Story Night at Cafe n Play

I often take the boys out for a "date" on Fridays. By the end of the week, I'm mentally drained, but I do want to spend some time with the boys.  One of our favorite places to go is Cafe n Play in Naperville. It is only five minutes from my school, and the boys can relax until 8 p.m. Also, the Cafe n Play allows me to relax a bit, because I can sit on the floor with the boys and read a book while they wander around and play.

We went last week for their story time and craft hour. Nick enjoyed the story "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake," but Henry roamed around and pretended to mop the carpet.

The craft was fun (and messy for both boys).

They drew with markers and painted with glitter glue.

Nick is getting better with scissors.

Henry, on the other hand, is pretty adept at making a mess and smearing glitter glue.

All in all, it was not a bad way to spend a Friday night. We had a sandwich there and went home just in time for bedtime. The house didn't get messy, I didn't have to cook, and I got to read for several 10 minute increments while the boys played.

Nick was a ring bearer!

My sister-in-law got married a few weeks ago, and Nicholas was asked to be the ring bearer. He was so excited and proud!

Alright, I don't know about proud, but he sure was excited to be in the city. I don't think he understood quite what his role was in the ceremony either. He thought his tuxedo was pretty cool, though.

I don't think Nicholas will be too shy to talk to girls when he gets older. He was schmoozing these lovely bridesmaids and snatching their crackers before the ceremony. He had never met either lady before, but snuggled right in as soon as he had the opportunity.

For the actual ceremony, Nick, as per usual, didn't follow directions. He walked out and ran past the aisle. Then, when prompted by smiling wedding guests, he ran back the way he came. Finally, the third time was the charm, but he ran full force up the aisle toward his beloved Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jay.

At least he had a smile on his face. The flower girls (Nick's cousins) did their jobs perfectly and looked adorable in their matching dresses. Here they are with the bride and groom.  :)

Nick loved the music and the dancing, and he was even dancing in his chair at one point.

Then I took him out on the floor, and we discovered that Nick has moves!

I'm actually not sure where he got them from. Greg is not a dancer, and though I will dance, my skills are extremely limited. Nick can copy the dance moves of others really quickly. He also has very little shyness.

Nick took a little break, and since it more than two hours after his bedtime, he drifted off.

He woke up when he heard his favorite song start, though. Nick is a huge fan of Psy and his big hit, "Gagnam Style." He ran out onto the dance floor and started doing the dance. His moves were actually mostly correct, and he copied everyone else. All the other kids were pretty much gone by then, and the adults thought it was pretty cool to have a four year old out there dancing with them.

The other dancers moved in a circle around the dance floor and let Nick have the center. Then they clapped for him as he broke it down, Gagnam Style. He had a whole crowd cheering for him!

I did get Greg out for one dance, but I think he wasn't in the mood. That's okay. I had Nick to dance with.

By the time midnight was nearing, Nick's little body finally gave up and he passed out. This is one of my favorite photos of the night, because Nick looks so peaceful. (More like comatose.) It was a great wedding.

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jay used a very talented wedding photographer, who got some beautiful shots. If you'd like to see them, click here. Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jay!

Two Adventurous Pilots

We've been doing more directed play around here, and over break, when I organized the boys' toys, I found all of the airport paraphernalia. Fun was had by all. . .

I even dressed Nick and Henry in their matching pilot sweatshirts. When you pull up the hood, it looks like goggles on their heads.

Henry has been copying everything Nick does lately, so we've been trying to play more interactively, with less screaming and running around and throwing things. I think I've had a decent amount of success, at least while I'm sitting down with them.

One thing Nick has learned, probably from his father, is how to make the planes crash. "Mommy, this plane crashed and went "Pshwah" and two people died in there." I should mention that my husband really only reads two kinds of books: ones about serial killers and ones about plane crashes. Nick has spent many an hour sitting on his father's knee as Greg read to him from "Aviation Disasters." I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my son is recreating aviation disasters with his toy planes.

My sons playing together imaginatively for 30 minutes straight without fighting? I'd call that an Aviation Miracle.

Bouncing Boys

Last Saturday morning, after about the 50th time of pulling Henry off the furniture (he likes to climb), I decided to take the boys to a place where they could work off some of their excess energy.

We went to Bounce U Up in Plainfield, and the boys had an excellent time. Surprisingly, they never did tire out, even after about 2 1/2 hours of bouncing.

I was exhausted from chasing them from bouncy house to bouncy house.

Henry adored the climbing part, though he was too scared to go to the top. (This time, at least.) Nick, on the other hand, flung himself with gusto all over every surface.

Nick loved throwing the balls across the bouncy house and at the other kids. At one point he played dodgeball with some bigger boys, who teamed up to get him with the balls after he'd gotten one of them in the head. I think he deserved it.

While this trip wasn't cheap, it sure kept them busy for a few hours.

I do wish I could bottle the Henry and Nick energy that abounds in my home lately.

I could've used some of their energy as I headed back to school today.

The Best Toy Ever

. . . and no, it's not anything electronic, or even anything that one can buy. I used a groupon deal ($35 for $70) to get toys for the boys for Christmas, and they came in this box.

I believe they were pretending to be on a train. They also brought out the crayons and colored the box, and turned it upside down to hide underneath it. I made Greg save it in the garage to pull out when the kids get bored.

My winter break project, which isn't entirely finished yet, was to photograph all of the boys' toys and sort them into plastic boxes labeled with pictures of the contents. This is an example of one of the pictures I took.

I did one for the boxes of puzzles as well. I bought a roll of contact paper to help me stick them to the boxes, but it didn't stick to all the boxes correctly. I had to bring out the superglue, and I ended up getting glue all over my hands in the process. 

All this work to stay organized, and I might as well have just given them boxes.  :)  Actually, it makes me smile to see them playing so creatively with a cardboard box. They were using an empty paper towel roll as a periscope, at one point, while sitting in the box. Ahh, the joys of childhood. I'm glad the kids aren't corrupted by all of the toys that sing and buzz and move. They enjoy a good old fashioned box just as much as I remember from my own childhood.

Big Buildings, a Bean, and Time Outs in Chicago

We spent last weekend in Chicago for Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jay's wedding (more about that on another day).  Nick was the ring bearer, so he joined us. Henry stayed with my mom and stepdad for the weekend. On Sunday, we had a few hours to kill before naptime, so we walked around the city.

Nick adored the big buildings. We stayed on the 36th floor of Hotel 71, and we had an amazing view.

It was really cold, but the wind wasn't too bad, and Nick's warm hat made him pretty comfy.

He liked walking down the street and looking up to see how high the skyscrapers go. Nick was also amused by the pigeons.

Nicholas wavered between being really excited and really naughty. My boy earned himself quite a few time-outs that day. I snapped lots of pictures, but not of the time outs. I believe the first time out was when Nick wanted to chase the pigeons with another boy, but we had to walk the other way.

Next we headed to Macy's to see the tree.

The tree was huge!

We decided to go to the Chicago Cultural Center, which is a beautiful building.

We saw an interesting art exhibit made from old tires. Nick was not amused. "Um, I think those tires are broken!" I guess four-year-olds don't "get" modern art.

Then we headed to Millennium Park, which, despite the cold weather, was quite lovely, as was the bean sculpture. Nick's behavior? Not quite so lovely.

He wanted to climb onto the roof of the Pritzker Pavillion, which he thought was a playground. I suppose it is shiny, but I wouldn't want to climb up there. A time out was somewhat of a deterrent for Nick.

By the end of our downtown stroll, Nick's behavior had improved, and he even snapped this picture of us before we left. Not bad, I think.  :)

We had a lovely afternoon in the city, and I can now say that Nick has had time outs in many of Chicago's tourist destinations. He had a time out on State Street, a time out in the Macy's, and a time out in the Chicago Cultural Center. Nick even had a time out by the bean. He did love the city, though.

A Harrowing Tale of Maternal Heroism and Bruising

Last week I did a very brave thing; I took Henry and Nick to the McDonald's Playplace as a reward for Nick staying dry all day. This one small decision resulted in quite the experience, and I'm certainly not talking about the cuisine.

Henry loves playing with the big boys. Nick disappeared immediately into the tunnels and slides of the playplace, and only once or twice did I actually speak with him over then next hour. Henry was a little more reticent. I sat at a nearby table watching, and Henry would walk to the entrance, then come to me for a hug. Every time he'd go a little farther into the tube, and this table full of like, 7 dads, were cheering him on and clapping for him. "You can do it!" "Go for it, little guy!" Henry was loving the attention and dancing in between climbing attempts.

"Cute little guy," one of them said to me. "Do you think he'll go all the way in?"

"Maybe," I replied. "He's a climber, but he tends to be a little hesitant." While I was answering this question, Henry somehow disappeared. "He went in there!" said a little girl, pointing towards the tunnels. I stuck my head in but couldn't see him. A few minutes later, I looked up. Way, way up. Only then did I see Henry.

Henry had climbed nearly to the ceiling. He was excited and curious. He kept slapping the clear plastic to get my attention, then waving and laughing happily. "How long do you think he'll stay up there?" another one of the dads asked?

"I'm not sure," I replied, "I'm just worried about how he's going to get down." I asked an older girl to go up and check on him. She said he was starting to get scared but wouldn't come to her. Just about then Henry started looking perturbed.

Now, this McDonald's PlayPlace goes pretty high up, and I had some sort of illusion that Nick or another one of the bigger kids would help Henry down. Apparently, though, he was too scared to do anything but bang on the plastic and hold his arms out for me. "You know," said another one of the helpful parents. "You're probably going to have to go in after him."

I sighed rather loudly, and one of the encouraging dads said rather loudly, "You know, you're just doing what all of us would love to do. Climbing in there looks like fun!" (I disagreed silently but smiled as I climbed into the tunnel, which was inhabited by at least 25 children. It smelled like plastic and bleach water, though I suppose the scent could have been far worse.

I am very glad I dropped about 30 pounds in 2012, because otherwise I would've been like Winnie the Pooh, wedged in a tunnel, bloated by my double cheeseburger. Regardless, this was not a simple climb. My knees, shins, and ankles are covered in bruises, some of them quite large and dark. I look like I was in a boxing match with a very short opponent. The children inside the Playplace didn't seem to notice or care that a rather large adult was climbing, too. They just climbed over me, jumped on top of me, and used my shoulder as a place to push off with their shoes. Thanks to my sneakers and my determination to save my child, I did get up to where Henry was, and not a second too soon.

He was sobbing and banging on the plastic until he heard my voice. Then, he held his arms out and ran toward me, wrapping his arms around my neck like a vice. Poor Henry was really scared. I asked the girls who'd been watching him what the fastest way down would be, and they pointed up. "The slide is the quickest, but you have to go up more."

Only the power of motherly love gave me the strength to climb up that last tube with a 25 pound toddler attached to my neck. I smiled in relief when I saw the slide, and had Henry sit on my lap.

Unfortunately, the last ten or fifteen feet of this slide had very little angle to it. Most little kids just sit up and scoot out of the tube. I was far too tall to do this, and I had Henry attached to me. I am very glad I don't have a picture to share of me lying on my back with Henry on top of my stomach as I wiggle my feet and hips, trying to get to the bottom of the slide.

Finally, another mother took pity on me and crawled in to grab Henry. Then, I was able to flip over and scoot backwards out of the tunnel. When I finally picked up Henry and stood up, so did everyone else in the McDonald's, cheering and clapping loudly. That, my friends, is how I got a standing ovation at the McDonald's. Henry thought they were clapping for him, so he started clapping, too. We were practically minor celebrities. I hobbled to a chair and nursed my bruises for a few minutes before heading home.

I understand a little bit about how mothers will do anything to save their children. Even brave the tunnels at McDonald's. Yes, even that. I guess I'm braver than I thought. And I have the bruises to prove it.  ;)