Playtime

To get out of the house for a little bit, I took Connor to Kidsports for a few hours Sunday afternoon.  We both needed a change of scenery, and this is right down the street, so it was perfect.  Luckily, it wasn't that crowded. I tend to worry when there are bigger kids at these places because they don't always pay attention to the little ones and knock them down.  Yesterday, though, it seemed that most of the kids there were between 1-6, so all was well in the world of indoor playgrounds.

Connor tried out the bouncy house, which he normally stays away from, but he gave it a whirl.  He didn't seem overly enthused about it.  He had more fun playing in the cozy coupes and the toddler area.  I did manage to get a bit of it on video, though, so check it out!

After about an hour there, Connor finally discovered the big kid slide.  He has to climb up on platforms to get to the slide, and he was just tall enough to make the climb up.  The entire slide is covered in netting, so I didn't have to worry about him falling over the edge.  Once he was on the slide, it took him a couple minutes to work up the nerve to slide down.  He saw one kid go down on his belly, so Connor did the same thing.  Once he went, he loved it and kept going back for more.

Later that day, while Mom was making dinner, Connor was playing with his trains and I saw him put on the conductor's hat he has.  He doesn't ever wear it, so I quickly grabbed my camera and got a few shots.  He wasn't pleased, because he says the flash "hurts eyes".  Sorry, kid... you better get used to it!  :)

We hope everyone stays warm and has plenty of shovels to dig us out of these next two storms coming up.  We cannot WAIT until spring!

You Don't Know Jack...

After months of planning, and three cancellations, Connor finally got to have a playdate with Jack Kelly.  Jack is my friend Lisa's son, and we haven't seen each other in ages.  We started scheduling this playdate back in November, and due to many circumstances beyond our control, had to cancel 3 times.  Today, though, the stars were in alignment and it all worked out.

When we arrived, Connor immediately spotted the train table and was hooked.  Jack is only 16 months old, so he and Connor played around each other, not really with each other.  Both boys were learning about sharing, but I think they did very well.  The Mommies got to visit and enjoy a cup of coffee while they played, which was nice.

Connor spotted Jack's Cozy Coupe and spent a while just hanging out in the car.  Jack would push him around the living room sometimes, but it was the cutest when Jack kept giving Connor hugs and rubbing his earlobe.  Connor's obsession lately is Mom's earlobes, so it was funny to see Jack do the same thing.

After pizza for lunch and yummy cake for dessert, we headed home.  Jack was a very good host, and it was great to see Lisa and get out of our own  house for a while.  We hope to see them again soon!

Cabin Fever

With all of the snow we've been getting lately, it's no wonder that everyone has come down with a case of cabin fever.  To combat this, Daddy took Connor up to see Mimi and Papa on Saturday while Mommy got a haircut.  Joey didn't tell anyone he was visiting, so they were quite surprised when Connor walked through the door!  Connor loves to visit "Mimi, Papa, Paige and Auntie" (as he says), and he had a great time.  He and Paige got to play with Joey's iPad for a bit, as Connor's new obsession is the app "There's a Monster at the End of this Book".  Some of you may know the book, but the app is an interactive story and not just something that's read to them.  It's pretty cool, and Connor loves it.  He also got to try some onion rings and have lots of cheese puffs, to his delight.  When he went to bed that night, Joey tucked him in and he says "Had fun at Mimi and Papa's!"

On Sunday, Connor was being just too whiny for Mom's liking, so off we went to the Children's Museum in Easton.  This seemed to cure the whines, and Connor spent a couple hours playing with the trains, coloring, and playing postman.  His most favorite, not surprisingly, were the trains.  As he was playing with a few of them, the table began to get a little crowded, and there was some required train sharing.  Connor was alright about sharing two of his four trains, but when it came to sharing one of his two engines, the meldown began.  He was not impressed at having to share an ENGINE (even though the other kid was giving him a different train to compensate), and he let out the mother of all screams.  You know the kind - where EVERY head turns to stare at the kid and his mom.  Yeah, that was us.  I brought him into the coat room and explained if he screamed again we were leaving.  Well, he screamed "NOOOOOO!", so off we went.  It's always fun leaving a place with a screaming toddler in tow.  He screamed for the next 5 minutes in the car until he finally settled (or exhausted himself, who knows).   It's very unusual for Connor to completely meltdown in public, so hopefully it was just a fluke thing and not a predictor of the future!

Mommy, spell word Scissors!  I did, and he wrote it!

What a Treat!

Thanks to a facebook friend, I heard about this bakery in Needham called "Treat Cupcake Bar", so Connor and I took a little road trip on Sunday to check it out.  It's a cute little shop that sells LOTS of delicious cupcakes.  You can choose from already made cupcakes (anything from Red Velvet to Oreo to Peanut Butter Cup) OR you can decorate your own.  They have a selection of cupcake flavors, then you can choose your frosting and the candy to go inside (and boy did they have a lot of candy!).  This time around we didn't go for the make-your-own because Connor immediately saw the sprinkled cupcake and yelled "DECORATIONS!! DECORATIONS!!" and wanted that cupcake.  Mommy chose red velvet (yum!) and a cup of coffee and we sat and had cupcakes for snack.  Connor basically devoured the frosting and didn't really get to the cake part, but he had a great time and was very well behaved.  I got a to-go container (which looked like a Chinese food take-out box) for the rest of his cupcake, and he carried around like it was gold.  It was very cute!  It's a great place to go for an afternoon (or in our case, mid-morning) treat!

On Monday, Connor got to have lunch with Mommy's friends from her old school.  There were about 8 women there and three boys ages 1-3, so it was a very busy and hectic lunch.  Connor was SO well-behaved, but I think he exhausted himself in the process.  I have to say, I think any guy who spends two hours with 8 women would come home and crash on the couch, too.

A Boy, a Girl, a Pen, and a Dog

On Sunday, Paige came down with Mimi and Papa to visit.  Connor was VERY excited to see his cousin and they had a great time playing.  Paige is very good with him and is great about playing with little kid toys.  She even helped Mimi and I give Connor a MUCH needed haircut.  Afterward, Paige suckered asked Papa to get them McDonald's, and they had a great time eating french fries together.  I think the dog enjoyed it, too!

As we were playing, Connor got to use some of Paige's new scented markers.  He decided he was going to write January and sign the paper.  I knew he could spell January, but actually writing the word down is another thing!  I was amazed.  Then he signed his name like he'd been writing for years, complete with speed and loops!  Pretty soon I think I'll let him update the blog - it'll be a break for me and good practice for him!

Last night when Connor and I were reading a story before bed, Bailey comes into the room and hops up on Connor's bed.  He normally doesn't do this, and I'm not sure if it had to do with the fact that Connor is feeling under the weather, or if he's happy he can still jump on a bed in his old age.  In any case, we watched him get comfortable - using Connor's stuffed pug as a pillow.  A pug on a pug!  He sat there and watched/listened as we finished reading.  When Connor got into bed he stayed put, so Mom had to get a few pictures!  My two adorable boys!

We Are Who We Are

Mommy and Connor have been listening to Kesha's new song "We Are Who We Are" a lot lately.  The other day in the bathtub, we were listening to it and he started dancing.   At one point in the song she says "sexy-fied", but Connor thinks she says "Sexy-FIVE" and held out five fingers and then put them up to his face.  Anyway, the second I pulled out the video camera he stopped (of course).  Today, though, I managed to get a little bit of it on my iphone, so I just had to post it!

Christmas isn't over...

Well, at least for Connor.  He's still into reading his Christmas books,"Corduroy's Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red Noses Reindeer" (as he says), and singing Christmas songs.  When putting away the Christmas ornaments, he hopped into the bin.  I think it was his secret way of letting me know he wasn't ready to say goodbye to Christmas.  I don't blame him!

A few days ago I ordered him one of those leap frog microphones that echoes his voice.  It arrived today, and he sang some Christmas songs into it. There's a lovely rendition of "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", and "Frosty the Snowman".  We hope you cherish it as a part of your Christmas traditions for years to come.  We know we'll be pulling it out when he's 13 or so...

Let's Play Catch-Up!

The past week has been very busy with family gatherings, Christmas, and New Year's.  I'll try to sum up everything without being very long-winded.

The Thursday before Christmas was Connor's daycare party.  The kiddies practice singing jingle bells for weeks, but had a bit of stage fright for the performance and opted out.  I was really hoping to get him on video singing, but no such luck.  He did enjoy all of the presents and food that Ms. Janet and Mr. Ralph gave them, but the best part of the night was watching Mr. Ralph's train go around the Christmas tree.  He loved helping make the train go round and round with the remote control.  

Christmas Eve was our annual Bouvier family ornament exchange in Vermont.  It was held at my cousin's Greg's, which is large enough to house our ever-growing extended family.  We had yummy appetizers, and the kids played quite well with the train table set up in the room.  Connor received a small gift from Grammy and Grampy, a Spider-Man tin box with Spider-Man socks in it.  He LOVED this gift.  He'd bring it around to everyone, open it, say "Spider-Man Socks!" and close it up again.  Repeat process.  This kept him occupied the rest of the night, so we didn't have to worry about any temper-tantrums!

Christmas day was nice and relaxing, especially since Connor didn't quite have that "Christmas morning" excitement this year and didn't wake up at the crack of dawn.  He played with some stocking stuffers, and then when it was time to open presents, he'd become absorbed with one present and forget there were many others waiting for him.  We ended up opening most for him, and we'll pull some out when he's becoming bored with his other toys.

Before we left Vermont, we were sure to get some sledding in.  One of Connor's presents was a plastic sled, so we had to make use of it.  He wasn't quite sure what to make of sledding - he'd laugh on the way down the hill, but cry when we were done.  After only 3 trips down the hill, he loudly declared "ALL DONE!".  It took us more time to get ready than we actually spent on the hill, but at least he got to experience sledding!

For New Year's Eve we headed to Edaville for what was probably the last time EVER.  Rumor has it a condo company has purchased the land, so these are the final days for Edaville.  It's sad, but we're happy we had the opportunity to go one more time before it closed.  Connor was a little grouchy, but once he got on the toddler rides, he was better.  The caterpillar and mini train were his favorites, but after a few rides he wanted to go on the big train.  He had a nice time eating his cashews and looking at the Christmas lights.  It was a nice way to spend New Year's with our little man!

Today we brought in the New Year with our good friends Meg, Mairead, Jack, and Ben.  They made the long trek from Lowell to visit us and have a change of scenery.  We had a few sharing issues on our end, but after a little "chat", seemed to work them out.  It was nice to see Meg, and the kids seemed to have a good time playing together.  We hope to get together soon - it's good for the kids (and the Mom's) to have some social time!

We hope everyone had a great New Year's and that 2011 brings nothing but good things!