New Friends

One day last week, like we have done so many times this summer, I took the boys to the park. We're almost always the only ones there, probably because we get there early (9:30ish). Well, at first, we were the only ones there, but not long into our play, some other kids started showing up.

Leland started playing near one boy who looked to be about his age. The boy's mom and I started talking, and, sure enough, her son, Fischer, is one month older than Leland. She also has a baby boy who is about 4 months younger than Alden.

We had a lot of fun chatting, and Fischer and Leland played so well together. Fischer shared his pretzels - a big positive from Leland's point-of-view, and they just seemed to have pretty similar personalities (outgoing, very active, sweet & kind, but also a bit of stinker ready to come out at any given moment).

Before we left, Maggie (Fischer's mom) and I exchanged phone numbers and agreed that we should meet for play dates. And if the weather ever gets summery again (side note: what a lame summer we've had weather-wise), we could meet at the splash pad near our house. They are somewhat new to Traverse City, so they don't know a lot of people.

The other day, I texted Maggie to let her know that we were going to Wigglers story time on Wednesday, and she said she would meet us there. Leland was excited to see Fischer again.

They had a lot of fun at Wigglers, and were definitely very wiggly. More so than the other kids.

When we got home, Leland was playing with his tractors and said, "I share my tractors with Fischer." I texted Maggie to suggest a home play date sometime (so perhaps we don't irritate all the older/quieter kids at story time), and Maggie said that Fischer was talking about playing trucks with Leland. Perfect.

I tend to be shy until you get to know me, so I don't make new friends easily. But having a toddler is like constantly having an ice breaker. Leland is not shy - ever - so he helps me move out of my comfort zone. And I'm so glad he does, because he helps me make new friends. I see many play dates in our future with these two. They're pretty adorable together. And soon, Fischer's brother, Otto, will be on the move and he and Alden can cause all kinds of trouble together.

Visiting Alden (the town)

Yesterday, we scratched off one item from my summer bucket list. We visited the teeny, tiny town of Alden, Michigan. It was a chilly day (only about 60-65 degrees, and overcast for much of the morning), but I sort of prefer that over having to worry about sunburns and keeping everyone cool. We all wore our sweatshirts and were just fine.

Our first stop was the park.

Well, that's one way to use a balance beam.

After the playground, we checked out a couple of shops. I was hoping to find an "Alden" shirt for Alden, but everything just said Torch Lake - which I would have been fine with, but I didn't find any baby sizes.

Then we headed off to find the Depot Park.

This park has a train engine and caboose for climbing on. There is a museum as well, but it wasn't open. That was okay, because Leland had plenty of fun just checking out the choo choo.

There were a few men working on something there, so they opened the caboose for Leland to go in it. 

And then we just checked out the scenery and let Alden crawl around for a bit.

Torch Lake - named one of the most beautiful lakes in the world by National Geographic

So there was another pic that was slightly better than this one and I accidentally deleted it. Waahhhh!

My mom with the boys.

After the Depot Park, we had lunch at Afterloon Delights, which really was pretty delightful.

And then we went to the spice mill.

My mom went inside while the boys and I explored the garden 

Making our way through "Alligator Alley"

Biggest rhubarb plant I have ever seen.

The "husband waiting area." Leland gave him a high five.

And then we were on our merry way home. Within five minutes, this happened.

What a fun day with my little loves and my mom. Just dawdling and exploring a sweet small town. If you're curious at all about the town of Alden, check out my friend's blog post about it. It's short and sweet and captures it's charm perfectly.

Family Movie Night

I have been looking forward to family movie nights since before I had kids of my own. When I used to babysit, one of my favorite things was to cuddle up on the couch with the kiddos, munch on some popcorn, and watch a fun family movie. I have a small library of Disney movies that have been just waiting for my own children to be ready for them.

Well, Leland is just now at the age where we can sit and watch most of a movie together. He likes Monsters Inc. and Monsters University, but we don't usually watch the whole thing at once. If there were a movie about tractors or construction vehicles, I think he would, but I can't think of one. However, he is very into planes ever since the air show and seeing different airplanes at the open ramp event, so I thought he might enjoy seeing the movie Planes.

I rented it Friday night, and had high hopes of a fun family night. I didn't tell Leland about it until late in the day, because I knew he would be really excited and ask about it all day. During dinner, I couldn't wait anymore and I told him that I rented a new airplane movie. I should have waited until after dinner because he immediately said he was finished with dinner and just could not wait to watch it.

But the nice thing was that we told him we couldn't start it until we were all in our jammies, so he didn't fight me about changing his clothes for once.

And of course, being the mamarazzi that I am, I had to document this momentous occasion for our family. Only with my phone though. It's a little less crazy since I didn't pull out the DSLR, right?

We popped popcorn and Leland though the air popper was magical.

He seriously enjoyed the popcorn. He was sharing a bowl with me, and at one point when I reached for some, he said, "Mama, that's enough." I assured him that we could make some more if we ran out. He then poured his popcorn into Dave's bowl so I could make some fresh popcorn for us.

Alden was pretty peeved that he couldn't have any popcorn.

The boys took turns sitting with each of us (Yes, Dave was there, he just refused to be photographed) and sitting by themselves as well. Leland did a decent job of sitting through the movie. He moved around quite a bit, which I expected, but he really wanted to watch it.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with how Leland did for movie night. Perhaps next time, we'll watch a movie in the basement on the big TV (the downstairs TV is nicer, but the furniture isn't comfortable - the upstairs furniture is comfortable, but the TV isn't very exciting).

I think Leland may be ready for his first theater experience, and Planes 2 might be a good one for that. But Dave isn't sure he's ready, so maybe we'll wait and do it for his birthday in December. In the meantime, we'll practice with more family movie nights.

Stories, Songs, & Tears

So we finally made it to Wigglers Story Time yesterday. Leland was so excited to bring his books back and get new ones.

When we got there, we grabbed our name tags and Leland jumped right into the puzzles. He loves them. And Alden enjoyed eating them.

When story time started, Alden was all ears and didn't take his eyes off the story-teller, while Leland walked around andplayed with puppets and puzzle pieces. In the photo below, you can see Leland in the background playing between two bookshelves. Not the greatest pic, but I didn't want to be "that" mom that distracted everyone by taking a gazillion pictures, you know? I was trying to be stealth.

Between stories, Alden grabbed some board books.

Yet another story where Alden listens intently (and looks way too big!) and Leland plays.

She did some songs and fingerplays and Leland joined in and had fun with those. He even sat for a story for about five seconds. But then he got up and played some more.

After about three or four stories, she put on a filmstrip story. Leland was pretty into this and sat to watch/listen.

But when the character in the story was taken to jail, Leland started crying and said he wanted to go home. And that was the end of story time for us. We picked out five new books, checked them out, and left. And Leland threw a fit that he couldn't take the puzzles home.

I didn't expect Leland to sit for the stories. I was hopeful that he might for one, but he's a little busy-body and loves to explore. At home, he will sit and listen to story after story, but in a different setting, I knew he would be all over the place. Which is exactly why I took him to "Wigglers" - they don't expect everyone to sit still. In the car, he kept asking me to read his books to him (which I obviously couldn't do), and at home, we've  been reading them all day. He does love his books, but on his own time. Hey, I'm cool with that.

Ankle Crosser

As I've looked through pictures recently, I have noticed that Alden is an ankle crosser. 

I guess I don't know if this is super common with babies, but I don't remember Leland doing this so much, nor does he do it a lot now. 

But Alden does it a lot. When he's sitting, when he's sleeping, when he's nursing...a lot. It's cute.

I am a leg crosser, as in "Indian style." It's the most comfortable way for me to sit (whether in a chair, on the couch, or on the floor, if there is room, I am usually sitting cross-legged...even as a passenger on long car rides), so I wonder if Alden will be too.