Extra! Extra! Nathan Time
For work reasons, Mark is not available, which means Nathan and I have been having a lot of bonding time. Sunday night we made applesauce muffins. Which means I made applesauce muffins, and Nathan measured dry beans onto the floor--because I preferred him playing in that than with flour or rolled oats. He also got to lick the maple syrup measuring cup, which he was a big fan of, and got offended when it ran out.
Honestly, I made the applesauce muffins because I didn't want to go outside [which he wanted to do, which I knew because he kept showing me his shoes and jacket] and figured he would get distracted with muffins. That's also why I put away laundry--because he loves laundry--and why we went to the library. Maybe even why we went to church. Basically we had a bunch of side quests to distract him from his Main Quest.
Two Saturdays ago, we went to the Botanical Gardens. He saw two bird trainers holding eagles, he played in the fountains [I prepared for that--I brought an extra set of clothes so that he could be dry], he pet bunnies, he picked up a worm, he climbed stairs, he interacted with two ducks, he fell down a lot, he hugged a Chinese man [to be clear, the man was another visitor; it was not an exhibit], he saw a honeybee hive, and he probably would have gone up and down a ramp for hours had I not decided it was time to move on.
I took him to the zoo on Tuesday, and I think his favorite part was walking on the [very short] ledge on the sides of the exhibits. Not the seals that were swimming over him in the cool aquatic tunnel, but the ledge that lined it. Also the picnic chairs were pretty cool.
I thought he would enjoy the stingray touch exhibit [which he technically did, because he loved splashing the water], but it turns out his arms are too short to be able to make contact with the swimming rays, and also they don't like splashing, and also the zoo employees were super stressed because despite me holding him, one of his shoes came off and floated away in the pool, and also he almost dripped snot into the water--to which one of the employees said that the rays didn't need any more mucus, as they produce enough on their own. I may be on the banned list now.
Another wonderful incident with him occurred just yesterday morning. When he woke up I took him out of his jammies and gave him a piece of a grain bar to placate him until I had sliced up the strawberries. He wandered off to play, then came back and handed me his diaper which he had taken off. I put him in a new diaper as well as a onesie so that the diaper would stay on, then continued slicing strawberries while he drove his doll stroller around. I walked toward the living room to get his sippy cup, but felt something on my heel. When I looked down to investigate, I noted that there was a pile of brown mush in the hallway, much too large to be chewed-up grain bar, and that Nathan had driven through it with his stroller and tracked the stuff around the kitchen, hallway, and living room. Yes, it was poop. Apparently he had taken off his diaper, pooped on the floor, handed me the diaper, and then gone on his merry way. I spent a good amount of time cleaning the floors, stroller wheels, and us. The day ended with me trying to give him a bath, but since he cries and climbs out of the tub whenever I put him in, I had to settle with wiping him down with a washcloth while he knelt next to the tub and played with his bath toys.
What an adventure childhood is.
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