Barry’s Daily Web News

Start of a Three Day Weekend

I have off tomorrow, so I am looking forward to a three-day weekend. Of course, there’s much I need to get done, so it might not be so relaxing.

Lego

Ever since our trip to Legoland, I’ve been fascinated with legos. I even went and cleaned the lego set from when I was a child. My childhood Lego collection consists of three different sets. While there is some neat stuff in that collection, including a train, some of the new stuff is even neater. Tonight, we decided to make a last minute trip to Target to pick up a Lego set or two. We all went to the store. I ended up buying more than I expected to. Cortney insisted that we buy a set that Sean picked, which was a good idea.

On the way home from the store, Sean fell asleep. I guess he had a busy day. Cortney put him to bed right after we arrived home, rather than try to wake him. After we put Ethan to bed, Cortney left to go to the store. I went out and watered the flowers I planted this past weekend. When I came back inside, Sean was trying to put his shoes on. He wanted to go outside with me. I have taken him out every night this week to water the plants, and I guess he really wanted to go with me again tonight. When I explained that I had just finished, he started crying.

So, to calm Sean down, I opened up one of the Lego sets. This particular set allows you to build a variety of vehicles. Sean picked out a vehicle set from the instructions, and I built it. I was glad I had the instructions; I would have struggled otherwise. These toys are certainly appropriate for adults as they are a challenge to build. Or, maybe it is just geek adults with technical careers that remember fondly of building with Legos when they were a child that enjoy playing with Legos. Or, whatever. Sean and I had fun, and Sean went to bed happy.

Ethan at the Library

It was just Ethan and me at the library this evening. I think Sean was mad at me. He wasn’t hungry at dinner, and did not eat his applesauce. An hour later, he decided that he wanted his applesauce again. I told him no, that he has to eat his food at dinner time. So, when it was time to leave for the library, Sean did not want to go. Cortney did not mind watching Sean, so I left with just Ethan.

Before story time, Ethan did his usual, which was going from one toy to the next. At the library, this includes the train table, bead toys, puzzles, and Ethan’s favorite, running over to pull books off the shelf to see if I will stop him. Ethan was really into the story time. He was definitely enjoying all of the songs and finger plays. I’m glad he enjoys it.

Time With Ethan

I spent time alone tonight with Ethan, since Cortney took Sean to gym class. Ethan enjoyed me reading to him the most. What suprised me was that he has several books that he likes reading to himself. He opens the pages one by one, making word sounds that I can’t decipher for each page. Ethan also has a great sense of humor. It doesn’t take much silly action on my part to start him laughing. We had fun all the way until it was time for Ethan to go to bed.

Big Yardwork Day

Most of today was spent doing yardwork. I began the day by my mostly annual obsession with purchasing flowering plants for the pool. I’m looking for perennials that bloom in the summer, that will survive low water and hot sun. This year, I tried penstemon, desert marigold, and a type of diasy suited for desert climate. It will be intersting to see how long the plants survive. I don’t think I’ve had anything near the pool that has made it through August.

In addition to the planting, I trimmed the palo verde by the play area, trimmed up some of the plants in the pool area, and bagged some of the leaf debris around the pool. I finished by pulling weeds and mowing the lawn.

Sean and Ethan were outside the for a good part of the yardwork. Sean was fascinated with me trimming the tree brances. Ethan was more interested in playing with his ball than watching me. Hopefully, the backyard will look good for this Easter weekend.

New Play Area to the Mall

The mall near us finally added a kid’s play area. It’s called a soft play area, as all of the items in the play area have a soft rubber surface. The play area includes a life raft, curved road bridge, fire truck, car, a castle, and other items. I thought it was well designed, and certainly just as good as the ones in other malls we would drive 45 minutes to get to. Ethan is just at the right stage of development to full enjoy the play area. He can climb all of the surfaces he is supposed to. The only thing I worry about is Ethan getting knocked around by the older kids playing. According to the sign, Sean is almost to big for the play area, as the height restriction is 42 inches or under. Sean is right around 42 inches, but I don’t think anyone will say anything. I think we will be making frequent use of this new play area.

Sean Continues His Potty Training

Cortney says that Sean used the potty six times today. The key appears to be keeping his diapers off, leaving Sean bare-bottomed, as well as having the small potty near where he plays.

Rainy Day

It was a rainy day today, so it was a good day to bring the kids to Burger King to use the play area. I guess other parents had the same idea, as it was crowded as well. Ethan has now learned to wade through the ball pit, and climb out the other side. This is good news, as the Burger King closest to us has the ball pit right at the entrance to the play area, and you have to go through the ball pit to access the rest of the play area. We had been frequenting a Burger King further away that does not require going through the ball pit, so that Ethan can access the play area. Now we can continue going to the Burger King closest to us.

Ethan Two Years Ago

Take a look at this picture of Ethan, taken two years ago today. Hint: Ethan is only seventeen months old.

Sean Returns to Gym Class

Sean went to his gym class, for the first time in almost three weeks. Sean missed the classes because he was sick, then because we went out of town. I could tell that Sean’s tumbling skills weren’t quite as sharp as they have been, but Sean still did well. And, more importantly, he had a good time and got in some exercise as well.