Fun at the Park

My weekly schedule indicates that we go to the park twice a week, but with all the winter weather we haven't really followed through. I need to go more often. We live in close proximity to five very different parks, and at my children's ages it never gets old. Elijah is at the age where he loves to climb and explore, and Caitlyn is a born daredevil. Maybe now that Caitlyn has purchased our neighbor's old bike I'll be able get some exercise myself pushing Elijah's stroller around the track. See all the pictures by clicking here.

The Americans never walk. In winter too cold and in summer too hot. ~J.B. Yeats

My friend Rebecca Ann calls it "Lazy White Boy Syndrome". I attribute it to a contented state of mind and a giant head. Elijah sat up late, rolled over late (almost never), crawled late, pulled up late, and is now walking late. Although he has been able to walk since December, he rarely does it of his own volition. At his last checkup the doctor showed mild concern, and I was resolved that we didn't need a specialist. After all, he is showing steady improvement, and his gross motor skill curve just seems a little longer than most.

I knew that today's 18 month checkup would entail the doctor asking about his walking, and I was resolved to avow that I didn't want to go to a specialist. (Translation: I don't want to pay for or deal with it.) The doc said they would be giving us a referral because although everything looked okay there could be some underlying weakness in his ankles and whatnot. She was more concerned that he doesn't stand up by himself without grabbing something than anything else. Of course I immediately caved. This is of course the woman whose professional opinion I hold in highest esteem, the woman whose presence was the only thing that relaxed me when Elijah was in the NICU, the woman who is always affirmative of all my parenting choices. So we'll be seeing a specialist soon and doing who knows what kind of craziness as a result.

After my lack of spine was revealed we treated ourselves to Chick-fil-A. If only the developmental markers pediatricians tracked included affinity for ice cream we would be set.

I will forget...

I will forget the holidays with my in-laws - the excitement on faces when opening gifts and playing games, the joy and shock of children up at midnight, the love of my children playing with their Granny & Grandpa.

I will forget Jamie pulling my kids up the icy hill at the park because the sledding hill had melted, Caitlyn's face and squeals as I slung her sled around on the ice, Elijah's red face as his daddy carried him to the car.

I will forget Caitlyn roller skating ever so slowly around the track at the park while I pushed Elijah's stroller in circles around her to keep him from crying.

I will forget all these things because I lost my camera. I retraced all my steps to no avail. Every cute face the kids made brought tears to my eyes because I couldn't capture it. I was so devastated that I woke up sobbing at 2 am, inconsolable.

But today the healing begins, because Jamie bought me a new camera. I know my troubles are light compared to most mothers in the world, but I am so thankful to be able to record these precious moments with my family. As soon as I could charge the battery I recreated what we wanted to video last night - the joy of Elijah upon receiving a cookie...

Now that's an idea

Last night the house was a wreck... even more than usual. Elijah had dumped all the dog food on the floor and Caitlyn had broken the lazy susan. I felt the need to meet Jamie at the door and warn him before he came in from work. Thankfully Caitlyn had a solution - "We need a robot. A really fast robot to clean our house. He can clean faster than us and fix this mess. And he can speak Spanish. Wouldn't that be good Mommy?" She reiterated it to Dad when he surveyed the chaos.

She had no idea she was describing the Mexican dishwashers with whom I used to work. I wonder if I can get in touch with one of them...

Guess who likes bleu cheese dressing?