at first, but eventually the bus came and after an initial hesitation we climbed on board. Well, actually, *I* climbed on board -- carrying Jack.
I found a seat, and Jack clung to me like a frightened little monkey, taking it all in.
It was a 22 minute ride down town and by the time we arrievd, Mr. Suave was quite comfortable, and he strode down the aisle and off the bus like he'd been doing it all his life.
From there, we walked across the street to the library to entertain ourselves until it was time for the next rotation of buses. We had a good enough time that Jack ruled out having dinner before we went back on the bus.
When the time came, I had to wander around the bus station figuring out which buses would bring us back to our car and what time (and from where) they left. Then I had to find out what time it was.
It didn't take all that long, but I think because we didn't go right back to where we had gotten off the bus, Jack was afraid we weren't going to take the bus after all! He got pretty upset with me before we were all done -- and as it happened, though we took another, much longer, route home, it did leave from exactly where we ahd gotten off the bus.
Leaving the bus station may have been the high point of the trip for Jack! Not only were we *in* a bus -- we were also following a bus and another bus pulled up alongside us! Buses, buses everywhere! Jack was so excited!
And this time he was comfortable enough to sit on a seat by himself, albeit quite close to me, and for the first few minutesm holding my hand. Then he spotted a pretty young lady to flirt with, and Jack as in his element! He alternated watching the world go by outside the window and chatting with the young lady in the next seat and looked so happy!
It was a wonderful adventure, and pretty reasonably priced at $2 for Mamma's tickets, Jack being free until he 'starts school'.
Fee fie fo fum ...
Kids love games, and Jack is no exception. His current (and long time) favorite is a game of 'fee fie fo fum'.
Yes, like the giant in Jack and the Bean Stalk.
Jack likes the story well enough, but even more, Jack likes it when one of his parents starts intoning the giant's theme:
"Fee fie fo fum
"I smell the blood of an Englishman/earthlyman/little one (depending on who's playing)
"Be he alive, or be he dead...
"I'll grind his bones to make my..."
And that's where the fun starts...the usual word is "bread" of course...
But in the game, Jack gets to choose what the giant will make from the bones...weetbix, yogurt, milk, and poo have all been recent offerings.
The "giant" repeats Jack's word menacingly...and then looks confused and repeats the word with "No, no, no, that's not it..."
It can go on like that for as long as either parent is willing to play -- eventually returning to "bread, and the exultant "That's it! Bread! To make my BREAD!" and the game is over.
But that description doesn't beging to capture the hilarity, the gasping laughter, and the utter goofiness that ensues. It's such a favorite that if Jack is running off and refusing to come when called, the words "Fee fie Fo FUM" are all that's required to call a laughing, giggling boy into your arms! (A good trick to know when it;s late,we are all tired, and Jack doesn't want to come in the house.)
Are you my mother?
I mentioned this book by PD Eastman as one of Jack's favorites way, way back! Well, it still is!
I don't pretend to understand the attraction, but as Jack gets more and more verbal, I am getting a look into his agile little mind and beginning to understand why he thinks it's the best book ever.
When he comes across the book (which Dad hides frequently, in self defense) Jack is happy to sit and read it to himself for long stretches. Now that his use of language is getting clear and relatively sophisticated, we can even follow along.
One things he seems to love -- of course! The Snort is a big "Tractor"!
Another is that he finds it utterly hilarious that Baby Bird can walk right by his mother without recognizing her -- and then wonder if a cow and cat or a dilapidated old car could be her. (He often bursts into laughter when the baby bird walks by his mother.)
Lately, Jack has started to join me in reading the book. He will ask "Are you my mother?" and then will parrot the answer. Taking turns "reading" is great fun for both of us!
More as soon as I can about the "endless adventures" -- but work has gotten extremely, extremely busy. Five meetings tomorrow! So it may be a while.
I could write at home while Jack's away, but I don't know if I'll have the heart. I'm hoping that Rod's mother and sisters will take a hand and let me keep up with Jack's adventures, too! (Either in writing, or in distracting Jack so Rod can.)
