On Monday morning he decided to ‘help’ me push the stroller around the library. I was carrying him while MaryVic rode in it. He does get heavy after a while, even without a spica cast. He squirmed confirmation so I put him on the floor. He crawled to it, pulled himself up and started trying to push it. He couldn’t get forward momentum without assistance at first but he ‘helped’ me traverse the whole library. He started to get some momentum right before we had to leave. I let him push all the way out to the van and he had a tantrum when I took the stroller away from him.

We went to the park on Monday too and he decided to independently walk a yard or so. I left him standing with nothing around and set down on the ground a few feet away. He was screaming but he decided to come over where I was sitting. He fell down once but stood up again and came until he was sitting down next to me. I was not deliberately trying to push him but he was being a bit bossy so I guess it was a ‘mommy tantrum.’

He decided to give the play shopping cart at home another try. He pushed it around for a long time in the evening. Once he was going, he was so tickled with himself that he didn’t want to stop.

All the walking took a toll. He fell asleep crying. On Tuesday, he flat refused to walk or crawl. He must have been very sore because he wanted me to carry him everywhere. Pinkerton Park was slammed with cars parked out to the main road so I took the kids to Strahl Street Park by the Community Service Building off of Fowlkes Street. It is a nice little park. William crawled the primary playground unit three times then insisted on being carried around everywhere.

I finally gave up and put him in a very warm bath with epsom salts for over 30 minutes in the afternoon. MaryVic joined him and they played for a long time. He felt better after the bath and tackled the shopping cart again. He pushed it around some and cried when I picked him up to put him in the van. He tried to push it out the laundry room to the van but I caught him and took it back in the house.

We took the kids to Chik-Fil-A for dinner. He scooted into the play area on his bottom and climbed into the little airplane unit where he could spin the steering wheel. He crawled to the unit to climb up for the slide and could make it up the first two steps which are pretty much on top of each other. He was too short to get any higher. It was probably for the best since MaryVic tended to get ‘stuck’ at the top of this unit during our first family nights at the restaurant. He would scoot around on his bottom to get to the play area and chase after the Cow in this manner. Usually he resorts to crawling which is a faster so it was funny to see him scooting.

He fussed some Tuesday night while falling asleep but not as bad as Monday night. He tossed his leg at one point and cried afterwards. He did fall asleep relatively quick. I can say that none of this fussing is as bad as during the ‘cast’ period. MaryVic came and got on the guest bed with us. I left them sleeping on the guest bed together in a pillow fence and they slept all night.

It is exciting to see him up and around. I’m so happy to see him starting to ‘go’ now. There is a tinge of sadness too as I notice the limp he has now. I’m so glad he is going to outgrown it and won’t be able to remember any of this. He truly is a little trooper.

MaryVic ran straight to the train and made friends.

William crawled on up to the curvy slide he loved yesterday but refused to go down.

MaryVic came running over to show him how to slide.

I’m not going down this one either Momma but it’s fun to tease you about it.

Watching sister play.

And sister slides.

Come on William, little buddy! I’ll catch you!

Laying down to refuse to slide.

And she goes back up to brother.

Following sister through another tunnel.

There was a little hiccup in our day. William had a massively messy diaper and we had to go home since I didn’t have a change of pants. MaryVic asked if we could get a blanket and picnic. We called Daddy, picked up some food, picked up clean pants and socks and went back.

I’m through eating and let’s play! Come on!!

Here is your seat Momma.

Her photo pose smile.

She goes down the big slide off of Tinkerbell’s Castle.

Now you, Momma!

William says NO! Are you crazy?

Making a not so fast retreat.

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Waving bye to Daddy.

Heading to the tires.

Sister goes to work on her balance.

He will get in there.

But he cannot get out. I had to go pull him out after some time discussing the issue. He was in there yelling, Help! Help Momma!

MaryVic on the balance beam. She fell off while William and I were discussing if his exit from the tires really needed my help. I couldn’t see her but recognized the crying. A couple other mothers were already looking at her when I got there and picked her up. She cried for a minute and then told me she was going to do it again. I told her she was very brave to keep trying and off she went.

William played in the fire truck while sister did the balance beam and tire bridge.

I pointed him to the drums and he stood there beating on them.

How he crosses the balance beam.

And the tire swing.

The grandparents Nicholson came up in the evening. GrandPoppa took the kids for ice cream by himself while Grandmomma and I went over to the grocery store for essentials, bread, Dora yogurt and the ‘right’ kind of strawberry bars. Greg came to the ice cream shop after work and we headed over to Panchos for dinner.

Maybe MaryVic should be a fund-raiser as an adult as she keeps charming people into giving her things. She was looking at the ‘claw’ stuffed toy vending machine with grandmomma after supper. The vendor came in to reload it and was counting the toys. Apparently he got to the last one and MaryVic reminded him there was one still in the bag. He told her it was a special one, the one he was saving for her. Thus she acquired a 4 horn headed ladybug stuffed animal. She shows up back at our table with it. She did the required parental second thank you to the nice vendor and chirped home happily hugging it.

We didn’t climb Tinkerbell’s Castle but stayed on the other unit, Pirate ship and Space Shuttle instead.

What’s in here?

Ahhh! A girl!! Run away! (I wish!)

After the little girl was up, William would go back to check to see if there were any other girls in there.

Scooting across the suspension bridge.

But that’s not fast enough.

Sister convinces him to enter the tunnel / space shuttle.

He liked the tunnel and they crawled in it several times. This is the end of the tunnel and sister is getting on the tire bridge.

William opted for the tunnel a couple more times.

We tried to get William to go down this slide. He seemed very interested. MaryVic volunteered to catch him and was yelling up it at him.

He was not confident in her catching ability though.

He would yell back down at her and did give it some serious thought.

Peeking at Mom.

Pouting because Mom is down and he is up.

Finding a way to Mom.

Back in the tunnel with sister.

This is our house. You can come in Mom! I opted not to contort myself through the tires.

William determinedly got in the tires with sister. It did take some doing. He got the right foot stuck in this tire, climbing after her but figured it out and got himself loose.

And they relocated to the other room of the house.

A standoff with Mom. You can crawl over here. No, I cannot, will not.

On the train. Sister went through and up to the landing. He wanted down to follow her.

He wasn’t able to pull himself up to the landing though. I told him to come back out and he did.

MaryVic scaled the smokestack herself. Thankfully no kids were around climbing to the very top.

She played ‘steam’ and pulled herself up and down.

William having a tantrum and kicking his legs because sister got on the pony first. It’s all exercise!

She got off and he trekked over there.

I had to put him on it and he rocked for a bit. But he made the journey himself. This may be the oldest piece of equipment out there. I hope it stays, a little bit of playground nostalgia.

William tackled this piece of equipment. He would crawl the length of it to the curly slide and go down.

You have to go through the tunnel to get to this slide but William wouldn’t go through it. He crawled in and said “No Momma!” then went back to the curly slide.

MaryVic blocked him and prohibited him from going down the curly slide at first. Mom had her come down. He came down and that was it. He repeated this process with Mom carrying him to the stairs and him clambering back up. Then MaryVic climbed the ladder. He would crawl from the slide to the ladder, pull himself up, and yell for Mom to put him up top so he could slide again.

He always stopped at this point and then would climb down.

Standing for a brief ‘Yay Me!’ before crawling to the ladder.

MaryVic made noises about being thirsty and hungry so we left. William would have gladly slid another 50 times but was in dire need of a diaper change. They weren’t completely exhausted but pretty close. Home and straight to the bath. Doing it backwards which is one of MaryVic’s favorite things. I am the designated bath runner as, right now, she likes the bath pretty warm. Says it is better for Williams legs.

William did fall asleep pretty quickly and actually she did too once there was nothing around to stimulate her interest. Yay!

Why does it take toddlers sooo long to eat!! I know all the news is buzzing about taking your time eating right now but it was just a bowl of cereal, a kiddie bowl. There is no reason for me to be hurrying the kids but you want to get certain things done each day and Argh!! Finally William finished and I could get the kids ready to go for groceries. MaryVic refused to eat the cereal she wanted last time from the grocery store. She waits for William to sign and say ‘all done’ and for me to say we’re moving, ‘I haven’t eaten my cereal!

So we do the grocery store with a side venture to Home Depot where William threw a tantrum. MaryVic had to go to potty. You know your a parent when you don’t have to ask where the restrooms are in Home Depot. Everybody go ‘eeewww…’ as William crawls around on the floor of the ladies restroom. MaryVic held the door so he could crawl out. This is progressing a bit slowly as we are at the very back of Home Depot and there are groceries in the car, albeit in the keep cool bag. I grab William and he protests in loud, kicking, angry toddler independence spirit which echoes stridently in the warehouse of Home Depot. MaryVic winds up carrying our purchases to the register and almost unable to keep with Momma as she tries to get William out of there. He stops instantly at the cash register when I put him down on the floor again.

We pay, leave and go home so I can do a quick unload of the groceries. I know better than to doubt MaryVic’s power of observation but we still disagree about the crackers bought at the store. I grab two packs of the cheese with cracker sticks. No, I want the ones you got at Publix! These are the same. No! I go and look. Sure enough she’s right. I bought the flat crackers with the red stick and cheese. I grab one and tell her that she was right. Usually this results in chortled delight but I guess she’s more focused on getting to the park to eat them today.

At the park we have snack on the train and played in the sandbox. I set the timer on the phone for one hour and told them when it went off, we had to go home for lunch and naps.

The rest of the time was spent in the Tinkerbell’s Castle area of the park.

Last summer we were holding her hands as she crossed the tires.

I didn’t remember to twitter until we were at the park. Daddy knew where we were and stopped by on his lunch break to the kids delight.

Showing off for Daddy on the balance beam.

and she makes it!

William realized Mom wasn’t going to pick him up so he took off.

Crossing the suspension bridge which is now listing to one side.

Daddy went on to get some lunch. MaryVic gave him a huge hug and came back to check on Momma and William. He crawled up Tinkerbell’s Castle and was looking at the slide.

After thinking about it, they opted to keep crawling around on the castle. MaryVic was very sweet and cute as she got down on her hands and knees to crawl after William. She informed me that we were going from smallest to tallest, William to me.

They crawled the castle 3 or 4 times before the timer went off. MaryVic played the chimes while I grabbed William as he tried to make a last minute scramble back to the castle. I had set him down to take these pictures, turned around and he was booking it back into the playground.

We went home, lunch and naps. I tried to talk MaryVic into going back to the park but she wanted to go to the indoor pool. We went there for an hour. Everyone else was outside so we did have it to ourselves. William is enjoying getting into the pool more and more. He did away with the noodle support and water winged it some for the first time. We played throw a floating ball and the kids would race to get it. William was trying to paddle, kick, and wiggle to it. The only problem is he doesn’t like to throw the ball after getting it. It is mine now! Thankfully the game was fun enough that he didn’t fuss when I wrestled it away from him and threw it again.

After pool, the required strawberry bar snack on the way back home.

Hmmm…. this is NOT the right kind of strawberry bar. Look it has frosting! NO! You cannot fuss until you have at least tasted it. She gave it a tentative lick and then ate the whole thing.

The only other really memorable moment was last night after dinner when I went to get the ice cream. I cleaned off the table first, taking everyone’s plates. William had been playing with his so he wailed when I took it away. I came back in with the mini-ice cream bowls and he had his head on the table sobbing. ‘William, look what Momma has!’ He lifts the tearful face and it goes long with wide eyes and an ‘ooooo!’ The fit stops instantly. It was such a quick change that both Greg and I laughed out loud. No camera though!

First, some pictures of William getting out of his chair.

The first step is saying hello! Momma: Say hello William! William: Hi GranMomma!!

He tried to put his foot down for a few seconds but then pulled it back up.

Came down on his knees.

And he’s down to attack Momma.

We went to Toddler Time on Monday which was on one of his favorites, trains aka Things That Go! We were all able to sit on the floor for the first time. I kept him very close to keep anyone else from stepping on him. He and Mary colored trains for the craft.

We spent sometime at the library. MaryVic was disappointed that it was not in my office but happy to take the ‘secret’ (staff) elevator on the way out of the building. Since they were good while I worked, I offered to take them for milkshakes. MaryVic saw the ‘Big M’ though and that’s where we wound up. She did love the playground there.

She would climb up here and wave at us.

Where’s sister?

I had a nice salad actually but neither of them ate their Happy Meal. They were each happy with the toys but MaryVic had promised to eat her lunch if we stopped here so the ‘Big M’ is not on the list for future stop. They did taste the nuggets but I guess since it wasn’t the Tyson low fat nuggets… William did drink his chocolate milk.

Naptime then off to Pinkerton Park. We played in the sandboxes, ran over the bridge in Tinkerbell’s Castle, did some swinging, sliding, and played in general. MaryVic ran from one playground unit to the other. I was so busy chasing and carrying William that I only took a few pictures of him.

Pouting because Momma won’t carry him up the stairs to the slide. Just try to do it yourself little guy.

Okay. He couldn’t make it up the first step though so I took him to a different slide where there were no other children. It was wider so we could slide down together.

This train unit is pretty well-worn but loved.

Tuesday was a bit gloomy, overcast but warm. We went to the zoo early. A hidden source of fun is the stall doors in the ladies restroom. William had a ball as this door kept swinging open and he would shove it away.

The navigator consults the map.

Might as well be comfortable.

Meerkats are always popular.

Despite the warm weather, MaryVic loves the Unknown World exhibit so we go inside to see the fish, spiders, snakes, lizards, and creepy crawlies. Strollers are not allowed and William wanted down. These fish are near the end of the exhibit so I sat him down. He stood there and watched the fish. MaryVic took a turn keeping people from getting too close.

A zoo keeper was there feeding the fish and the lizards, frogs, and other critters that live in the tanks. I’ve always been so focused on the fish that I had not noticed the topside reptiles.

Snacktime!

And we are off to see the animals. Usually MaryVic wants to go to the playground. Walking around to the animals was fine with me though. There were 6 school buses in the parking lot so I knew the playground would be a madhouse.

Where are the alligators?

The Red Panda. The kids would all shriek as it passed by the window.

Watching it. Take a picture of it when it goes past me, Momma!

Momma tries…

William may have spent too much time looking at frogs.

There are the cats, Momma! Clouded leopards.

And the koi.

But I want to throw money in! First you have to have some and second it makes the water bad for the fish. Pleassse!

The cut through at the Bamboo exhibit is open now and it does look like the renovations will be nice. There is a new family restroom building. You still do have to pass the Critter Encounters exhibit. We went in with strict admonishments not to touch anything. ‘Momma, she’s petting it!!!’ Fine, you can brush the goat… They do have disinfectant gel right outside the exhibit.

William fell asleep on the way home. After nap / quiet time, I mentioned going to the pond and fishing. This entailed getting the wire, bobbin and a hook with very helpful children. We had to dig for worms and guess who got to bait the hook? She had some fun though talking non-stop the whole time. I lured the little fishes up with some bread. They ate the first worm off the hook but never touched the second worm although they looked at it a lot. Patience and being still long enough for a fish to bite is not a her thing yet. It wasn’t like fishing with Poppa and Daddy where the fish bite every 10 seconds.

It was fun despite not catching a fish and they enjoyed the outing. Two poles are really needed though. William kept trying to wiggle away from me to get at it and fish too.

Recovery notes: William passed out last night and has slept a little better on Monday and Tuesday nights. I gave him some prescription pain medicine Monday and yesterday he got regular tylenol at bedtime. Yesterday was more of a rest day with Mom carrying him around the zoo, riding in the car and wagon. He didn’t get much floor time until in the evening. After nap on Tuesday but before the fishing expedition, he was fussy. I asked him if he wanted a warm bath and he said yes (‘uh-huh’). We did that before heading out to the pond so he is still feeling achy.

High note: He put his left foot down on the bed while getting in his pull-up last night. He has not been putting his feet down. I was holding most of his weight but it is progress for him to have the confidence to put it down. He did keep the right foot up. He is crawling around pretty well. He crawled around a good bit Tuesday night chasing a battery operated Thomas the Tank Engine. It moves slowly enough that he can catch it.

I’m going to call the county recreation center today about membership. My co-workers told me that it has a heated pool so that would be great for him and entertaining for both of them. They have both been fussing about the pool house whenever we walk past it.