Groovin' On A Sunny Afternoon

A "normal" week after the excitement of grandparents/July 4/Daddy being off for five days:

On Monday we tried out "Kidsville" in Poway with Lisa and Anton. It's near "My Kid's Clubhouse" but it's huge, located in a sort of warehouse, and contains about a dozen little "playhouses" that each feature a different theme: beauty parlor, fire station, dress-up closet, etc. Very cute. Jarrah loved it, of course, and we spent nearly three hours there.

Tuesday we tried out the story time at the Mission Valley Library, where Jarrah facilitated a run-in with an old acquaintance by attempting to pilfer her son's snacks off their stroller tray. In Jarrah's defense, they have the same stroller that we do. ;) We discovered that Jarrah and Ryan are only days apart in age, so that may lead to future playdate opportunities! The story time was fun, but very crowded, and no bubbles or stamps, so Jarrah was a bit miffed.

Wednesday was a fun-filled day, beginning with our third weekly visit to Borders Babies and another opportunity for Jarrah to be stamped into a blissful stupor. This time she harrassed the story lady (who, as described in a recent entry, is verrrry patient) into delivering FIVE belly stamps of trains, a collection that Jarrah displayed for all and sundry the rest of the afternoon. The theme of the day was "Monster Trucks," which I found pretty amusing in light of David's joke that Jarrah is going to resist my steering towards tap dance in favor of monster trucks--it would seem that the polarizing siren call has already begun.

After a massive nap, we dashed up to Penasquitos to visit Caroline and her darling sons, Will and Alex. Jarrah falls between them in age and the three of them were quite winsome together, climbing triumphantly on the train table and squishing into the little play house. If Jarrah had her druthers, every day would have a long nap sandwiched between vigorous social events--it's the only way I can count on her being sweet and agreeable in the early evening. Which is kind of weird, because you'd think she'd be worn out and cranky from tiredness. Instead, it's lack of stimulation that pushes her over the edge.

Today was our third week of "My Gym," but first we met Jen and tiny Ian for coffee at wonderful, wooden, leaf-canopied Cafe 926 in Pacific Beach. I had come prepared, valiantly, with drinks, snacks, Elmo, books and noise-making units for the little miss, and she did amazingly well for an hour, with no running into the street, screaming or panhandling other patrons. I was sort of proud of her, until I realized we were late for class and now a certain stench was emanating from her shorts. We ended up missing the introductory "circle time" because I was wrangling Jarrah on the diaper table in the restroom, and let's just say the margin by which we avoided a total "I packed toys and snacks but no change of clothing" biohazard could be concisely desribed as slim. But then there were giant swings to swing on, medicine balls to somersault over, and cars to whiz down ramps, so all that was forgotten. Jarrah had a wonderful time, as usual, and impressed me again and again with her physical agility.

Maybe her only words are "Uh-Oh" and "Hot!" but man, that child can dunk a basketball. Can you say "scholarship?"