Killer on the Loose

The first year we were in NC we went to the State Fair. If you are from here you know it's a pretty deal. Having gone that one time we had our fill for a while. This year I really wanted to go so Nathan could experience it too. Young or not, it's something to do.

 Everyone goes to the fair. You eat, play, ride, repeat. But mostly eat. They have the most ridiculous items - a majority of which are fried. We tried the snickers and the PB&J sandwich. Wow. They were really . . .  fried. Nathan seemed to enjoy it. I was a little worried about him since he didn't take much of a nap today after I ran him ragged at the mall this morning. Still, the kid was a trooper. He loved the movement, the lights, the music and the people.  We had him play a little fishing game where he won a ball (a pick over a stuffed fish or duck) and he got a little taste of the fried stuff as well.

Towards the end we found a special tent where there were life-sized cut-outs of Nathan's favorite cartoon characters from TV, like Curious George. Nathan was so happy to see him he went right over and gave him a kiss. Twice! We saw Elmo too. The kid was excited. They had some cute kid-type activities which made me happy since he's still too young to do most other things. 

On the way in Leo tried to win us a fish but the beer pong king couldn't do it. On our way out, I thought I would give it a try and wouldn't you know it, I did it! I won one and a girl gave me two of hers so we went home with three new pets. Yay! Nathan was so excited about the fish and wanted to just hold them. It was a nice prize at the end of a long afternoon.

And then Jen the Fish Killer struck. I was very careful to pull out a nice fish-bowl-looking container, I cleaned some rocks for the bottom and I carefully filled the bowl with fresh water for our guests. We read up on some homemade fish food. We were taking care to keep them at least more than a week to get some enjoyment out of them. I should have left them in the stupid plastic bag they came in. Elmo, George and Wyatt (yes I named them) died barely an hour after we got home. Leo had to confirm it as I didn't want to believe I caused their deaths so quickly. What an awful person I am. Whhhaaaaa! Ok, it's not that big a deal but I am upset. Nathan was really excited about it. At least he won't remember tomorrow. I think. I have a feeling I will be going out to get fish again sometime soon. Next time I will be sure to have fish food waiting and maybe I'll have Leo take care of them. And people want me to get a dog . . . .

Elmo, Crayons, Firetrucks & Horses

A while back you may recall I may have said something negative about Elmo, from Sesame Street. My feeling was that he was an outsider, a newbie, not one of the original characters I remembered growing up with on SS. Well, I suppose I have to eat my words as Nathan currently sees and says "Elmo" all the time. On diapers and diaper boxes, TV, books, shirts, etc. He loves that furry red monster. There are days I will go around the house singing "La,la,la,la,la,la, Elmo's World" (ha - now it's in your head too if you know what I'm talking about!) and I hardly realize it, now that Elmo has been introduced to the family. I'm not saying I fully accept him, but I'm taking steps towards forgiving him for taking over Grover's place. I mean, when's the last time you've seen Grover on SS? HE doesn't have his own show called "Grover's World"! So, we will try to be friends. According to Nathan, I have no choice.

Something else Nathan has taken a liking to: crayons. Yippee. (Insert sarcasm) I have been fairly good with keeping these away from him and we play together and only draw on paper. But it only takes a second of mommy and daddy being preoccupied for Nathan to discover new places to color. I must have been very busy as he had time to experiment with two colors on the wall of the foyer. Leo made two points "wow, those colors match his outfit" and "I wondered why you let him walk around with those." Umm, yippee he can match colors and why didn't you take them away from him?! Duh. In any event, there are at least 21 ways to remove crayons from walls and it was no big deal. All I have to say is I'm glad I spent a few extra bucks for good paint that is "scrub-able" and  thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Sponges. Those things are super amazing at many things. I may have to stock up.

Last weekend, Leo and I had non kid-friendly plans on Saturday (unless you think bringing your toddler to a beer festival is fun and/ or smart). So Nathan got to spend time with Gigi and Grandpa Ed. They came to get him in the early afternoon to go to a fireman's parade in Creedmoor. Apparently, Nathan really likes firetrucks in addition to Elmo and crayons. My mom said she was entranced by the big red machines and kept repeating his version of "firetruck" all day long. He now enjoys his "Elmo goes to the firestation" book and he likes to point out firetrucks on the road. It's pretty neat how much he is learning and repeating all the time now. It's like a switch has been flipped and he wants to learn it all.

Something Nathan isn't as big a fan of is horses. I think. I met with another mother and her son last week and we went to visit some horses. We feed them apples (or what was left after our boys had a snack out of them) and pet their gigantic heads. Nathan was less than a fan of this animal - they really are so big up close and a little intimidating I suppose.  He wasn't having it and wanted to watch the ducks instead. Either way, it was fun to see something new and every experience now is all the better for me. I know he is taking it all in and making choices about how he feels about things instead of just "being there" without much of an opinion. This is what having a kid is all about, for me - teaching him new things and seeing him take it all in. Our lesson for the rest of the week is "how to clean walls and put away toys". I'll let you know what he thinks of that.