Books, Softball and Adventure

Books

When I was a kid, I used to tell my parents that I was afraid of the dark and ask them to leave the hall light on. I also made sure to position my bed so that it got most of the light. I wasn't really afraid of the dark - I wanted to read after bedtime. I'd hide under the covers if one of them came near my room, and since my dad went to bed at 11pm and turned all the lights out, that was the latest I could stay up reading. Occasionally they caught me and warned that my eyes would be ruined. I do have horrible eyesight today (400/20 I think), but guess what? Stick some glasses on me or put contacts in my eyes and I'm good as new.

Aidan wants "lots of books" in his crib with him when he goes to bed. He doesn't even want us to read to him anymore. Just pile them up in there and leave the hall light on, thank you very much. I can't believe I'm letting him do this. I had to sneak my after-hours reading for so many years, it's just a slap in the face that he can be so blatant. I don't have the heart to refuse. He sleeps right on top of them, too, and is upset when he wakes up and finds fewer in there than when he went to sleep (sometimes I sneak in there and take some out to make room for his body). I totally understand books being a security blanket. And he can't actually read, so I'm not too worried about his eyesight.

Softball

So sometimes he doesn't get enough sleep. Last night he fell asleep around 9:30, and was up at 6am. He was a pain in the neck for most of the day, but got better after I threatened him. He wanted to go to the park after G got home from work, so we went and found that the adjoining ballfields were hosting 8 adult softball teams.That's a lotta softball. So we stayed, had hot chocolate, sat in the stands and cheered the "Go Dumb" team. Aidan was the best cheerer there - he kept yelling, "OH! LOOK AT THE BIG HIT!" and "OH! THAT WAS A BIG THROW!" It was great. Too bad it tended to be between plays (and innings). And often for the other team.

He gets VERY enthusiastic when he's tired, and it's pretty funny. When we were walking to the car, he yelled, "THAT WAS A NICE TIME, MAMA! THAT WAS PRETTY FUN!" You just can't stay mad at someone that enthusiastic.

Adventure

And while we were at the pumpkin patch yesterday, we were climbing this big pyramid of hay bales. I held his hand, but he's not the most adventurous kid on the block. He kept saying, "I don't know. I'm just not sure," as he climbed (phrases that Sir Topham Hatt uses on Thomas). We were passed by several 18-month-olds. It was like climbing with my grandmother.

Oh, and BTW, G is back at work but not completely better. After our Slice O' Americana evening, he passed out before 8pm.