Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The concrete jungle

I wouldn't dare call myself a nature girl. In almost all cases I'd prefer concrete to woodlands. But today we're at my Mom's place awaiting installation of play equipment and we've been taking full advantage of the great outdoors. Noah stomped around in the leaves as we explored the property and down the long driveway, and then walked repeatedly in circles down the ramp, over the path, up the steps on to the deck and down the ramp again. When he threw his juice cup down the ramp I damn near shouted "Eureka!" Instead I said "Let's go get your cars." We spent the next hour pushing the cars down the ramp and exclaiming "CRASH!" when they got to the bottom. It was just so nice to be sitting outside on a warm sunny day and playing. I called Mark to tell him we really need to get our back "yard" sorted out. Once we get it swept up and a bit more play-ready Noah and I could sit out there and play cars for hours, or even just draw at the picnic table. We go to the park almost daily now, but it'll be great to be able to pop out of doors for a little while without all the preparation. And it's a real boost to be outside in the sunshine. I'm always amazed at how much the weather effects my mood.

So another weekend passed us by. Saturday was shopping, shopping and more shopping. We're still getting ready for our trip. It's forcing us to be completely wardrobe ready for summer way before it even gets here. I had a complete meltdown in the Target. My mood started because Noah was cranky because we DARED strap him in a cart that was STILL. He's fine as long there is constant motion, but don't you even think about pausing to consider your purchase options - grab something and keep trucking. But the explosion happened when Mark's shoes disappeared. He'd taken off a ragged pair of black and brown leather Skechers to try on two pairs of brown sneakers. He walked around the corner with one pair on to show me and while he was away from his shoes the Target employee put Mark's shoes in the box and put them on the shelf. A little dumb, right? But not too catastrophic unless the said employee is also not quite right in the head. Though he shelved those shoes MOMENTS ago he could not locate them on the shelf. And he was SO flustered and confused he just kept telling us repeatedly that it was his job to put the shoes away. The three of us then spent a good ten minutes looking for the shoes unsucessfully - us repeatedly describing them and him saying things like "Our Skechers are over here" despite the fact that Target doesn't sell Skechers - and then I flipped out on the guy and in a fairly hostile manner told him to call management to come and look because the whole situation was RIDICULOUS and I can't stand around with a 17 month old in a cart ALL DAMN DAY. Ahem. Anyway - soon there were like 5 Target folk standing around all asking what was going on and then it took the manager all of five seconds to locate the shoes which had been shelved at the bottom rather than at the top where all the size 12 boxes belong. But, aside from that we got some shopping done and all was well.

Since it was past our dinner time we had to make a stop in the Chik-fil-a for dinner. Aside from a mall food court, I had never been in a Chik-fil-a. All I know of them is that they are run by super
Christians, not open on Sundays, and have that sadistic ad campaign where cows tell you to eat chicken. Let me tell you, I LOVE that sadistic super Christian Chik-fil-a. It was clean, courteous, healthier, and tastier. AND it had an amazing looking Little Tykes play zone for the kids. We didn't use it while we were there because Noah was in a wet diaper and in need of going home, but I will undoubtedly be headed there on a rainy day in the near future. AMEN.

Sunday was a treat. Mark and Noah spent some quality bonding time while I slept in a bit (to make up for another poor night) and in the afternoon we spent some time in the park as a family, enjoying the scrumptious weather.

Yesterday Noah and I headed out to Qtown to spend some time visiting with Oma and Pa-Jo. We played with the boy, had a nice dinner and took an adventurous walk around the development. Then we spent the night at my Mom's place so we could be here for the possible early delivery of that play equipment - which is still not here despite it being almost 3 pm. Have I mentioned feeling downright energetic? No? I do! Noah slept ALL NIGHT LONG. And it's the second time he did that at Mom's place. It makes me wonder is it that the room is darker, warmer, quieter? Is it the bumpers? WHAT IS IT? If I can't replicate it at my house I might have to move back in. And then I'd miss all my lovely city concrete.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My little one is definitely MOST happy being outside playing! It especially saves us if he falls asleep in the car and then I can't move him without waking him. He's a lot less fussy and cranky when he's outside!!

Isn't Chic-Fil-A great??? We didn't have any that weren't in the Food Court at the malls until a few years back. I've always loved their food, but more so now that I have children. They are very clean and the food is definitely a little healthier than some of the other fast food choices. I love that you can substitute your fries for a fruit cup!! It's definitely a favorite place for us to go, and ours even has family nights on Tuesday night (I think the kids eat free if the adult gets a meal) and they have different kid-friendly attractions. Sorry about your trouble in Target...I would have lost it too! Also glad to hear that Noah slept through the night again...my little one has been sleeping through the night too! Maybe it's something in the air :)

hazel said...

I think your target employee needs to come out to our target. there are always shoes all over the place. were mark's shoes like totally new looking?? christ.

maybe noah gets so excited being at your mom's house with all new toys and a ramp and stairs that might take alot of energy to get up and down, and he's exhausted by the time he goes to sleep. maybe you need a baby treadmill for your house? don't laugh, I saw a toddler-sized treadmill at an exercise equipment place before.

Kodi said...

Kiri and I would play outside for hours when she was little. She LOVED bugs and we would spend the whole afternoon turning over rocks to find out what kind of bugs were under there. It's pretty fun game, if your not squimish about insects. Kiri's favorite were Praying Mantis'. She would catch the huge female mantis' and want to keep them as pets.

lonna said...

I'm with you, I'm not much for outside either. It's been such a different experience with Dermot, though. It's fun to see it through his eyes. He still just likes to walk around and observe everything. We haven't really had to entertain him outside too much. We'll bust out a sandbox this summer, and when he finally grows into his tricycle he can play with that. But it seems that he just loves the fresh air and all of the goings-on in the neighborhood.

Missuz J said...

Soph always sleeps through the night for others--never for me. It's just a mystery.

Never been to a chick-a-fillet, but will keep my eyes open for one.

:)

OMH said...

This sounds really wierd but I was told (by my peditrician) that people are either North-South or East-West sleepers and if you are having a hard time getting your child to sleep try turning the crib/bed the other direction. So maybe the sleeping at your mom's is because it's directional.

(keep in mind that this is the same pedi who told me that my son was going to be short if I didn't get him to jump more as a toddler - ummmm I didn't make him jump and he's now 6' 5" so if he had only jumped he could have reached 8'!)