So Jen is off on this all-girls weekend retreat, leaving just us boys at home. I can handle this, right? I can handle anything.
Oh, did I mention she took our only car? Have I griped a few times about the shady volkswagen mechanic who is apparently perpetually 3 days away from fixing my car? I took the car in a week before Sabrina was born. This blog tells me she's more than 6 weeks old now. I may not be the world's greatest mechanic, but I could've taken both carburetors off, rebuilt them, and reinstalled them a long time ago. That's probably more extreme than it actually needs...
Okay, so, no car, no wife, no cell phone (okay, that one's a personal choice-- one I will gladly sermonize you on if you ask me)... Anyway, it seemed awfully like parenting without a net.
But the truth is, we had all we need. We have each other, and a healthy enough imagination to find things to do and ways to have fun.
So, Edgar woke up this morning after a long, peaceful night's sleep, and wanted to watch Spongebob. We cuddled in bed and watched a few episodes (thanks, netflix!). He seemed to really enjoy the time. "Daddy, go to sleep here!" (pointing to my pillow). I will admit to dozing a few times.
After a few episodes, it was time to start our day:
I took Edgar out in his bike trailer. This was our favorite activity last summer. However, it's been a while. He asked me "what's this?", pointing to the bike trailer. I think he remembers it, he just didn't have the words "bike trailer" in his vocabulary. He looks SO much bigger than I remember him being in the bike trailer. You may remember I bought Jen a two-seater bike trailer for her birthday. I was convinced there was some way to shoehorn another kid in this one, but after today, there's no way 2 kids would fit in that (see the above picture).
Last summer, I didn't consider myself in any sort of "shape", so I expected to be just as out of shape today. Boy, was I wrong. Everything seemed much harder. Either that, or Edgar's much heavier. I know I am.
We rode off to the Gilbert House museum, as I felt we didn't get the full experience last time. We took my advice from last time and played on the empty playground first.
Continuing on yesterday's theme, here's a video of Edgar and I doing a xylophone duet on the playground:
Edgar loved this dinosaur chair. He returned to it a few times, and commanded me to sit in the other dinosaur chair next to it.
We went in the section of the museum dedicated to AC Gilbert himself. He was a true polymath and rennaisance man. Among other things, he was an olympic gold-medal pole vaulter, medical doctor, and inventor of the erector set. We need more people like him in the world. He also invented some other interesting stuff...
Also, those erector sets are cool. Now, I had some cool toys when I was a kid, but I'm not sure anything was as cool as a do-it-yourself robot or atomic energy kit.
Edgar thoroughly enjoyed his playtime today. We spent time at exhibits that weren't very crowded, so neither he nor I got sick of the people. He got a really good chance to explore some of the stuff in-depth.
We even visited the infamous bubble room, which we skipped last time. Our visit went something like this:
Edgar, timidly trying to see what all the other kids are doing in this room -> Edgar discovering a pan of soapy water and a hula hoop -> Edgar unsuccessfully trying to make a bubble with the hula hoop and getting a little frustrated -> Edgar successfully making a huge bubble with the hula hoop -> Edgar celebrating by splashing in the bubble fluid -> Total meltdown, as bubble fluid fills his eyes -> Daddy trying to comfort a screaming Edgar -> Edgar trying to wipe bubble fluid out of his eyes using his soapy hands -> Daddy dragging a screaming Edgar to the sink to wash his hands so at least that part will be soap-free -> Edgar crying on Daddy's lap, while Daddy grabs a bubble wand and makes a few bubbles -> Edgar wanting to make some bubbles, but not wanting to leave Daddy's lap -> Edgar finally getting the courage to stop crying and make some bubbles -> Edgar excitedly making bubbles -> Edgar jumping up and down, blowing bubbles everywhere, getting his arms, legs, and hair wet -> Edgar getting excited again, splashing soapy water into his eyes, and screaming in pain -> Daddy, repeating the wash and comfort cycle, and trying to convince Edgar his time in the bubble room is over
The star of our show, sometime between meltdowns.
The obligatory gilbert house Big Chair Picture. (shortly after bubbly meltdown)
Back across the bridge, I offered Edgar the chance of going back to the museum or heading home. He chose home. Good thing he did, too, because he was asleep by the time we passed Salem Hospital. I don't know how he does it, but this is a pretty common thing for Edgar to fall asleep in the bike trailer, going over bumps, with the top down...
Home after a long uphill ride, I trundled Edgar inside, with a fresh bottle, and put him in my bed. I've mentioned on here that he doesn't like to be interrupted/moved during his nap. I was lucky that he went back to sleep and we both got a sizable nap in my bed.
That's the sort of thing Jen thinks is fun-- snuggling with the kids. It's never held a huge attraction for me, but it was pretty fun today. Made me feel like a real daddy.
When Edgar woke up, he really wanted to snuggle some more. So, more episodes of Spongebob were in order. I could've gotten more things done (stuff put away from Kalaloch, dishes, etc. etc.) but snuggling with the kid was way too fun.
I mentioned in one of my first blog posts that I hoped that Edgar would do a little growing up (and detaching from Mom) over the course of this six weeks. I think he has. He's grown-up in all the good ways, and still a baby in all the ways that don't matter.
Here's a cute conversation:
E: "Daddy, what time is it?"
Me (taken aback) : "I don't know... uhh... I'm-just-starting-to-cook-dinner-time?"
E: "Change the diaper time!"
wow. That's easy.
Some other random cuteness from Edgar: He's taken up my habit of saying "Yes Sir" and "No Sir". It's kindof cute. The problem is, it's also ambigui-fied his answers:
I remember being in elementary school, first learning cursive, and finding that T and F were really close in cursive. From then on, for several years, I answered all my true-false tests and homework in cursive, with the hope that if I wasn't sure of something, I could make the letter ambiguous enough that the teacher would mark it right...
So, when you ask Edgar a yes/no question, he usually responds with something that sounds like "Nyeah" or "Yo" or "Noshyeah" or "Yeah-uh" or something else. They all look silly written down, but he honestly drives us nuts because we can't tell his nos from his yeses.
Another couple of cute stories: he loves he-man. Long before he discovered he-man, we discovered two old he-man toys at goodwill. One he recognizes as Cringer, although the toy cringer is quite a bit fiercer than the cartoon. The other one (Leech, evil master of power suction[!!]), he doesn't recognize as a he-man character, and calls it "the kissing monster".
Last week, Jen was nursing baby Sabrina. Edgar came in with Cringer held against his chest: "Edgar give Cringer some Nurning. A little bit. For just a minute." Apparently, this behavior is pretty normal.. it's just also hilarious.
We haven't told Edgar about my stash-- two apple boxes full of all my old he-man toys (and Castle Greyskull!) that my parents saved from when I was a kid. There are a ton in there, with armor, vehicles, weapons (whatever my nephew Gavin didn't manage to break). I figure he wouldn't appreciate it very much at this age, and would probably break them all. We can save them until he's 4 or 5.
Edgar went to bed easily again tonight. Jen comes back in the morning.
I spent way too much time tonight making another poster for an activity in primary tomorrow. Then, I realized that I should blog, too. It's 1:25 as I finish this. I really need to get some sleep before Edgar wakes up.
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