Chocolate covered pretzels. Wow! Messy!
A simply (non)easy day
Some days are easier for Elliot than others. The same holds true for me. I was the one having difficulties today. I suffer from the grandiose idea I can be perfect everyday. I had some chores to do. I wanted to exercise for 30 minutes. I wanted to get Elliot on the train and into the city to run some errands and possibly go to the Central Park Zoo. Yikes! We didn’t even leave the house. I am fortunate enough Elliot doesn’t have crazy wild, scream at the top of his lungs tantrums. Instead, he gets physical when he’s angry. My arms and thighs and lower back are constantly pinched and punched. It’s super annoying. All the parenting books suggest not over-reacting and consistently telling the child it hurts and it’s not nice to react in such a manner. It doesn’t work. Elliot is having trouble controlling these emotions of being upset, offended and pisses off. I don’t blame him; it’s tough! I’m struggling during this phase. At least, I hope it’s a phase. We ended up playing in the backyard. We worked some puzzles, read some books, colored, watched videos about garbage trucks & sang songs. He ate well today. There’s that to be excited about. I have to remember this is all par for the course of a day in the life of a toddler. Before I know it, he’ll be much older & I’ll be wondering where the time has gone.
Elliot loves the Wheels on the Bus book we checked out from the library. I can’t wait to check out more of her books, especially Here we go ‘round the Mulberry Bush. It’s fun to sing new verses with him.
I asked Jason to buy some of those plastic hooks that require sticky tape to hang my oven mitts on one of the kitchen cabinet doors. Elliot had to help & pulled out ALL of his plastic tools. His hammer did the trick!
How lucky are Elliot and Charlie to hang out together all day Saturday AND Sunday?! Jackie & Brian threw a Memorial Day barbeque celebration that was supposed to be held in Prospect Park. Due to the possibility of rain, the festivities were re-routed to their backyard. These boys love each other so much!
First beach day of the year! The NYC city beaches opened for the season on Saturday. Of course we had to go! Coney Island is just so easy to get to for us. We have a spot where we always seem to meet all our friends (to the left of the pier if you’re looking at the water by the red parachute drop). I feel like we’re watching an episode of Dora the Explorer when I explain what we did: we took O-cean Parkway to Co-ney Island. Elliot and Charlie had a blast. The water was freezing cold. I had not intentions of getting in the water and Elliot felt the same way. Charlie, on the other hand, was gung-ho about the water! It was hot and muggy; a perfect beach day. Brian made sand castles with the boys while the moms got to relax. Rain was forecast, but held off until later that evening. It cooled down and the boys were wiped out from a fun day of playing in the sand. I’m eager for many more beach days! Plus, Coney Island provides plenty of amusement for the eyes. It’s amazing what some people wear and bring to the beach.
Busy Memorial Day Weekend
I’ll post photos after this weekend, but we are having fun! We spent yesterday at Coney Island, today at a BBQ and tomorrow we’re headed to a beer garden in Queens.
Before heading to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum this afternoon, we went to the library to get 2 more books. I have to say, I’m getting extremely lucky with my choices! He loves all the books I’m finding. Today it was a Curious George learns the alphabet book and a Wheels on the Bus book the jungle animal version. We walked past the museum and stayed for a few hours to play. Elliot made a new friend with a boy who turned 4 today while we ate snacks in the cafe. He’s so easy going and friendly. The other day he approached a woman with wide open arms in the park to give her a hug! She was welcoming and laughed about it. I don’t want to teach him yet to be scared of people (he’s only 2) and I don’t want to teach him all strangers are dangerous. He may need them if he ever gets lost. It’s something we need to watch out for in the future, but this kid loves people. And, he loves to play in water, sand and to drive the bus.
