Lazy Playzie Week

This week was Corinne's February vacation from school. The timing worked out really well, because it gave me a chance to spend some good, quality time with the Princess before Apple comes. I actually scheduled the C-section with that in mind, and Apple was kind enough to stay put and not come early (despite the fact that ultrasounds show that she is going to be a big baby, and she is kicking in there like she's trying to break her way out).

We tried to have a good mix of stuff to do as well as leisurely time spent just coloring and doing our own thing, what Corinne refers to as a Lazy Playzie day. This is actually her first choice when asked what she wants to do. She's a real Home Body, just like Momma.

Monday we went to Open Gym, something my friend Meghan organized for these long, cooped up winter days. It's basically just a chance for the kids to run around at the Boys and Girls Club and work off some energy. Corinne really likes it. She likes to play chase with other kids and could do this all day. When she runs out of kids who want to play she just chases herself. She'll also chase a ball if I throw it, much like Seven. It's a great way for me to get her tired out with minimal effort on the part of my lazy, pregnant self.

Tuesday Pete took the day off and we took Corinne to the Boston Children's Museum. I rather foolishly thought it might not be too crowded if we got there at opening, but alas, there is no good time to go to a children's exhibit during a school vacation week. With our library pass it was only $2 a person, so either way we won. And Corinne really liked it. Her favorite thing by far was this crazy, 3 story tall climbing structure. It's hard to describe, but it was kind of like a 3_D maze, or hamster habitrail of platforms enclosed in wire so the kids can't fall out. Problem is, they also can't get out, and parents can't get to them, except at the very bottom and one door near the top. It was also jam-packed with kids of all aged, climbing in every direction. I thought it was going to be a recipe for disaster for our cautious little trouper who has trouble with motor planning, but not so. She was hell-bent on climbing to the top of the thing in her slow and steady wins the race way, a look of determination on her serious little face the whole time. She didn't make it all the way up, but she did get about a third of the way up by herself and spent close to an hour in there before deciding to come back down.

The second time she went in,unfortunately, we experienced the law of diminishing returns. She only made it up about 2 tiers and then got stuck. She couldn't quite get up onto the next platform, and a bottle neck of kids began to build above and below her. Kids began just climbing around and over her (future little Mass-holes in the making) and from my vantage point I could see that she was getting ready to cry. It seemed like this went on forever and it was hard for me to watch my little sweetie getting upset and not be able to reach her to help her. My momma bear instincts made me want to open up a can of whoop-ass on some of the kids, who were much bigger and older than her. Finally Pete climbed in as far as he could reach and dragged her back out. On the bright side she recovered very quickly and I think she'd still do it again if given the chance.

Wednesday was just running errands and shopping for Dadda's birthday next week, which actually ended up being a nice day. Corinne was having a very "on" day and was just very articulate and sweet and agreeable. Thursday we drove into Boston to have lunch with Dadda, which was a nice break for him and Friday we had our last playgroup for a few weeks.

Saturday was House Cleaning Day (well, I had Pete take Corinne for the day so I could clean). Then Grandpa and Uncle Jim came to babysit while Pete and I went out for a last Hurrah and to celebrate his birthday. We saw "Coraline" (every time we get a night away from Corinne we end up going to see a children's movie for some reason) and had dinner at a really good English Pub (Pete is a very cheap date- that's all he ever wants for his birthday is to go drink beer). Then we got Cheesecake Factory to take home for dessert. It was a really good evening. It's nice to go on a date every now and again.

And now here we are. It's a Lazy Playzie Sunday. We had doughnuts for breakfast and will probably stay in our jammies all day and just enjoy our last day as a family of three. Life's pretty good.