New Skillz

Alex just zippered his own coat.  Just now.

Wow.

Alex Attends a Birthday Party - for the First Time!

Last Sunday at First Day School, Alex had made a friend named Harry.  Harry's dad, Cal, told me that Harry would be turning 3 next week and that he'd be having a big birthday party.  Alex and I were invited.  This was great suff. It would be Alex's first ever birthday party as a guest.

We'd stopped at at a bookstore in Rye yesterday where we purchased the books "If You Give a Dog a Doughnut" and "Dinosaur vs. Bedtime" (and Alex wanted a copy of it too.)  We were all set to go to Harry's birthday party in Chelsea.   We stopped at a Hale & Hearty for some brunch and took a crosstown bus on 23rd Street to get to 8th Avenue.  We arrived at Harry's just after noon.

Alex took to Harry's toys immediately.  Yeah, "Hi Harry. Happy Birthday and all, now show me your toys."   That seemed to be the universal thought to all of the three year olds present.

Alex and Harry at the Train Table

Harry's parents (Cal and Victoria) had a great folk singer there and part of the goodie bag was a CD of his songs.  There were some great kids' songs played and I even got to turn the pages of a book being sung!

Oh, and Alex loved the cake too. 

The Hoffmans live in a brownstone and the interior is very much like the brownstone in which my family lived in Brooklyn.  At one point, Harry played a game with his parents - running in and out of the doors to the hallway to which they both exited.  It reminded me of when I once loved to play the same game of exiting one room into the hallway and entering another.  It made me smile.

The party ended at 2 and I knew I'd have a hard time getting Alex away from the toys.  So, I bribed him out of there by telling him about a park that was built on a railway.  (The High Line).  There was an entrance right on 23rd Street, so we could easily get to it. 

It ends at 30th Street, but all the way on the west side. We stopped at a hot dog stand to get some refreshments. (I'd totally forgotten to eat at the party. Grrrrr.)

This left us to get a crosstown bus on 34th and then walk back to Grand Central.  All the way home, though, Alex talked about what a great time he had at the party - playing with the toys.  Oh well.

He was most interested in Harry's subway trains.  He has the A & E trains, because he lives near Eighth Avenue.  Alex wanted A and E trains, but I told him that he had to wait.  Then he said he just wanted to "see" the trains.  Yeah-ah-ah. Sucker Mommy went into the Transit Museum store in Grand Central to "see" the A and E trains and walked out with two brand new Metro North trains.  We'll work on that bit.

It was still a great deay. Happy Birthday Harry!!

The Nags of Sesame Street

Alex asked me where we would be going today. I told him that today was music class, but not until the afternoon. In the meantime, I had a lot of housework to do. This didn't make him too happy, but after having initially bemoaned the fact, he seemed to accept it.

I sat at the computer, working on some stuff. He sat in his rocking chair near the fireplace, immediately to my right. Rocking back and forth he sang "Nobody gets to play. Nobody gets to play today." to the tune of "Somebody Come and Play" from Sesame Street.

He said he was "Just singing."

Tuesday, October 18th

Friends' Meeting and Meeting Friends

So, Alex woke up this morning and asked "Where are we going today?" He does this a lot lately. It's almost as if he thinks life is supposed to be one big adventure after another. Wonder where he got that idea...

Anyway, I gave the clock a look and I gave it some thought. It was quite early. There was plenty of time to make an 11 AM meeting. I didn't really want to wait another 4 weeks before I went to Meeting again. I asked Alex if he would like to go to First Day School again. He said "YEAH! They have great toys there!" That settled it. I got us dressed and ready and we went out the door.

We arrived at 14th Street by 10:30-ish. Alex preferred to take the L train (because it goes to Brooklyn). We got off at 1st Avenue and had plenty of time for breakfast. We stopped at Subway where I had a magic sandwich. I say it was "magic" because it was only about 370 calories, but it filled me up for a really long time. Must remember that protein/fiber balance again, but that's for another journal.

We arrived at the Meeting House just before 11 AM where Mylitta and several children were waiting outside a locked door (waiting for the guy with the key to open it). Alex was all set though. He told me I could go to Meeting now. He was off to school. Oh, OK.

At Meeting, I had some thoughts about a quote from Harriet Tubman and how she advised slaves risking escape that they could trust Quakers every time. It made me think about the importance of keeping one's word and being known as an honest person at all times. Again, this is stuff for another journal. There's more Alex story to tell here.

After Meeting concluded, I made my way to the Nursery room only to see an amazing sight when I walked in. There was a man reading a story to a table full of youngin's which included MY rapt son. Since when does he enjoy Storytime with anyone else? (He told me later that he was there because it was SNACK n' Story. And the teacher has a lot of mini goldfish.) The man reading the story, upon seeing me, said that it couldn't be noon already. He asked the kids if they wanted to hear one more story. Many said "Yes" including my son!

Well, this was pretty awesome.

After he concluded the story, I said my thank yous and introduced myself to the teachers. Mylitta suggested that Alex thank Cal, who had read the story. We went up to Cal who was then helping a boy pick up some toys he'd dumped. Alex thanked him for reading the story and I mentioned that he must have some magic Story Skillz since Alex NEVER sits for Storytime with any other adults.

This led to brief conversation in which I'd learned that Cal isn't a Friend. He identifies as Jewish, but he sends his son, Harry (the boy he was helping) to this playgroup because he likes the Friends' principles. He then mentioned that the following Saturday was Harry's birthday and that Alex was welcome to come.

Wow! Alex's first peer birthday party. How cool! We exchanged information and I thanked Cal for his generosity. I assured him we'd see him the following weekend.

Alex, of course, was not yet done with the day.

Sunday, October 16th

The Second Part of First Day School

Oh no, Alex was certainly not done for the day.  He knew he was in Manhattan.  This was reason alone to explore.
"Let's go somewhere" he said.  He had a place in mind.  He didn't mention it until later, of course. So we walked around, looking for a library or Barnes & Noble, with me hoping to browse that month's edition of Time Out NY Kids.  I told Alex what I was doing.
"No library!" he announced, "Let's go somewhere...like the Seaport!"

Oh, so that was the plan all along.  I get it.  Oh heck.  Why not? I steered us back towards 14th Street to get on the IRT lines going south. "We have to ride to Fulton Street", Alex informed me.  Why, yes. Yes, we do.
In short order, we were at the Seaport, but we would learn that it was closed for the season. (To reopen for Christmas). The historic ships were closed too. I was disappointed.  For Alex, this meant an excuse to go to the mall, which meant a toy car for him - or so he thought.  Tried as he may, I would not be moved.  No new toy car.  He got a new toy space shuttle instead.  So there.
We stopped at the dining area where there were some coin operated rides.  He wasn't interested in riding any of them, just playing on them.  I thought that, perhaps, he'd rather play in a real playground.  I suggested the Imagination Playground on Burling Slip. Boy! Was he glad to get there!

Even then, Alex still wasn't done with the day.  Neither was I.  It was too late to visit the Police Museum, so I suggested that we take a boat ride.   The East River Ferry was running.  We walked to Pier 11 where I purchased a one way ticket for $4.00.   We waited a while for the ferry to dock and then we boarded.   Shortly after we found seats on the outside, the ferry was off.  It makes several stops in Brooklyn, including one at Fulton Ferry Landing, near which I spotted a new indoor carousel. I made a mental note of the special trip we'll have to take in the future.  For the time being, we enjoyed the boat ride while Alex asked me tons of questions about the bridges and about Brooklyn. 

The ferry docked at 34th Street.  We had to walk from the river to Lexington Avenue in order to eventually get to Grand Central.   When we arrived at 42nd and Lexington, we saw that a street fair was going on.  We decided to stop for dinner at one of the many food booths.  Alex decided that crepes with Nutella and fruit were a good dinner. I couldn't fully disagree.  The area behind 425 Lexington is now gated, so we sat on a mission stoop to eat.

Not surprisingly, he was all ready for bedtime by the time we got home.  

Happy Harvest, Optimus Prime

We attended the Harvest Festival at the Stamford Nature Center today. I wish I could say Alex had a great time, but it may not have been the case. And we met up with Jen, her mom Sheila and her two boys and everything!

Alex wore his Optimus Prime costume. He had already been thrilled about that part. Then, he was intrigued at the Animal Embassy - seeing pythons and alligators and all. (The staff told us that every animal kept there had been LEFT with the Nature Center. An Alligator? Really?? Really.)  He loved seeing the otters.  Everybody loves otters.

However, when it was time to get to the activities and crafts, Alex W. was all over those. My Alex? Not so much. Leaf prints? No! Pick a pumpkin? No! Crank some cider? No! I did that already! He was just a jaded guy. He did love feeding the animals, especially the sheep and "llamas".  They have real llamas there, but Alex calls sheep that are any color other than white, "llamas" because, apparently, "Sheep are white". 

He also enjoyed the hay ride and chasing the turkeys with Alex W. So there was that. He got into the cider and treats stop and the antique farm equipment. Everybody loves cider and treats, right?

Then there was a period of time in which he took some inspiration from "The Secret of Kells". This was a film I'd borrowed from the Mamaroneck Public Library earlier this month which I had loved, but Alex had refused to watch.  I can't say I blamed him, though.  The animation was drawn like Bronze Age era Celtic etchings and illuminations. Pretty scary when they're animated.  But I'd loved the story so much that I told it to Alex in installments.  He was enchanted by the story of Brendan, kept inside the monastery walls by an overprotective uncle and his encouragement by Brother Aidan, a skilled illuminist.  Aidan had taught Brendan how to identify berries used for ink.  After I told Alex about this, he eyeballed every berry as a potential source of ink and taught it to Alex W too.

Alex's favorite part, though, was the visit to Nature's Playground. He'd been asking to go to it since we'd arrived. I'd put it off to last because I knew there was no way we were going to get the boys out of there. Boy! Was I right. Neither boy gave that much of an argument about leaving (my son put up more of a fight though), but it was clear that they weren't happy.
We'd stopped at the souvenir shop, but Alex kept choosing toys that were run-of-the-mill. Daddy promised him a stop at the Stamford Mall, though. He had a reward due for having been so good at picking up his toys. NOW he was happy to leave.
We parted ways with Jen and her family and headed to the Stamford mall. We actually wound up going to Target and there we found...the mask. I mean a real, honest-to-goodness hard plastic for real Optimus Prime mask. This one could be played with repeatedly and not break.
Alex was so thrilled with it that he took it out on the train to admire it. He told us that when he wore it at the costume parade everyone would say "I wish I had a mask like that!" Turns out that's almost exactly what he heard from a young woman on the train. When we were leaving, she told him that he had a really cool mask and that she'd love to have a mask like that.
Alex held his hand out to Dan and said "See? I TOLD you!" (I explained it to the young woman.)

Yes, Alex, you did, indeed, tell us.

Saturday, October 15th

A Serious Student

We did apple pressing today at Mommy & Me Ecology. In the middle of the demonstration Alex said that he needed a piece of paper because "I have to take notes".

He's serious about that cider making. I'll tell you.





We also met Jose, the Chinchilla:

And Squeaks the guinea pig who loved the pear slices we gave him:

And we watched a box turtle eat some lettuce:

When it came time for the cidering demonstration, Alex was eager to show off his skillz learned in the Cidering Workshop.

Like usual, though, he wasn't crazy about Craft Time. That is, he didn't wish to contribute his apple to the class apple tree. 

So, he contributed the leaves that Ms. Kristy had prepared instead.

He was also willing to paste a blank apple onto the tree.  I guess it was something, right?

Friday, October 14

Alexism Recovered

While cleaning up some papers, I found the following quote I'd written down. I'm not sure when it was said. Given the recency of the paper it was on, it was likely said in rainy September.

"I like the rain. It brings me puddles."

Friday, October 14

Sticker Jonez

In addition to having used potty a few days ago, Alex wanted to remind me of how good he was in music class today.

"I was better in music class, today, right? Almost good?"

Well, yes, he was. He was much better than he was last week. Still hated the textbook kids' names, though. I hope he adjusts his attitude towards the homework he was given. Learn the scale alphabet backwards and forwards and learn the correct piano numbering for his fingers. Just an FYI to Rothstein and Melanie; if you want to see some better cooperation, drop the cutesy bug stickers. Just sayin'.

He's a Play-UH!

Regarding Potty: Our arrangement is that he can play with the Space Shuttle as long as he sits on the potty (1 hour max) and for two hours after he does something in the potty.  However, after overhearing my discussion with a friend in which she’d said that her oldest daughter declared that she would potty train at 4 (and did on her fourth birthday and ever since), Alex told me that he would potty train when he was 5.  I didn’t wish to retract the Space Shuttle toy, so that deal stayed in place while I accepted that he would, indeed, potty train at 5. 

Tonight, he pooped in the tub.  It was the first time it had ever happened with me bathing him. I didn’t react very strongly at all. I had him get out, I wiped the tub and drained it, rinsing it down with the shower.  Then I refilled it.

In the meantime, he moved his new blue potty. I asked him where he was taking it.  He said “Nowhere” and proceeded to sit on it.  When the tub was full, I told him that he had to get in it and he told me that he was trying to do pee-pee.  (Oh, slick).  I told him that I’d give him ten more minutes. After ten minutes, I told him that it was enough.   He objected. “No! I’ve done stinkies! Look!” Sure enough, there was a small sliver in the potty. “I need to finish!” he objected.  (Slick again.)  I told him that he could finish and that we’d be getting in the tub soon.

Then he asked if he could play with the Space Shuttle.  Grrrrrrr.  I hate being played like this.  Of course he can play with it. That was the deal.   No bath tonight, I suppose.  Now I have to think of an exit strategy from this new manipulation.

I should be proud that he’s so intelligent, right?

Alex Day Continues in Mamaroneck

We arrived at Mamaroneck Avenue just about 3:20 or so.  I first stopped at CVS to purchase something I needed. But then it was time for Alex to duck into Miller's.  We spent a terrific 40 minutes there before we had to leave.

When it came time to go, though, Alex was having none of it.  Mommy was hungry though! And it was close to 4 PM! It took a lot to get Alex out of the store - without a new toy and everything.

I stopped at the new Middle Eastern restaurant to check out the small offerings that could be quick and easy, but it was a few minutes past 4. I didn't trust that we'd make it.  It turned out to be a good thing too.  The walk was longer than I recalled.  Many months before, we'd done the walk to Miss Marilyn's music class just about the same distance.  That was when Alex was in a carriage. Now, with his little legs?  It would likely take about 15-20 minutes to get there.

We arrived at around 4:20, staking out a spot on the porch bench.  So, it seemed a good place to start reading the new Geronimo Stilton book we'd just borrowed from the Rye library.  Kate arrived just about 4:35 and handed me back my iPod.  Yay! Now, I could hear my music again, but more importantly, I could eat now!

We parted at the corner of New and Mamaroneck and I had hoped to stop at the Mexican restaurant (Three Jalapenos), but it was closed for renovations!  We walked on to Depot Way and took the back way around to check out the Turkish restaurant, but it looked too expensive. I didn't wish to spend much.  We finally went to Super Pan, the Guatemalan restaurant. 

When it was all done, we went back to the bus stop.  Alex was getting very sleepy.  No kidding! We'd been out since 9 AM!

To say that he slept well that night is an understatement.  I fell behind in housework.  I most certainly didn't get to plan my weekly meals that day.  But, it was all worth it.

Alex Day at Milton Point

After leaving the Meeting House  - and Alex having rung its bell - we came across the Milton Point firehouse.   There was a firefighter there, washing the trucks and engines.  Alex and I took a walk around to look at the engines. They had a pump, a tower ladder and even an emergency services vehicle.  The attraction, though, was outside.  They had a naval anchor, dated 1942 from Norfolk, standing outside. Alex loved seeing it and talking about it.  He asked me to read the date on it (I suppose he was recalling that it was there from the anchor in Harbor Island Park) and asked me what sort of ship it had been on.  I said I didn't know that, but that it had been made in Virginia, where Grandpa McCann had first been stationed after getting out of Boot Camp.   Alex started to call it "Grandpa McCann's anchor".

Then, we came upon a deli I'd often seen while traveling to and from Playland. It was called "The Corner Store" and it was a fancy, boutique deli with all sorts of goodies.  Alex had a chocolate cupcake, made up like a spider's web for Halloween. 

The deli was just off the corner of Oakland Beach Avenue, which is where the 76 bus stops.  Amazingly, we had taken just an hour to do our tour of Milton Point.  The very next bus was due at that stop about 10 minutes after we arrived.  It took some convincing to get Alex to agree to go on the bus.  He wanted to go back to Rye City center and thought that we were taking a bus away from that.  We were, but it also turns around.  I had to get Alex to believe it before he'd agree to get on.

In the meantime, we had a "Who's bigger" contest while sitting on a garden curb waiting for the bus. I'm pretty sure I won, even though Alex was sure he did.

I promised Alex that if we got to Rye City center early enough, that we could stop in the store he had hoped we'd stop in: Shoes N' More.  (It has a castle to climb).  Unfortunately, the bus arrived at Theodore Fremd Avenue only 10 minutes before a 61 was due.  We needed to get on that 61 if we'd hoped to meet Kate at 4:30 at the Avalon.  I promised him instead that we would shop on Mamaroneck Avenue.

Despite his not being all that happy about that, this was turning out to be a great Alex Day.

Alex Day in Rye

I knew that I had to be at the Avalon Willow at 4:30 this afternoon. This put a bit of pressure on us. I wasn't sure how I would arrange it. So, I left that up to Alex and I'm sure glad I did. It may just take a few entries to talk about all we did today.
This morning, we had to get to Mommy & Me Ecology at the Rye Nature Center. In order to make sure we get to a 10 AM class on time, we have to take a 9:12 bus from our stop, but that gets us there a half hour early. We spent the time exploring around the nature center and playing on the playground.

In class, we met Hercules, the bearded dragon; a tortoise and a hissing cockroach. Alex knew all of their species' names. Then we spent time in the garden, releasing some butterflies and watering some plants.

Then we did a craft and Alex participated! (As long as it wasn't "too cute". I suggested there is nothing "cute" about a bumblebee.) He marched in the bug parade too! (While we visited the bee hives outside.)

As usual, we left at storytime, stopping to have a snack of yogurt and banana outdoors. But, also as usual, Alex didn't wish to leave just yet. It was only 11, so I figured we'd stay.

Melanie and Gabriel showed up late for class. They asked us to stay, so we did. Despite a two year age difference, Alex played well with Gabe. Then Gabe decided he wished to go on a walk and Melanie took him. Alex and I decided we'd go on our own walk as we left the Center's grounds. We walked down the long driveway, but then walked off the path to the second bridge exit. We even saw deer tracks on the way!

Once on Boston Post Road, we decided to stop at the new pizzeria, Planet Pizza. We had lunch there and continued on, after Alex got his walking sticks back, of course. (He'd left them outside, like a polite little hiker).

From there, we went to the library and visited their new temporary location upstairs. (Hurricane Irene flooded their usual basement location). Alex and I played with some puzzles and borrowed some new DVDs (and a new Geronimo Stilton book). Alex was also patient while I sat in the lobby and had some coffee. He played with a younger boy there, imitating the Franklin episode in which he tries to hold a "school day" for his younger sister Harriet. "What am I doing wrong?" Alex declared when the younger boy tapped on the table after he did. (Except, unlike Harriet, this boy got the beat right.)

Since it was colder that day and I'd forgotten to get Alex his jacket, I remembered that I'd wanted to get Alex some new long sleeve polos. So, after the library, we stopped in Lester's to check out what they had. When we left there, Alex was still anxious to go shopping, so we continued down Purchase Street with the expectation of going shopping. That was when our day took an unexpected - and really fortunate - turn.
It was just after 1 by now. I figured we'd just spend the whole day in Rye and get to the Avalon by 4:30.  It was now Alex Day!

Lost: 1 iPod. Found: A Lot of Fun

This morning, Mommy and Alex went to Mommy's gym.  The showers are being renovated in both locker rooms, so a rather inconvenient switch has to keep happening.  On odd days, the women use their regular room, but on even days, the men use it. This way, no one gender goes without showers for two weeks.  Unfortunately for Mommy, Tuesday and Thursday of this week both fall on even days.   After having found out about it on Tuesday, I didn't bring my gym stuff or bag today.  That's relevant because of where things get placed.  See, normally I would keep my iPod in a zippered pocket.  In my regular messenger bag, it gets dropped in an open side pocket.

So, after the gym, I told Alex that I had to get a new Metro card at the train station.  That brought us to the park behind the station.  Alex wanted to play at the playgrounds.  I told him that we could as long as he understood that we had to walk home.   He found a friend at the first playground, but that boy went home after only 10 minutes.  Alex wanted to go to the next playground and I agreed.

At this playground was a woman with a baby less than 1 year old.  The little girl was on the edge of cruising, but could not stand without being held up by both hands.  Her mom walked her up to the slide and came back down.  Alex watched this and longed for the days we did that together (I think). He asked me to come play with him and told the woman that "I'm playing with my Mom!".  We went down the slide together.  My bag tilted over, due to the water thermos in it. 

After that, I told Alex that we had to go and that we could go to the pet store from there.  We walked up the path and to the bridge where we stopped to look at the pond. 

We went to the pet store, where Alex looked at fish the most. (And not the small mammals!)  Then, we walked to the bus stop and took the bus back home.

We hadn't been home but for a short while when Dan called.  He said "The good news is that you didn't lose your iPod."  That's when he told me that he'd received a call from a woman with a British accent telling him that she'd found the iPod at the playground.  She had seen a woman with a small boy there.  She figured it had to have been hers.  Apparently, when my bag had titled over on the slide, my iPod had come out.

I called the number she'd left with Dan and eventually spoke to her. Her name was Kate and she lived at the Avalon Willow and we made plans to meet at the New Street entrance of the complex at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon.

Well, all's well that end's well, I suppose.  It was still lots of fun.

Foodie in the Making

Alex helped in making dinner tonight. By that I mean that he really did help. He selected his own seasoning and cheese for his chicken cutlet. He helped press the cutlets for preparation. He even followed all of my directions (such as asking him to not take out the newly brewed chicken broth).

He's currently sucking on the half of lemon we didn't use. Says we need to make lemonade. Summer's over but who needs rules anyway?

Imagination Playground

Today, Alex had Sports Skills class at Bruce Chung. Just like last Wednesday, I packed a lunch for us to have together at the playground near the train station. He's doing really well in Sports Skills class, heeding all of his teachers and doing all of the challenges. I figured that he should have some fun too.

Normally, there are other children there to play with. That wasn't the case today. The one boy who was there left early. Alex didn't have anyone to play with. So, I asked him if he'd like to play with me. He readily said "Yeah!"

We climbed up on the equipment, which is designed to look like a circus train. Today, it was a ship.

And the wood chips that are there to break little ones' falls were fish in a big ocean. Captain Alex fished and First Mate Mommy made a surprise meal out of it.   Then Captain Alex put it in the hold.

Captain Alex gave an order to hoist the sails and First Mate Mommy did as ordered. "There's land ho!" Captain Alex cried. First Mate Mommy set a course for it.

We sailed together for a while. I'm really loving these parts of the journey.

(P.S. Then, there's this good part of Wednesdays too. This is the second Wednesday this month that this has happened.)

Wednesday, October 5

I Just Like the Hands-On Parts

Today was Alex's first class at "Music School".  Since he's a big fan of the Fresh Beat Band, I continue to call it that, since it is at the Harrison School of Music.   The name of the class, though, is "Music Mind Games".  It hasn't met either of our expectations.  It exceeded mine. It fell considerably short of Alex's.

The teacher is a Japanese woman who says her name is "Rothstein". (Married name?) She is fantastic with preschoolers. Just fantastic! She's good natured, patient, jolly - just loves teaching music it seems. She gave out materials on the first day, explaining her class procedures. (Homework, parent participation, stickers, etc.)  She allowed some touching of the piano at the beginning of class.

This, apparently, was Alex's expectation.  Just this.  When she and her assistant Melanie broke out with the textbook?  Oh no, no, no. Alex would not have it!   Sure, he cooperated for a brief period of time.  Then, he got really antsy.



He kept announcing that he "hated" the kids' names in the book.  He wanted to call them other names.  He announced that he "hated" the book and he "hated" the class. He didn't want to play with the alphabet (scale letters) cards. He didn't want to play with the "magical" notes which, he said, weren't very magical at all. At one point, one of his classmates, Thalia, asked her mom why he was hating so much.  Her mom said "I don't know. Ask him." I added that Thalia should please ask him, because I sure didn't know.  This was at a point when Alex was trying to climb over the chairs to get to the drum set behind it.

It seems that Alex expected for it to be just like an episode of the Fresh Beat Band, where they already know how to play their instruments and can already give recitals and concerts.  I had to explain that before that can happen, he needed to learn the theory behind it all. 

"I don't like the theory!" he declared. "I just want to play the instruments!"

Oh dear.   

At leat I was able to get him to practice the "I'm Great Pose" when I read ahead in the book while we waited at the bus stop.   I even gained some cooperation by using Iron Man to balance on his head, testing his posture and all.  That made him laugh at least.

On With the Quest!

This morning, Alex woke up quite excited. We would be going to the Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park today.  Having been schooled on times medieval by Blue and Sprinkles in the "Dragon Quest" episode of Blue's Room, he donned his pith helmet and carried his katana.  He was all set.

Having a sword with him would pose a potentially embarrassing challenge at First Day School.  When we arrived there, I quietly took the sword and helmet with me to meeting.  After all, he'd have plenty of toys to play with in the nursery room.   I feared we'd have a hard time getting him out of the nursery room, but not when there was a Medieval Festival to get to!  He wasn't even interested in stopping for cookies and milk at the social hour.  Let's go!

He led us down the stairs of the L train and then bugged us to know where it was.  (Just minutes away).  At 8th Avenue, he wanted to know if we were at the Medieval festival yet.  Well, no. We were still only on 14th Street. We needed to get on the A train now.  By the way, the 8th Avenue train station has some pretty cool art all over the place:

The entire ride from 14th Street to 190th was torture for him.  He gave it until we got to 59th Street before asking "Are we there yet?"  That's a lot of patience for a little guy!

When we got to 190th, there was a huge crowd waiting for the elevator to Margaret Corbin circle, where the entrance of the Festival would be.  We tried to exit and walk around the stone mountain the park is on, but found it too daunting.  We walked back towards the subway to take the elevator.  "The Medieval Festival is this way!" Alex informed us.  He was pointing back towards the subway.  Oh, OK. Sorry there little guy.

We should have stayed for some of the social hour. At least enough to have Mommy eat something.  Mommy was positively ravenous when we arrived.  Near the entrance, we spotted a Roman shield and armor and Mommy asked Alex if he'd be interested in it.  Boy! - was that the wrong question to ask.  He obsessed on the shield like Mommy obsessed on roasted turkey legs.  He barely ate his French fries.  He wasn't interested in the joust. "I want my Roman shield!" he kept saying.  Off we went back towards the entrance to get the shield.

Now we could enjoy the festival.  Alex was all pleased with  his shield. We stopped to watch a bunch of men-at-arms teach kids how to strike with a sword. 

We stopped to watch a musical duo and watched as they taught a dance.

There was a lot of walking around and posing, challenging others with his new shield and sword (that we found at another booth.)  At one point, he stopped near some other kids to play sword fight with them. 

But then, he spotted "The Castle" a/k/a The Cloisters museum.  We began our long hike up to the museum entrance.  Near the entrance, we saw a vendor with child sized breast plates and helmets.  Alex's outfit could be complete!

The Cloisters asked that we check the weapons and shield. Alex was surprisingly agreeable to it. (I expected to have to get off the line.)  Once inside, he was thrilled to march around in his armor.

Eventually, though, he started to get restless. "This place is a little boring", he said.  I thought it would be a good idea to get a snack which turned out to be the right idea.  Then, he really surprised me.  We went to a cloistered herb garden where he wanted to stay.  He named all of the plants he could name and eagerly asked the names of plants he didn't know.  He loved sniffing the herbs, such as lemon balm. He could identify lavender and rosemary by recognizing their scents from our own garden.

It was getting cold and Daddy had to step inside.  That didn't matter to Alex who was just fine in the garden.  I couldn't get him to leave!

Eventually, he agreed to leave and after a quick stop near the sarcophagi (which Alex didn't like in the least, thankyouverymuch), we started on the long walk back to the subway.  This time, we took the train to 125th Street and walked towards the Metro North stop there.  Alex insisted that we do something else.  We kept on saying "No" until Daddy realized he was pretty hungry.   Alex was thrilled to stop at a McDonald's for dinner.

After that, it was Alex's turn to get cold.  "Let's get to the train!" he insisted.  Hmmmm, maybe all I have to do is not bundle him up well.  I've never seen him so anxious to get home from Manhattan. Or, at least, get to somewhere inside.

Once back home, I had to promise him that he could wear his new armor over his pajamas and watch the "Dragon Quest" episode of "Blue's Room".  This time, he was even more prepared for Blue's challenges.  He was engaging entirely with Blue, even to the point of riding his dragon "horse" to join Blue and her brother on the quest for King Joe's dragons. 

We figured that now was not the time to explain the 600 year difference between Blue's period acting and the time of the Romans.  Alex explained that Blue was a Roman and her [his] brother Sprinkles was a medieval knight. 

He didn't put up too much of an argument when it was time to go to bed. To say he went to sleep quickly is an understatement.

Good night, sweet Knight.  Or is it Centurion? Maybe both.