Well, it's been a whirlwind of activity over the weekend with 4th of July festivities and a visit from Jason's brother and his family. Sam enjoyed frequent visits to Grammy and Papa's and playing baseball, cars and other games with his cousins. He also got to go to the Mall of America with his extended family while Jason, Matthew and I stayed home. We heard about it later in bits and pieces and have continued to hear about it. For example, today Sam said, "I rode with Papa on the escalator. Josh rode by himself." Yes, Sam. Apparently that's what happened and apparently Sam covered his eyes the during the escalator ride. Now he has been on escalators before, but on a much smaller scale, so perhaps the huge escalators at the MOA were too much for the little guy. He also talked about the riding in the trucks at the MOA, but he didn't ride in the trucks, Sam talked about how his cousins did. He relayed a lot of information about what happened, that he watched, but did not participate in.
Other activities over the weekend were similar. For example, the annual 4th of July water balloon fight was followed up by running through the sprinklers (or sitting on the sprinklers as some of the cousins did...). Sam was having nothing to do with that as anything to do with moving water (shower, sprinklers, fountains, etc.) is not his thing. He warmed up a little bit toward the end and ran within maybe 5 feet of where the sprinklers were spreading water, but that was about it. He did, however, participate in the water balloon fight, although he preferred to grab two water balloons at a time and throw them on the ground a few feet from him, much to the chagrin of Jason who has spent considerable time filling the balloons. Maybe next year he'll better understand the concept of "water balloon fight" but for now, he enjoyed just throwing them and seeing them break.
Not surprisingly, Matthew enjoyed the sprinklers. Jason would hold him and swoop him down into the water and he would laugh and squeal. He clearly has a different approach toward water than Sam. And clearly that's not their only difference, as we've learned over the past year.
We didn't make it to any festivals, carnivals or fireworks. It's been a few years since we've done that and will probably be a few more years before we go that route. Since Sam doesn't like loud noises, fireworks probably would not be his thing and since Jason and I don't like tired, crabby toddlers, keeping the kids up late for 4th of July festivities is not our thing either. Someday.
We seem to say that a lot. Someday we'll go to 4th of July fireworks. Someday we'll go on a family roadtrip. Someday Jason and I will take a tropical vacation, rather than Clear Lake IA. Someday Sam will really help with laundry and not just think he's helping...It's funny because as much as I want to move past some elements of the little kid years to bigger kid years, I really do enjoy these times. The language development of the kids and just watching them master basic skills like walking and riding a tricycle are such rewarding and joyful experiences. It sounds corny, but it really is true. Someday I won't get a tickle out of watching Matthew walk around, waving his arms and attempting to balance himself because he'll have it down pat. Someday I won't smile seeing Sam ride a trike because he won't ride one when he gets older. Someday I won't marvel at Sam's conversational skills because it will just be normal, not a novel development. It's all a matter of perspective and some days, I just need to remember that.
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