Excitement at The Fireman's Parade

On June 30, we got to see the Mamaroneck Firemen's Parade. Alex loved it! I wasn't too sure how he'd react, but once he saw the first group - an impressive show of motorcycle police from all over the area - he was hooked! Firefighters and tower engines! Ambulances and tow trucks. Police cars and emergency aid vehicles. All the things he loves!

He was thrilled with the marching bands, particularly those that included pipers. The NYC representations showed some of the best bands, but his all time favorite was the pipe and drum corps of the New York State Court Officers. They were the last to march and Alex was thrilled to march alongside them down Mamaroneck Avenue to Boston Post Road.

I expected a short parade. It lasted more than 2 hours, showing representation of important civil servants from the whole Metro area, including even fire departments from New Jersey.

What a great day! (Topped off by pizza on Mamaroneck Avenue)

Wednesday, June 30

A Month of Magic and Milestones

I've written a lot about our magical adventures in the month of June. We had a Sesame adventure and visits to Playland. There were the early beach visits and a dino dig. There were prizes and yummy treats like ice cream and fudge. Fairs and tall ships. Train rides and school days.

But there were lots of milestones this month. Mostly, Alex has been seeing many a potty triumph. In just this one week he's

- Asked to wear underwear, which we bought on a trip to the mall on Monday (after a puppet show)
- Asked to use the potty.
- Changed his own underwear after sitting on the potty (backwards, but still on)
- Said he wants to say 'Buh-bye to daytime diapers' because 'they're for babies'
- Alerted us to accidents in his underwear
- Helped clean up after accidents
- Remembered and kept the steps to washing up afterwards.

He's grown in civility, saying 'Thank you', 'Please' and even 'Excuse Me' to interrupt a conversation. He's grown in memory relation, being now able to tell us parts of his day. He's grown in social skills, now being thrilled to make new friends, young and old. At meals, he requests a fork and a napkin to wipe his face and hands. He sometimes asks to try new foods. He understands the concept of days to come and days that have passed.

And he's quite the conversationalist these days, full of opinions and observations.

What an adventure being 3 is becoming!

Wednesday, June 30

It's a Mystery!

After school today, Alex and I made a day of it on Mamaroneck Avenue. He needs a bicycle helmet. I needed new sneakers. There were some other stores we could check out, plus the library. It seemed like it could be fun. Today's highlight, however, was our visit to Dino Dig USA. This is a children's party venue that allows walk-ins to go on a dinosaur digging adventure. They have a large desert diarama, set up with dinosaurs and bright lights and even balloons to set the atmosphere. Then, you get to dig into the sand to seek prizes.

Alex wasn't sure of what we were doing at first. After I showed him how to uncover the first two prizes, he started to get excited. He still needed some help getting the search started, but each time I hit something hard in the sand, I'd say something like 'Uh-oh! Something hard! I think I might need help!'

He started to get the squeals and giggles as time went on, thrilled each time I said 'I need help over here!'

During our search, Alex was asking 'Where are the prizes? Where do we dig? It's a mystery around here!'

He wound up with 14 prizes, plus a pith helmet that we got to decorate. What a fun way to spend some time on an afternoon.

I love mysteries after all.

Friday, June 25

A Glimpse into School

Alex started his first day of Day Camp today. It marks the first time that he has spent more than an hour away from both Dan and I. The camp will last six weeks and he'll be attending 3 days a week for 3 hour sessions each.

I can't really journal about it because all I know is what Alex would tell me happened there - which isn't much. I tried to get the stories, but it just wasn't coherent enough to follow. We went to the beach after school and then to dinner when we'd left the beach a bit early. Still couldn't get much out of him.

So, as we were leaving Mamaroneck Ave, I ducked into CVS to pick up a few things I needed. I spotted a small doll house in the toy section; a tiny 7 dollar plastic house and set. I picked it up and showed it to Alex because I know he loves to play with the houses in the library. Then I noticed that one of them was really a schoolhouse. Ooooh, an opportunity. I have an idea...

We got home and I opened it immediately for Alex. I told him what the pieces were and showed him that the figures were a teacher and a little girl. I asked him who the teacher figure was. He said 'Ms. Winter'. Success! That's the name of his new teacher! I asked who the little girl was and he said declaratively 'Miley'. Maybe some more success?

So, I sat at the computer, reading my news and listened to him play school. I was able to pick up the following from his play.

There was storytime, read by Ms. Winter.
He was apparently helping other students throw out their leftover scraps from art time and some teacher told him that he did a 'good job, Alex!'
They sang Ring Around the Rosie, with the change "We all sit down!"
He held Ms. Winter's hand for Ring Around the Rosie.

There was snacktime. ("OK, everyone sit down! It's snack time!")
Miley was playing firefighter with him.
He stopped playing firefighter to play trains. Miley joined.
He sat next to Miley at the table.
There was playground time. ("OK, everyone. This way to the playground!")

Eventually when I had enough info to ask questions, I also learned directly that he did Art, rode the car, wanted to ride the tricycles (he told me that he had to have a helmet so that he could), and played with the water table.

Yeah, role play! You come in handy when info is needed!

Thursday, June 24

The Alex Show

Today, I worked all day trying to get all of Alex's belongings back into his room as well as organizing his closet and toys into new items. This gave Alex an opportunity to see and play with things he hadn't seen in a while.

He asked if he could wear his tie; a velcro closure 'fake' necktie that he wore for Christmas. It's red, gold and black striped. I put it on him and asked him if he was Daddy now. At first he said that he was President Obama. Then he changed his mind 'I'm Jon!' he declared. 'I'm Jon Stewart!'

I asked him 'So you're going to make jokes about news coverage?' He said 'Yup!'. I asked him what jokes he's going to make. He repeated a joke from The Daily Show in which Jon mocked news commentator exaggerating of comparing the BP oil spill to Hurricane Katrina. He'd sung it to the tune of 'Maria' from West Side Story.

Alex sang to answer my question, 'Katrina! I just met Obama's Katrina...'

Move over Jon, we've got a replacement in the wings for your early retirement.

Monday, June 21

Happy Father's Day Dan!

Yesterday was a wonderful day. Though it was pretty hot, we made the best of a day outside. Last week, Alex had asked me if we could have another picnic soon. When I gave Alex the choice of a picnic for Father's Day, he was excited. Between the beach and Florence Park, Dan chose the park because he wanted to play kickety-kick ball with Alex.

We packed up Alex's ladybug kick ball, a beach blanket, paper plates and utensils. Then we bought a deli lunch at Food City. Off to Florence Park we went. Alex wasn't much for eating his picnic lunch, so he missed out on the yummy desert I'd brought (Swedish fish and a delicious cannoli type of pastry). But he was really into his kickball game with Daddy. Unfortunately for Daddy, Alex chose an area of the park with no shade in the hot blazing sun.
After a while, we heard the music of an ice cream truck. Daddy and I agreed that the ice cream truck is an exception to the "no treats" rule. One should always nab ice cream if you see an ice cream truck.

Since we had to wait for the truck to come around the block, we played in the playground for a while. Then we heard the ice cream truck's music: Music Box Dancer (Frank Mills' composition from c. 1980). We hurried Alex along to the ice cream truck and helped him make his very first selection. Then Dan held him up and he paid the ice cream man.

It was just a year ago that Alex was afraid of the ice cream truck. He'd run from the sound and hid behind a bush, frantically trying to push me into hiding too, else the ice cream truck would spot me. He eventually confessed to me that "I scared. I scared of ice cream truck."

I can safely report that fear has ended. Alex even likes to talk about how he conquered his fear.

On this day, the three of us were able to sit down on our blanket in the part of the park Alex and I call "Bunnytown" (for the bunnies we used to see there so often). Then Alex and Daddy played on the jungle gym some more. Mommy remembered she had to walk to CVS, so just about 6:00, we left the park.

Between that and the talking picture frame Daddy got as a gift (along with his new short pants that he wore to the picnic), I think this may have been Dan's best Father's Day yet.

Alex and I will have to work really hard to come up with ideas for next year.

Monday, June 21

Playland, With a Twist

I'd found a morning activity at the Rye Library that I thought Alex might like. It's called Wiggle and Giggle Time and it's just for silly songs, puppet shows and dancing. Sure enough, I was right, he loved it! But what good is getting to Rye for a 9:30 AM starting, 30 minute program without making it a day at PLAYLAND!?

So, that's where we went next. We're that much closer to the Volkswagen Beetle now - only 76 tickets left to go. This time around, we enjoyed a show of a juggler/stunt man; got a new cool graffiti T shirt, took a walk to the wildlife sanctuary on Manursing Island and took a nice walk on the Boardwalk. We even visited the fishing pier. He was loving the walk on the boardwalk. It allowed him to hear the music played at the adult rides on the other side of the park. He heard a fave: 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga and wanted to know all about the ride that was playing it. Later, he danced to the music piped onto the boardwalk (some Rob Thomas song), but he wanted to know when they'd play more 'Bad Romance'.

We found Alex's new favorite ride - the Submarine! He squealed with excitement on it after he was a little bit scared when it looped around. Nope, he loves it now! Now, if we could only make some progress on 'The Olde Mill', which Alex calls 'The Grinches'. It's a dark boat ride with animatronic gnomes that pop out at you in the dark. This time around, he asked if we could watch the Grinches. (I let him watch rides he's afraid of to get more familiar with them.)

For a little guy so afraid of the Grinches, he sure didn't want to stop watching that ride.

He surprised me by wanting to remain at the Wildlife Sanctuary's Nature Center instead of returning to Playland. I guess we'll have to make that a trip as well.  Maybe when the pool or beach are open. It was a pretty hot walk.

Friday, June 18