8/16/08 The Good Ticket

This morning I took Julian and Katrina to my old gym (it's closer to the rental house than the Y) to gingerly see how my damaged body would take some warming up and stretching. The childcare there isn't nearly as nice as the Y's, but Katrina didn't notice. She had a great time with this adorable pink VW, and put up a major fit about abandoning it.

Then I took the younger two to a pool birthday party. It was a lovely setting, with lots of good food, a jump house, and a very nice outdoor pool. Julian had a great time playing in the jump house and swimming. Katrina was a nightmare, fussing constantly, and I whisked them away before the party's grand finale, frustrated and embarrassed. But I knew it was really my fault. Don't I know better by now? There is no life with a toddler past noon! And definitely no going two places in one morning!

But Julian, so adaptable and also very emotionally low-maintenance, spared me a well-deserved fit about missing out on birthday cake. All he said was, "I had a great time swimming, Mom!" My sweet boy. I needed that positive perspective!

Dave took the boys to a minor league baseball game tonight. Before they left, I handed the boys each their own ticket with great ceremony: "Here's your ... ticket!" Julian looked stricken. Then I realized, I had to qualify it: "It's a good ticket!" He brightened immediately.

Gabriel wouldn't oblige me with a fraternal photo, but Julian (and his tongue) came through for the photo-op.

I was in no mood to attempt taking Katrina anywhere tonight, so we passed on the game and spent the evening alone together at home. We had a great time. She played and laughed and acted adorable, and even ate dinner without too much fuss. We chased and wrestled and tickled and peek-a-boo'd and said silly things together for hours.

I tried to take some video of a game in which Katrina demonstrates her clumsy Edith Bunker-like "run," but she got distracted by a paper falling off the fridge. She doesn't know how to use fridge magnets to put it back, something I'm sure Julian did by this age. But what I really notice is how she repeats back what I say -- there's a delay, and it's hard to understand, but she's been a real parrot lately. Finally, she finds her little mouse toy and gives a chair a kiss.

Maybe it's not toddlers so much that drive me nuts. It's straddling toddler life with preschooler life and schoolkid life. When it's just one or the other, I still come down on the side of the older kids, but either one is very rewarding in its own way.

8/16/08