Overheard. Regarding pooping.

SCENE: Evening storytime.

ACTORS: Adult male. Child male.

Tenor: Come on, let's go poo poo!

Treble: Ok.

Tenor: Sit here on the toilet. Are you comfy?

Treble: Yeth.

Tenor: Ok, go: Unnnnnnngh!

Treble: Unnnnnngh!

Tenor: Did you go poo poo?

Treble: No.

Tenor: OK, just say: Unnnnngh! Drop a deuce!

Treble: Unnnnngh! Drop a dooth!

Tenor: OK, the turtles are pooping! And the elephants are pooping turtles! Everyone's turtling!

Treble: OK! I go pew pew!

Tenor: Good! Did you go poop!

Treble: No.

Tenor: That's OK, if you need to poop, you can poop in your diaper tonight and I will change you. OK?

Treble: OK.

Tenor: I love you, William.

Divergence

Being a parent is an education. I find that as I navigate through the various challenges (and joys!) of parenting, they are often an opportunity for self reflection. For example, Will loves ball. I mean, REALLY loves ball. Any kind of ball, soccer, tennis, basket, base, kick, dodge, golf, Play Doh, ANYTHING spherical presents an invitation to play. I really have no basis for comparison, but I think he's pretty talented at putting the ball where he wants it. He has great aim and great concentration for a two and a half year old. He can kick, throw, put or shoot an object into a goal. And he's strong. And very strong willed. 

For example, we took Will to the Big Time Fun Trampoline Center in Arvada. Will and I had been there once before and had an absolute blast, and this time we went as a family. The place is amazing- it's a giant warehouse padded to the gills with foam and duct tape and has huge, floor level trampolines all over the place. 

You can roam everywhere.

It has a foam pit, a giant bounce house/obstacle course, a dodgeball trampoline room, a maze, some video games and lots and lots of noise. 

It is a fantastic place to go to burn some energy. 

There's a place with a playhouse and slide for smaller kids.

Will is always wiped out after spending two hours there.

However, he exhibits a laser-focused single mindedness on the balls. Video evidence:

Playing basketball with a little assistance.

We were finally able to cajole him into the bounce house.

 I was sharply reminded of my own insistence to do activities focused on horses and only horses. I have a vivid memory of my own mom waiting around in dreary weather waiting for me to finish what must have been really tedious horse back riding lessons. And for that I thank her.

I learned another lesson about Will's will. Halloween is coming up and we knew we would be trick-or-treating. Also, we wanted to attend a big Halloween carnival at the Englewood Recreation Center. We have been watching a lot of Go Diego Go and we thought Will would be jazzed to dress up as Diego. As I have few creative outlets these days, I thought I'd get all crafty and make Will's costume for him. I got really excited about making it. The costume is fairly simple. A sling back orange backpack and a vest with a badge and of course, a video watch.

I ran all over looking for a Diego vest. No way was I, The Artiste, going to buy some stupid cheap-looking commercial costume from Party City. I was going to make the real deal! Plus the costumes were $35, and I wasn't going to spend that kind of money.

I couldn't find a white vest. So I tore the sleeves off of a khaki button down shirt in Will's size. I bought fabric markers and white iron on "mending" fabric. 

I studiously copied the Animal Rescuers badge from the show. 

I scoured toy stores for a "Baby Jaguar" (Diego's animal sidekick). The closest thing I could come up with was a stuffed tiger. Will seemed OK with it until he realized that the tiger didn't have any spots. So I drew some on with a fabric marker.

Eventually I caved and found a little Baby Jaguar at a toy store.

I bought some neon orange fabric spray paint and soaked an old backpack that I had. That didn't work out too well.

So I bought a "real" Rescue Pack (it was free, I had some bonus points, thank god).

And then. Will wouldn't put it on. He was excited about Baby Jaguar, but he wouldn't wear the vest or the back pack. So he went to the carnival like this:

I probably spent as much money making the costume as it would have been to buy. But I had fun anyway. The experience itself was worth it. Although I did get annoyed with him for not wearing a vest on which I had spent SO MUCH TIME and EFFORT. But hey, not about me. Big lesson learned.

He was into drawing on a pumpkin. So that's good.

Happy Halloween!

Activate!

You read that right, it's the Spanish language command: Activate! Read: Acteevahtey! It's from Go Diego Go, which we watch A LOT. Diego is a million times cooler than Dora who I guess is written for a younger crowd. Although, Dora did rescue Diego from a stranded ice floe with her helicopter. 

This weekend we took a short trip to Glenwood Canyon west of Denver. It was fantastic! 

It's high alpine country with many golden Aspens shivering in the slightest breeze and towering pine trees. Glenwood Canyon itself is a narrow gorge formed by an agressive Pleistocene era Colorado river cutting through layers and layers of sedimentary rock.

We stayed at the Glenwood Canyon Resort in a tidy cabin that accepted dogs. There was a Ropes Course, zip line across the river and Colorado river access for rafting and fishing along with a bike path that seemed to run the length of I-70.

There was also a playground. Because Will's language is developing so quickly and he is able to pick up and retain new words and ideas, he can repeat his requests over and over again until he is refuted (which means he collapses on the floor in a paroxysm of grief) or he is appeased. So, to the playground we went. 

Often. 

å

He proved himself quite adept at climbing up the child's climbing wall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ9bxKaOux0

We went to the Glenwood Hotsprings. Which was awesome, an enormous series of square pools, naturally heated by thermal vents.

We went to an Octoberfest (featuring fantastic brats and Spatzle and a really good cover band) and hung out near the music and food. 

We brought the dogs, but Tony was a little weirded out by the noise and crowds.

Will fell asleep hard and fast. 

But woke up in time, thirsty and requesting water.

The next morning we walked the dogs.

And had a family bike ride.

We stopped at a rest area to throw sticks for Tony.

And to dabble our toes in the water.

We enjoyed the beautiful views.

  

The last day, Sunday, we had planned to take the tram up to the top of Iron Mountain. But Will had hit his limit. He whined for his "mama" (pacifier) relentlessly until we packed it in and headed back to Denver. Will took a long and needed nap in the car.

Lastly, a few videos from prior expeditions:


Will plays in water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FCFktSRNJ8

Will on the bouncy pillow at the Corn Maze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_IUBCqJ7d4

Will and I at the Butterfly Pavillion in May: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5SKAA08RRE

Imagination Land

This summer has brought new exciting developments (and new challenges!) in the Spero-Nickerson family.

We moved to a new house in Englewood. It has a TON more space and is charmingly run down. We love not having to step over each other to get from one place to another, and our back yard is much more private. In the sweltering and scorching heat, we miss the central AC of the old house. Everyone's a little more sweaty.

I started a new job at a middle school in the Adams 14 School District. I left the treatment facility a few weeks before I got my Colorado teaching license, but it was definitely time to go. I applied for a ton of teaching jobs in arts and in special ed and finally landed a job at a public school as a Learning Specialist (Sped) for Moderate Needs students in Commerce City. I am so glad I stuck with middle school and that I'm teaching reading and math. I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing, but I enjoy it immensely. "My kids" are incredibly sweet and I look forward to work each and every day. After the wayward ladies at Excelsior I am grateful for normal adolescent brains. Or at least brains that are not hell bent on manipulating every single situation to the brain's advantage. I also love LOVE love working for a public school system. Not only do I reap the benefits of a strong union with a great collective bargaining agreement, I feel that I am doing the most radical activist work of my life. There is something profoundly rewarding about teaching these kids to read.

Will has moved up to the older toddler room. We are still in the midst of potty training with as many wet pants as dry, but he's pretty advanced with his gross motor skills so the Powers that Be at the daycare have officially moved him into the "Preschool." Will knows his colors, ABCs and can count to 12 (although he doesn't quite know how to apply the numbers) with good consistency. When Dave or I go to pick him up in the afternoon he is more often than not engaged in some form of daredevilry, flipping over monkey bars or swinging on a car tire. He's fearless. We will start swimming lessons as soon as I sign him up.

Another thing that Will has developed is a pretty cool imagination. He can play with toys now by himself and makes up little story.

Together we play a game with Playdoh. He builds a "cake" out of the Playdoh cans and I make "candles" out of the dough. Then he puts them on top of the tower and we sing the Happy Birthday song. This is the Happy You You Game.

He will also play with his toys and stuffies and make up little stories about them. I don't understand everything he's saying, but he's interacting in a new way with them. His favorite is a little Curious George monkey doll and a Cat in the Hat doll.

  

Things have names. He has a fondness of churches, they are called Big, Big Castles.

  

We can have a conversation with him. He talked about his playdate with Nathan (son of a colleague of mine) for an afternoon.

We can engage him in play, and his play is more involved. In fact it's hard to drag him away from certain things.

On July 4th we drove up to Mount Evans. The highest "Paved Road in America!" We didn't make it very far up to the peak (Will fell and was cold and hungry), but we had a great time driving around and looking at the primordial landscape. 

 And we stopped in Idaho Springs on our way back down to Denver to play in the stream. We stayed here for about two hours.

Will likes to wear his "pack-pack" everywhere.

We stopped at a park in Stapleton one super hot day. Will cooled down by running through the sprinklers, over and over again!

 We're also taking more videos. Will rarely sits still, it's hard to catch a picture of him!

Will and I played in the water at the Museum of Art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MnuLN2LnEA

Will and Dave rode an elephant for the very first time at the Renaissance Faire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBGYONVN5vc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVuTp__ZmU0

And then he played with this new sword while we waited for jousting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQvCHLkynEY

And most recently, Will had a massive meltdown on a hike at Garden of the Gods, a national monument in Colorado Springs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShBm0FIYoXY

Heh. Heh.

Onward Summer!

I finished my license program and am now just waiting for the Colorado Department of Education to go through the paperwork and then I'll have my license. I've also left my job at the treatment facility and am busy applying for jobs at the school districts in the area. Cross fingers that I get lucky and land a sweet job!

Dave is busy at the lab during the week, and he's tired but happy when he comes home. Either he or I pick Will up from daycare at the end of the day. When we get home, we usually have some kind of activity, we play in the back yard and Will organizes his toys,

Or pumps up the tires on his trike,

Or fixes mommy or daddy's bike,

Or waters the lawn,

Or takes Rocky for a walk around the block,

Will is very industrious.

We have had several weekends in a row where we've had a chance to do stuff TOGETHER. As a FAMILY. How novel.  Dave bought me a bike for Mother's Day/Graduation and we've been taking family rides out on the Highline Canal or to Wash Park or Platt Park. We have a little buggy that Will sits in like a Pasha and Dave tows him along. No pictures yet, but I'll get some soon!

Will is a bit of a daredevil.

But he also knows when to kick back and enjoy a box of raisins.

And he is obsessed with things with steering wheels. This was a little four-person bike that you could rent to trundle around the lake at Wash Park. He played on it for hours and was reluctant to leave (a bit of whimpering).

We took one trip to Belleview Park which has a TON of kid friendly activities (I've called it Kid Valhalla before) including a stream running through the whole hilly park. We rode the little choo-choo train, visited the petting zoo we went to the stream to cool off. After we played in the stream, we changed Will out of his wet clothes to get him into dry ones.

He immediately took off running and giggling. 

And kept running until he reached the train tracks where he found one perfect rock and ran back to the stream to plunk it in. 

This activity lasted for at least 45 minutes. 

On our weekend outings we sometimes stop and have breakfast at Panera. This is a Will and Daddy routine from when I was working every weekend. 

We have been to the big Barnes and Nobles downtown. It has an excellent play area.

Some weekend mornings Will and I make breakfast together. He likes to stir the eggs. 

In the evenings he helps me cook stuff like meatloaf. 

Whatever we end up doing, there is always an opportunity to play a little ball,

And time for a little bike ride.