A trip to the park

The weather has been so nice this winter.  I decided to take the kids straight to the park after school.  Hank was so excited he could hardly believe me when I told him where we were going.  It had been a long time since we had been to the park.  Hank ran around the whole time making his whooshing noise totally in his own make-believe world, running, climbing, sliding.  We did some swinging and then Pete was getting hungry so I announced we would need to go home.  Hank totally lost it.  He laid down and threw a fit on the grass.  Jane tried to help by telling him he could go down the slide one more time.  That made him really happy so he went down the slide but when I met him at the bottom and told him that now he needed to go to the van he went back to meltdown mode.  I had to carry him to the van.  When we got home I had to help him out of the van.  Then he sat on the sidewalk and bawled so I had to carry him into the house.  Then he laid on the floor and cried and yelled for about thirty minutes.  I tried talking to him but he was really upset.  Eventually we sat together and talked about how much he loved the park and how he really didn't want to leave. Then he finally started to feel better.

Jane went to the eye doctor this week.  She had been telling me that her teacher was surprised at how difficult it was for her to see the board in class.  I had set up some trials at home and it really seemed like she wasn't seeing well.  Another clue was when she put on my glasses she said everything seemed clearer (whereas anyone else with normal vision thinks it looks blurry).  Sure enough her glasses prescription ended up being very similar to mine.  She also has an astigmatism. I think she will be much happier with her glasses.  (We should be getting them soon).  It was fun to watch her at the eye doctor.  She is a great kid.  When asked if she sees ok when she's reading she told them all about her stack of chapter books.  She was very interested in the gadgets and asked questions and did a great job with the vision screening.

Hank gets pretty bored when Jane and Jack are gone at school.  It's also the time that Pete takes a nap so it's usually me trying to fit in some exercise and a shower while Hank entertains himself.  Unfortunately he really isn't one for TV.  I can usually get him to watch one episode of a PBS show but after that 22-minute episode he always turns off the TV and says he's done.  So I have been gathering different supplies together for him to do some preschool type activities and was talking to Matt about it. Jack overheard our conversation and asked, "Hank's going to go to preschool?"  He was so excited for him but I explained that I was just going to be doing some school at home with him.  When he left for school that day Jack told me, "Make sure to remember to give Hank recess!"  As soon as I picked up Jack from school that day he asked me, "Did you give Hank recess?"  (I hadn't).  It was adorable to see Jack be interested in it though.

I am so glad that Pete seems to be feeling better after all of his ear infections.  His molars are starting to cut through so I'm wondering if that is feeling better also.  He tries to be involved with the kids but a lot of times the kids are acting wild and rambunctious and he gets knocked over a lot.  He is a really sweet boy.  You know he's going for a real, long hug when you pick him up to hug him and he tucks his arms in by his side and lays his head on your shoulder.  It's so sweet, but that's what he does when he wants a serious hug.  Everyday he goes to the drawer with the silverware and reaches in until he finds a spoon.  The he goes over to where the bowls are kept in a basket under the island and he picks out a bowl.  Then he walks around jabbering banging the spoon into the bowl.  I just noticed tonight that he has started doing the boy-whooshing noise that Jack and Hank do.  He was zooming a car around going, "zshooo zshooo".

Hank told me that he needed to get something from upstairs.  This is usually off limits when Pete is napping so Hank stood at the bottom of the stairs and whispered, "I be reawwy quiet, go upstaiws, get a dwink."  Then he mimed drinking in case I couldn't hear him.  I said, "Oh, it's ok, Pete isn't napping."  He looked around the corner and saw Pete was awake and yelled, "Ok!  I be reawwy wouder!"

Jack is in love with Star Wars lately.  He plays Star Wars all the time, except that we don't have any Star Wars toys.  He told me that his pirate toys look a little like Star Wars toys so he pretends with them.  He also uses his small jets and pretends they are Star Wars planes.  He even pretends that the animals in the bath tub are Star Wars figures.  If this keeps up I'm pretty sure I know what kind of birthday party he will want.

Last but not least, Jane filled out a page about herself.  It  cracked me up.  Number 15:  I hate.....people who don't like nature.  And #17?  My family is going to die.  :)