Day 3 with Dylan

Dylan had a bit of trouble sleeping last night,  losing his "baba" several times.   Grandpa put a couple extras in to make the baba search easier.  He woke up wanting to see mommy and daddy, I said we could go upstairs and read stories.  Next he wanted Grandma, I told him she was sleeping, and we could sit on the sofa and wait for her.   After a few minutes I got smart and set up the cot.  He finally let me change him and even let me lay him on the cot.  I read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear? until he was sound asleep again.  He stayed sleeping until about 7:30.

We ate a great breakfast, Rice Chex, Banana, Sausages, Milk and of course yogurt!  Dylan and Grandma played "stuff the tent" with as much of his toys as possible, plus Grandma and him.  Dylan explained the need to get everything in the tent, it was always raining in the playroom (what used to be the living room) and on the carpet, and he didn't want his favorite things to get wet.  Quite logical, afterall that is what tents are for, to keep things dry :-)    He rode his bike a bit, now he can navigate the dining room as well as the regular circuit.

We decided to go to the Madison Children's Museum.  Again, we started a bit slow with the water table with cups.  Next we rode the vegetable cart with the toy Yak.  He loved that the cart had a braking mechanism and reins for instructing the yak to whoaaaa.   He took the plants from the cart and planted the garden.  What a fun place.

Dylan became more brave and was ready to try the bridges and even the stairs to the huge bridge.  He must of walked the stairs to the bridge and over, a dozen times, during this first round of bridging.  The stairs to the bridge is one-way and only wide enough for on person, the bridge is near the ceiling and if you are over 4' tall you have to duck to avoid a bonk to the head.  Grandpa and Grandma had both ends of the bridge covered, just in case he made a dash for it.  To our pleasant surprise he listened well when we said he had to walk versus run.  He checked out the cottage a few times.  He likes the double door, especially closing the bottom half.

We finally were able to persuade him to try some new stuff, we went up stairs and checked out the mechanical car, the space ship cabin and of course the wood table that held the wooden cars, trucks, forklifts, semis, tankers, etc....  The table is laid out like the city of Madison, complete with a Capital building,  It's cool because he can go beneath the table and pop up in the middle of the table to play.  He spent a lot of time there.

 



Dylan had a brief pause at the crazy mechanical miniature menagerie with all kinds of colorful buttons to push.  He hopped in the wooden jeep for a couple of seconds before spotting the art room where he can paint, squeegee, and most importantly spray water on the glass windows!  He had the cleanest windows in the whole room.

We went up to the roof where we crossed a creek, went under a tree tunnel, saw an ambulance all before going inside pet a mouse, see baby chicks, turtles, and talk to mommy on the phone.  It was definitely time for lunch.  We had Veggie packs, pepperoni pizza, chocolate chip gold fish.  Then it was back to the bridge and the quiet cabin with the 2 doors.  We played there for another 30 minutes, and started to think he would never want to leave. We had to tell him baba was in the car.  It was time to go.
Dylan slept well during the car ride home and we successfully transferred him to the cot without waking him for a nice afternoon nap.  After nap time, we went outside in the shade for some water fun.    First we took a dozen water balloons outside.  Dylan threw water balloons at Grandmas feet and in the grass.  Dylan bounced a few water balloons off of Grandpa, he seemed to really enjoy Grandma and Grandpa's reactions when he threw the balloons at them!

   

Next, we thought we would water "the plants".  It's funny how a 2 year old interprets the importance of watering live things.  Yes, Dylan watered the trees, the azaleas, and the hostas.   However, after discovering new settings on the nozzele, he expanded the watering to the siding on the house.  Dylan figured that because it was so hot that the sun also needed to be watered.  The sun felt the affects and soon hid behind the roof.  So he decided to turn the hose on Grandma and Grandpa, because obviously they needed the positiive benefits of watering just as much as the plants.  Dylan seemed very happy to watch Grandpa try to sprint away from the stream of water.   Grandma did not escape the water attack and we soon we were all soaked, laughing, and loving it! The expression on Dylan's face says more than any words could!

Back inside, it was time for arts and crafts.  Grandma gave a scissor instructional and Dylan learned to cut out paper objects from a project book and then they pasted them on to another page.  He did pretty well, it took a bit of work to have him hold the scissors up straight, but he got it.  Dinner of McDonald's Nuggets, Apples and Milk seemed to hit the spot.