Just Resting

Today Chance found a sunny spot and curled up on the floor so I covered him with a blanket. Soon after Deedle came over to share the sun. It didn't last too long but it was super cute when it did.

Scott and Chance sending Mommy a message

Halloween Pumpkin.

See how much Chance is doing to help.
We have been pretty busy since we got back from Florida Wednesday night. Thursday was a whirlwind of groceries and playdates and mail sorting (there was a lot of it) and I can't even remember what else. Today started off the same with a radio shack and grocery store visit before our Halloween playdate at 10:30a. While Chance and I were at the park for our playdate Scott traveled around town (literally) to find a pumpkin. Since we were out of town we didn't get to carve one early and that meant we had to actually search for a place who still had some in stock. Luckily we did and so after a very short nap and a little piano shopping (we are looking at getting one for Christmas) we came back to the house to start carving.
Chance is really helpful with most things but pumpkin carving is not one of them, he hates to get his hands dirty and can't be trusted with a knife so he doesn't get to help much. But he loves pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns so it's a good time all round. I scraped out the inside and Scott designed and carved. He's a happy little pumpkin.

Pictures

These are a couple pictures I have taken in the last week

Chance usually sleeps about two hours for his midday nap but if he makes it to the two hour mark and still isn't awake I go in to gently wake him so he will go to sleep at night without trouble. Usually he is already starting to wake up when I go in to get him but one day last week he was still fast asleep. So much so that he had turned all around in his bed. He was so cute I had to take a picture before I woke him.

The other day we went to a birthday party here in Fort Meyrs with a local meetup group. Chance had a great time having kids his age to play with after fun and cake and all the birthday party events we were given some party favors to take home. This is Chacne in the back seat of the car on the way back to the house, he is reading the little book in his favor box and wearing the sunglasses from the favor box too. I guess that is the sign that these are two great party favors.

6 mile cypress

Chance looking for alligators (we didn't see any)
Yesterday we were looking for something fun to do that was a little different from just a playground so we headed out to six-mile cypress slough presserve. We followed the boardwalk back through the swamp looking for animals and listening to all the nature sounds around us. There are great learning opportunities throughout the whole presserve and Chance is entering the age where he is actually interested in what the signs say. He asked lots of questions and listened very well, staying quiet so we didn't scare away the animals.


Chance asking what the white spots on the trees are (their lichens)

We saw wild hogs, birds, turtles and fish. We sat and listened to the birds call and the bugs make their chirping noises that fill the air in the swamp. We had a great time.

wild hogs

Splash Pad

Chance trying not to get wet, enhanced by Scott.
Last Friday we met a friend of mine from High School at a local splash pad to let the kids play together. Though her son is only 2 years old they had a great time playing, there were quit a few little boys Chance's age there too. At first he was trying to stay dry but after he finally did get wet he ran through actually trying to get hit with the jets of water.

Chance playing with some new friends, totally ok with being soaked.

just chillin'

This morning I found Chance chillin' in the chair reading the little booklet that came inside a Bambi DVD.

Fast Friends

We have been going to Chick-Fil-A a bit while we are here because they have a great indoor play area and it is pretty close to the house. The other day when we were there Chance made a friend. I think her name was Jessica though this came from here and was a little difficult to understand. They were playing then would run out of the little play area each grab a waffle fry eat it fast and go back to playing.
After a little while of playing together Chance brought his new friend out to officially meet me.
Chance - "This is Rayna" pointing to me
Jessica - "Raya?"
Me - "What?!?!"
Chance - "No, Rayna" again pointing to me and looking at Jessica"
Me - " Oh yeah, yeah I'm Rayna" a bit taken aback

Then Chance walks over to the table and we have another fun exchange:
Chance - "Mommy can I have a french fry?"
Me - "yes"
Jessica - to me "Mommy can I have a french fry?"
Chance - "No, that's not your Mommy, that's my Mommy, you're Mommy is over there" he points to the table where her Mommy is sitting then points back to me "That's Rayna"
Me - "yes, honey you can have a fry."

I was thrown off when he introduced me as Rayna to the little girl but am also thrown by the fact that he has such a good perspective and grasp on everyone's place. I am still in awe. I know most little kids have trouble understanding for instance that a woman is his Grandma but also Mommy's Mommy but Chance seems to be understanding it unfazed. We've talked about Nana being Daddy's Mommy and he's totally cool with that, He says "but she's my Nana?" and we assure him that yes she is his Nana then he will say "Nana's your Mommy, Daddy" and we tell him he's right and off he goes happy as can be. We've been finding lots of pictures of my Dad and Grandpa and as he asks who they are we tell him at first he asked where they were and we told him they died a long time ago. He very calmly says "like Grandma?" and we tell him yes. He has been absorbing this whole experience in a very calm, understanding way, I mean of course he doesn't get the BIG picture but at the same time he isn't letting it go lightly, he wants to know what's going on and when we tell him he thinks about it, processes it and moves on, it has caught me off guard how un 3 year old like he is taking it all in but I am so proud that he is honestly interested in knowing what's going on and thinking about it. He's learning so much every day.

These two pictures are Chacne and Jexxica at Chick-Fil-A

Happy Birthday Scott!!

Chance dancing.
Yesterday was Scott's birthday but we have been celebrating all weekend. Scott came back from his last work trip on Friday and he started work here (at his old station) on Monday so we took advantage of all the free time we had. On Saturday we used some of those wonderful Hilton points to get a hotel here in town. We left Chance with my Mom and had a couples night out. Sometimes it's good to just get away, oh yeah and the ability to sleep in till checkout time was oh so nice.

Chance eating cake batter
Since we weren't sure exactly what Scott's hours would be on Monday (his actual birthday) we baked his cake on Sunday. After dinner we had some tasty cake with 35 candles and all. I would have gotten a picture of the cake but I was carrying it to the table while we all sang Happy Birthday. Chance was a little wired after eating some cake batter and a piece of cake but he only gets this much sugar on special occations so no worries.

Scott had to work basically 9 - 5 on his birthday but this job wasn't like all his others. This time he is working in his old station, the one he used to work at when we lived here. It's the first time he has really been back since he left and although a little weird he got lots of birthday wishes throughout the day from his old co-workers. After work we opened presents and went out to dinner. I realized at the end of the day that I didn't get any pictures of Scott on his birthday, we were all having a great time all three days of celebrating that I didn't take much time to snap pictures, so I grabbed this one just before he went out the door at the end of the day. I know this birthday wasn't done in the traditional way of one big party but we worked everything in when we could and had a good time doing it. I love you Scott, I hope you enjoyed your big day.