One Big Blur of Fun

My mom went with Nick and Henry and me this Saturday to the DuPage Children's Museum for their Family Fun Night. For Nick, it should've been called "One Big Blur of Fun" because he didn't stop moving the entire time.

Most of my pictures are blurry, but that's okay. Here is Nick playing in the music room.

Nick loved banging with those drumsticks, though I'm not sure if we can call the sounds he made "music." Notice how fast those drumsticks were moving.  :)

For a child as active as Nick, this museum is paradise because there is so much to see and do. It is loud, colorful, and filled with toys. His favorite part was the train. I was proud of how he waited his turn to drive the train. However, once he was sitting in the conductor's seat, my boy was not moving. He kept shouting, "All Aboard" and "Choo-Choo!"

Don't think that Henry missed out on the fun. He tried all kinds of things, including climbing up a squishy, wavy ramp. Henry loved people-watching most of all, though.

I noticed after I put Henry in these pants that they look like skinny jeans 'cause his legs are so chubby. Oh well, skinny jeans are in style now, even for guys.

One of the coolest things I saw for babies was this bar. It is set up almost like a ballet bar, but for babies. It had textured semicircles for them to feel with their baby fingers.

I'm so glad I took the boys. They had an excellent time, and slept like, well, like babies after all the commotion.

Nick's Dance Moves

On Friday we had our new TV hooked up, and the Dish Network technician set us up with some great channels. One of the things I like best is all of the Sirius radio channels. I'm usually too lazy to hunt for cds, but I will turn on the radio for some jazz, classical, or rock any day of the week.

Nick loves to dance, and today he was inspired by some Latin beats. Below you can see him dancing with a penguin friend. You can also get a sneak peak at our new living room. I'm not quite ready to reveal all of the changes, but you can see the dresser that I bought instead of an entertainment center, along with Greg's Christmas present-a new hdtv set.

I think Nick is almost waltzing to this music. 

Sometimes when Nick dances he just spins in circles, but I asked him to move his feet and show Henry (who was sitting in my lap) how to dance. He showed me, but at one point, check out what he did to show Henry how to move his baby feet.

Perhaps I should teach Nick some different kinds of dances. The boy needs a lot of exercise.  :)

This Little Piggy. . .and a Train Song

Nick really liked it when Auntie Mandy did "This Little Piggy" with him. He begged for it again and again.

Nick has become rather demanding in the car. For the last few months, he won't let me listen to NPR. "No talking! Want music. Turn on the music!" Sigh. I miss NPR, but it's not worth the trouble to fight him on that. Instead, Nick begs me to turn on music, and he's picky about what I listen to. He'll tell me, "No, not that song. Want another song!" Thank goodness I don't listen to actual children's music. I couldn't handle that in the car. I need to relax while I drive.

I'm pretty eclectic in my music tastes, but this morning some Grateful Dead came on, and I'll admit. . . I was singing along. I didn't realize for awhile that Nick was singing along, too. It was the Casey Jones song--you know the one--about the train. After the song ended, I turned off the radio to ask Nick a question, and he kept right on singing. . . "Drivin' that train. . . high on cocaine. . . " over and over again.

Yes, that is indeed partially scraped off wallpaper that you see on the walls. Having a baby slows down the home improvement plans, you see.

I winced slightly and hoped he wouldn't sing those particular lyrics in public. Eh, oh well. There are worse songs he could be singing. (And he has. Remind me to tell you about the time Nick and I jammed to Nelly's "Hot in Herre." Or not.)

Anyhow, on the way home about three hours later, Nick got mad at me when I was flipping through the stations. "NO Mommy! I want the train song! Turn on the train song!"

Then, this afternoon, he was playing with his Thomas train while singing what he calls "The Train Song." It was quite cute. So Nick has a new favorite song.

I supposed I'd better track down all of my Dead albums. We've got a new little fan.

4th of July Bummer

This year, we decided to spend our 4th of July down at the Eyes to the Skies Festival in Lisle, IL. We wanted to go somewhere for the evening this year, after the fiasco of last year, when we stayed home and sat in our living room, listening to all of our neighbors try to blow themselves up. There was actually quite a bit of smoke coming in through the windows, and our side yard was filled with the shrapnel of illegal fireworks. Greg worries about fires, seeing as most of our neighbors were far too drunk to walk straight, let alone light up half sticks of dynamite. Plus, even though our subdivision is right behind the police station, I don't believe the police care. Perhaps they're even among the drunken pyromaniacs. So we went to Lisle for the parade, balloons, and fireworks. Here we are at the parade.

We went with Nick's Grandma Toni, and Nick's two aunties (and some friends) came later. At 3:00, the parade started, and we sat and watched and caught candy. This was Nick's first parade, and I think he liked it, especially the part where people throw candy! The first bummer was the heat. It was easily over 90, and even though we had Nick in a hat, slathered with sunscreen and drinking a ton of water and pedialyte, I think the heat was bothering him. The chewy candies helped, though. Also, they were throwing soaking wet foam balls at everyone, and Nick was extremely excited about that. Notice our pile of candy.

He kept pointing to the big trucks and the people marching and dancing along. These little cars were especially impressive. Nick does say, "car," and occasionally, "vroom," when he sees any sort of vehicle. Even a flying carpet.

After the parade, we climbed up a large hill to claim a spot for the balloon launch and fireworks. Greg spread out a giant quilt, and our view was marvelous. They had live music all afternoon, so we relaxed. I have to say, though, that climbing up and down that hill while carrying a toddler is quite challenging. So, we listened to music, visited the craft fair, and waited for the hot air balloons. You see, when I take Nick to the grocery store, when he sees a balloon, he jumps up and down in his seat, pointing and grinning and repeating, "Boon!" So I thought that seeing hot air balloons would be the ultimate fun for him. While we waited, Nick did a little dancing. Apparently he liked this song. Check out his moves.

The second bummer came soon after my sister arrived. She told us they had a sign up front saying that the balloon launch had been cancelled due to high winds. I'm kind of glad, in a way, that Nick was too little to be disappointed. (Just knowing how he reacts when I say the word, "Outside" and he has to wait even 30 seconds, I can't imagine what he'd do with this kind of disappointment.) Oh well, at least there would still be fireworks. We would have a spectacular view from the hill. Nick was fascinated by my sister's camera, and kept pushing the review button to look at pictures she'd taken. 

Greg decided to order some cheese fries, and this is what he got:

Yeah, it's called "Bucket 'O Fries," and it was as gross as it sounded. Nick sure liked it, though.

The third and final bummer was the worst. With almost no warning, around 8:00, it started to drizzle. We put Nick into his stroller with the cover, got out the umbrella, and hoped it would pass. Then the skies opened up. It poured for a good twenty minutes, until we were completely soaked and miserable. Except for Nick. He happily sat , relatively dry, giggling and sticking his hands out of the stroller and randomly exclaiming, "Water!" Yes, Nick, water.

That pretty much put a damper on the evening, so we trudged down the hill and gave up. Bummer #4? Four separate fireworks parties were going on when we got home, one of which was right outside our house, in front of Nick's window, in fact. Until after midnight, many, many booms were heard. Oh, well, better luck next year. I hope your 4th of July was drier than mine.  : )

***I'll continue writing about my Chicago trip tomorrow. I just wanted to show the pictures from the 4th today, when the fun (and the misery) is still fresh in my mind.***

Random thoughts about my son's talents

Nick sure likes to make music. One of his first favorite toys was his little piano, and even at five months, he'd bang away happily at the keys, enjoying the noise. These pictures are from the DuPage Children's Museum, and I snitched them from my mother-in-law's camera, since mine is still in the shop. I think Nick would love it if I came home one day with drumsticks like this, with big rubber tips. My son has many talents, and loud music is just one of them. I wonder if he'll be interested in playing a musical instrument someday. . .

Today Nick was into singing and banging on things. After work, I had to take him on some errands. Through the blowing snow, we drove to the mall and I had to put him in the stroller while I handled some Christmas returns. He cooed and sang to every lady in sight, whether it was a clerk in the Gymboree or a little baby in a stroller. He also loved banging on the side of the elevator. Nicholas has this habit of trying to catch a stranger's eye and then smiling really big until they smile back. It's quite endearing, and it is interesting to see how people react, especially if they're people who aren't used to being around kids. So far he usually wins and makes the person smile. Today it was a somber-looking gentleman in a business suit on the elevator.

Then, after the mall, I had to go in for a blood draw. I have thyroid disease that's not well-controlled right now, so blood work has been happening more often. Anyhow, just while I was waiting in the waiting room to be called, Nick managed to traverse the entire huge room while humming to himself, walk by every single person and grin hugely, and destroy a magazine. I was chasing him the entire time trying to minimize the damage. He smacked on the fish tank and tried to tap the fishies, hung onto the leg of an older lady, and tried to steal a book from a teenaged boy. Then he removed the door stopper and began to chew on it furiously. This was in five minutes. I simply chased him as he waved the door stopper around.

But the most hilarious part was when I got called in for the blood draw. Nick is too big to sit on my lap while they stick me. Besides, he wouldn't be able to stay still. So I sat him on the floor with a magazine. He waited just until the lady had the needle in, and then he laughed and ran off. "Don't worry," the phlebotomist said, "he can't go far. We're enclosed by doors." However, Nick tried to pull a pile of papers off of the desk and laughed at us. Then he tore a sign off of the refrigerator and took off into the reception area, again singing at the top of his baby lungs. He was in the area behind the counter where the receptionists sit, crawling under the counter. Since I was immobile, I could only listen as Nick squealed in glee and crawled under their desks. He ripped a big orange sticker off of one of their printers and was hugging a receptionist's leg when I finally retrieved him. I do believe Nick made their day.