Hummus or die!

Noah’s Pop Pop and Nana (Martin & Sylvia/the in-laws) met us at the park yesterday afternoon. I think they got a kick out of following him around, watching him wander near and far. It was neat to learn that Mark was also an explorer as a child.

Mark joined us at the park after work and then we decided to go over to Deuce for dinner. I hadn’t been before, but Mark had enjoyed it the one time he went and I had been told by a neighbor that they did indeed have high chairs – which is my litmus test for how welcome kids are. Of course when they brought out the high chair it was obvious that it had never been used before, the belt was wrapped up in tape and paper. The fact that it was happy hour, and that the place is dark and lit with red light made it not exactly Chuck E. Cheese – but Noah was very good and no one seemed inconvenienced by us. The food was good and Noah really enjoyed their homemade ketchup. At one point he dipped an M&M in it.

After dinner we came back to the house and Noah cavorted happily with Sylvia. In fact he was having such a good time that when they left he had a complete and total meltdown. Of course it had been a long busy day, it was after his bedtime, he’d eaten an insane amount of food, and then got himself a new bump on the head when he fell and hit the wheel brake on his high chair – so there were quite a few factors. But honestly he had a freak out like he’d never had before. He was inconsolable and exasperated. He went into the fridge and got the hummus, insisting he wanted some, then refused to eat it, continued to cry as I undressed him and put him in the bath, and then kept trying to climb out of the tub. I gave in, hauled him out without having washed him and then followed him naked and wet back to the kitchen where he again wanted the hummus but refused to eat it. WEIRD. It took Mark and I quite a while to get him to chill out enough to get him ready for bed. He was just SO overtired and overstimulated – and his whimpering had me upset. I can’t stand it when he’s so unhappy and I can’t fix it for him.

This morning we got together with neighbors Marita, her son Louis, Roger, and his son Ezra. The boys played with trucks in the sandbox (not really together but near each other) while Roger, Marita and I ate scones, drank coffee and chatted. It was really nice. I’m feeling good about the time we’re getting to spending with other children – and even better about having other adults to talk to during the day. Having peers with which to share your experiences is so helpful. And what I’ve realized over time is that just because these other parents aren’t my instant best friends with every thing in the world in common, what they can contribute to our lives is a sense of community that is priceless. And that goes for you too, my little blogging family.

Which brings me to this- where the hell are some of you? Everyone's posting has dropped off dramatically. I had to add a whole bunch of other blog feeds to my Google homepage so that I'd occasionally have something new to read. Wake up out there!