Road Trip!

This past weekend Daniel and I took a road trip to Pennsylvania and visited my college room mate from more years ago than I like to mention. You might remember her from one of our baby showers, but we had not had the opportunity to visit together since.

Since she lives so close to Herhsey Park and was able to score free tickets for everyone, including her 3 children and a free parking pass we made a day of it on Saturday!

Daniel had such a wonderful time. We had never taken him anywhere like this before so I wasn’t 100% sure how he would do on the rides.

The verdict: 50/50

He seemed to enjoy the rides that went in circles, but the up down rides he didn’t care for - in particular the pirate ship and the Frog Hopper – which he actually started crying on and they had to stop the ride. However in his defense, on the Frog Hopper, the kids were screaming and Daniel plays into that and he got very upset once the screaming began. I’ve noticed that behavior before with him. If there had been no screaming, I think he would have been fine!

He loved the Chocolate World ride and he must have told me a hundred times that he wanted to swim in the vats of chocolate! Can you blame him?!?!

Once the kids settled into bed, Sarah and I did what we used to do in college at night – we played cards!!! Rummy in particular! She beat me – but only by 5 points in the first game!!

We had a great visit and were sad to leave, but we’ll be heading back up there again soon we hope!

So without further ado…

New Fears

Daniel has been fearless as long as I can remember, but as of late he seems to be recognizing that he is not indestructible and some new fears have been coming to the surface.

First off, suddenly he is terrified of the bath tub filling up too high. It can be an inch deep now and he suddenly stands up and cries for me to turn the water off. This is the same boy who LOVES to be tossed into a pool at rates of speed and turning radiuses that make my head spin. I've explained that the water can only go so high (if we let it, which we don't) before it would spill out anyway and that he is bigger than the tub, but he's not having any of it. If I distract him enough, and sit right at the edge, he'll let me fill it so there is at least more than an inch of water. However, last night I gave up and re-introduced him to the fun of showering. He seemed much happier…this from a child who HATED a shower just a month ago.

Second, we went to the park this past Monday and I was pushing him on a swing. I gave him the usual treatment, meaning I pushed him higher and higher and all the sudden it was mayhem. "I did not ask you to push me that high." "Stop pushing me Momma." "Too high." Those were some of the high pitched sentences I could understand coming out of his mouth. He did want to stay on the swing, but only be pushed to a moderate-slow level.

Third, I took Daniel to a Karate lesson. It was a private lesson I won through a competition at our local mall. I thought it would be a neat thing to try and since it was a one-on-one lesson, I just knew we couldn't go wrong. We walked in and some black belts were practicing and making all the appropriate karate noises. Daniel was fascinated, but he clung to me like glue and hid behind me while I filled out the paperwork. This from the child who wrestles non-stop with his daddy. We went to a private room with a male instructor who was great. He was loud, authoritative, knew his stuff and he was fun. I liked him right away. Daniel, on the other hand, was shy, kept looking at me, couldn't focus on the instructor long enough because he had to check to make sure I hadn't disappeared on him (as in every 5-10 seconds) and just stood there like we were all crazy. Needless to say, we'll be foregoing karate this year and may try to reintroduce it next year, if he's interested.

It's an interesting mix of new fears and I'm guessing it's just a stage which will pass!

A Giveaway - But Hurry!

On My Other Blog I'm giving away a $5.00 CVS gift card to one lucky reader! Hop on over and leave me a comment and you just might win! But hurry - the Giveaway ends tomorrow night and I'll be announcing the winner on Friday on the blog! Good luck!