COSI and Swimming

Today was Gran's day off so Rowan and I went to COSI up in Columbus. It's a kid's science museum with lots of hands-on stuff. There was a traffic jam on the way there that upset me but Rowan didn't seem to mind. I told him to wave at all the truck drivers so that kept him busy.
Then after lunch time nap we went for a swim at the Y, that was fun too.

Who's this strange fellow?

'twas time for a haircut. I got sick and tired of hair in my eyes all the time.

And then Rowan finally worked out what a belly button is for...

It's where you plug the network cable in.

A Little bit of everything day it was today.
First look what Amazon is shipping now...

Gran's been working very hard to make our front garden pretty, and here are some of her flowers...

And then just before a big storm rolled in, it was time for a little soccer practice. Look at the concentration on that face...

Gran steps up

It's been three weeks now that Gran has been taking care of Rowan during the day and things have really settled down into a good rhythm. Not a quiet easy rhythm, more like a fast jungle beat, with bursts of raucous melody, but a happy music anyway.
Today I didn't come home for lunch like I normally do and they didn't miss a beat. Gran reported that everything was fine. Rowan played nicely and interestingly with his trains, putting them together in new ways and not getting upset when they fell off the tracks (as he sometimes has been known to do as evidenced by the dents in the walls).
So all in all the household is running very smoothly and I tell Gran that if she keeps this up we'll never let her go back.

Relaxed and Happy Tuesday

Today was back to work for me, and it seemed like Rowan had a nice day too. He had a good chat with his mom on the phone and ate a picture of her. In the evening we went to the library where I had to pay a fine for a book we found that was very very late. The fine was almost more than the book was worth. Huh!
Anyway Rowan was fun in the library. When him and I were in the kids section he realized Gran was not with us and called out "Where you?" "Where You?" at the top of his voice until a guilty looking Gran came running.
Then later when I was checking out the books and he was with Gran he was going down the library calling out for me down each aisle.
Then when we got home he went and lay down peacefully in the lounge and I got these shots of him just chilling...

Today was an interesting day. It all started out well, with Rowan waking up peacefully and signs looked good for a nice day. I had lots of trees to plant so we headed outside at about 10:00. That's when things started to go downhill. Rowan decided today he was only doing exactly what HE wanted and anyone who disagreed with him got to hear about it in a very loud and whiny voice.

So after putting up with a lot of fussing eventually it was too much and we went back inside. I thought maybe a good long afternoon nap would help but when he woke up crying it is never a good sign. Even our trip to Kroger was strained. Normally if he sees something in an aisle as we pass he wants to go look at it, and I don't mind 'cos normally we just look at it for a while then put it back and move on. But today he started whining to turn around and all I could see in the other aisle was a little girl. I don't know if he thought he recognized her or what but he really wanted me to turn around a follow her. Strange.

Jelly, Please

Today was supposed to not be as hot as it was yesterday, so we headed off to Cox Arboretum, and they were wrong. By 11:00 it was sticky and hot and sunny. That didn't stop Rowan tho'. He loves the labyrinth at Cox so much he was panting and the sweat was dripping off his head he was running around it so much.
We also saw interesting fish nests in the pond there. Rowan was looking at the fish excitedly when we realized each fish was in a depression in the pond. It looked like the pebbles had been pushed up to form a ring around each fish.
Anyway we were all very hot by this time so we headed back home.
Then nothing refreshes quite as well as Gran's Jelly. More Please!

So you might ask how this mucky puppy came to be ...

Well it all started with this ...

Which lead to this ...

Which lead to the first picture.

Friday Afternoon

Today I got home a little early so we hopped in the car and went for a walk down by the river. We went to a spot we had never been to before and found this nice spot by the water. Rowan soon discovered the joy that has fasinated males for ages. Ever since the first caveman tossed a stick into a river, men have been fasinated with throwing thing into large bodies of water.

Then later back at home Rowan took the hose to the sand box and had lots of fun with the water and buckets and sand.

And then spraying Gran was a bonus too...

This morning was another great day outside, and Gran and Rowan found themselves outside again. Playing with the hose. This time Gran had turned on the water just enough that when you pulled the trigger on the hose it squirted a short spurt of water then you had to release the trigger and let the pressure build up before shooting off another squirt of water. Rowan got the hang of this rather quickly and then discovered if he tried to point it at Gran she squealed and jumped away. What Fun! So then the game became to try put toddler strength and co-ordination against grown-up reaction time and dexterity. Apparently youth is sometimes a benefit 'cos Gran got a bit wet after this experiment.

Every day now is a busy day for Gran. Gone are the days when she could get up peacefully and concentrate on one task at a time. Now it's all Go-Go-Go all the time. So to give her a break, Nick brought his boat around after work and we went for a trip out on Caesar's Creek Lake. It was really beautiful. This time of year things really are beautiful down by the river and at around 6:30 or 7:00 the light is coming in at an angle and the colours get all rich and vibrant and it's just gorgeous. Today the lake was smooth as glass and there was hardly anyone else on the water. We had a really nice time. I didn't take any pictures but pictures can never really capture the whole feeling and sight of everything, so even if I did take some they probably would be a disappointment.
So here instead are some from the paparazzi hounding the famous reclusive artist...

Water Day

Today was water day. Sorry there's no photos but that's because every time Gran turned around there was more water to clean up.
Rowan loves playing with water, pouring it from one glass to another and back again. I'm sure it's all very good for 3D volume understanding but right now he still doesn't get that the big glass will hold a whole lot more water than the tiny one you're pouring it into. Also he has an amazing ability to be a perfectly careful not-a-drop-spilt pourer while you're watching and then when you turn around, Fwoomph! water everywhere.
Even his drink bottle with the non-spill lid was able to leak water all down his shirt today.
So given the aquatic nature of the day I suggested Gran take him outside and let him run through the sprinkler. But he was not having any of that. As soon as he got outside he thought Gran was just weird putting the sprinkler right in the middle of the grass where he was about to play. Anyway with all this water I'm sure he'll grow another inch tonight.

Tree-hugger Jones

Rowan is turning out to be quite a tree-hugger. Actually it's not a recent thing. We have pictures of him last year at the Yellow-Springs Spring Fair where he is going from tree to tree at the park there and patting each tree. That was almost a year ago now, and yesterday at Pioneer Village he was hugging the big old trees there and climbing on the cut down stumps.
Yesterday afternoon I planted 6 new trees in our yard and today Rowan went out there to water them...

He did a really good job, he gave lots of water to each tree and was very patient as we watched the ground soak up the water. Of course we also watered the weeds and the flying bugs and anything else in the area. And then afterwards he went back to the hose reel and got me to help him roll up the hose...

Pioneer Village

Rowan is able to have fun where ever we take him. Even if he is completely bored with the subject there's always something to amuse him. Today we went to Pioneer Village for their Spring fair. It was an interesting sight to see all the people dressed up and living like pioneers, but all Rowan could see were puddles and trees and things to climb on.
We had some fun playing around the trees and then on the way out I could not be a mean ol' dad any longer and let him jump in all the puddles he wanted and whack them with a stick so the mud flew up and covered his shirt and big smiling face. All the 'pioneers' were very pleased to see a boy having fun at what boys do best ... get all muddy.

Rowan and the cat

Rowan really looks out for Mia (the cat). Today when we got home Mia ran into the garage. The outside garage door was closed so she couldn't get out and I didn't mind her going to lie on the nice warm car, but Rowan was quite concerned. He kept going back and opening the door and calling us to come get Mia.
Then later in the day while I was collapsed on the couch and Rowan was climbing all over me looking for a comfy spot, Mia also decided to come climb on me too. Rowan was quite pleased with this and crawled down from my head and patted Mia. But that wasn't enough. Why wasn't I patting Mia too? So he took my hand and pulled it over to Mia so that I could pat her. If I stopped then he grabbed my hand and made me continue.

Tickle Time at Lunch

Today the rain stopped and sky was blue, so Gran and Rowan were outside a lot again. I think both of them are looking forward to a weekend where they can get out of the house and go see some other fun places.
But they still have fun here, Rowan's always finding new things to do and new ways to put things together, like rocks and baby tomato plants and so on.
Here are some pictures of the big tickle match at lunch time just to get him all wound up...

And then kaput, tired out and ready for nap...

Today when I came home for lunch I found a very happy super-hero riding around in a silk cape!
He came zooming past me giggling all the way.
Even though it was a rainy day outside again Gran and Rowan were having lots of fun indoors. They had played with all sorts of things all around the house and done some baking of course - sugar-cinnamon cookies this time.
Today I took some of Rowan's buns to work and Nick at the office said that Rowan should bake bigger batches of cookies and smaller batches of rolls.
Anyway today was lots of fun for Rowan. He was go-go-go all the time. In the evening we all hopped in the car and went off to the Chinese Buffet. Nmmm-Num!
Now Gran is quite tired but she looks like she had fun too.

Here is Rowan waiting for me to come home for lunch...