Preschooler's First Musical

Nicholas was envious that Joe and I went with my parents to see a show while we were in New York so I promised him that we'd look for one he could go to.  Our plan was to find a local high school musical so that he could get a taste of it but in an affordable and low stakes way.

Good idea, but it turns out that around here most of the high schools do their musicals the first two weekends of March, so when I did research last Sunday morning I discovered that we had already missed them.  But the high school in our town was doing their musical that very weekend, with one more show left: a Sunday matinee 5 hours later!

So Nicholas and I went.  It was not the musical I would have chosen for him (Thoroughly Modern Millie, about a young woman in the 20s in NYC who helps break up a prostitution ring while all the characters end up paired off), but he did a good job.  There were parts he really liked, mostly the music and dancing.  He clearly didn't follow the plot, but seemed okay with that.  He did start to get bored, asking me at many points to show him on the program where we were so he could see how much was left.  But he never got loud or asked to leave or even begged for snacks, although when I told him at the beginning of the finale that it was the last song, he said to me in the sweetest voice: "Oh, thank you, Mommy.  Thank you for saying this is the last song."

Overall I consider it a success.  2 1/2 hours is a long time for a 3-year-old to sit still and quiet, especially when he couldn't follow the plot.  But by next spring he should be in much better shape and hopefully we'll be on the ball enough to choose the most kid-friendly shsows from among the half dozen nearby high schools.

St. Patrick's Day in NY

We went into NY this weekend to meet up with my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday.  Joe and I got to spend lots of time with my parents and had a wonderful time Saturday afternoon and evening, including an Afghan restaurant for dinner and seeing a hilarious show. 

Nicholas spent Saturday morning at the Natural History Museum with 3 of his 4 grandparents and an uncle.  When we first got there he was amazed by the dinosaur skeletons in the lobby.  And for the first 45 minutes he just loved seeing all the skeletons and stuffed animals.  And then we got to a section with video screens in exhibits, he started to go manic from being up way too late, and the skeletons lost his attention.

From 2013 March

We also went in the butterfly exhibit while we were there, which is an enclosed room where the butterflies fly around freely.  Nicholas' reaction was so typical for him.  He really wanted to go and he thought seeing the butterflies was cool, but he was freaked out by having them so close and free.  He clung to me for dear life the entire time.  I was fascinated watching the butterflies drink, but he was freaked out by it.  To be fair, the thing they stick into the flowers does actually look like a sharp needle and Nicholas was not convinced by my explanation that it was a straw, not a weapon.

He had a great time with Joe's parents Saturday evening and with my parents Sunday morning, but I have no pictures of those things, so moving on . . .

Sunday afternoon Grandma Claire came over for corned beef and cabbage before we got back in the car and she and Nicholas had a blast!

She taught him to play war, which they did for a really long time.

From 2013 March

And then she began to teach him Chopsticks.

From 2013 March

He gave up before very long, but they still had fun.

From 2013 March

Snow in the Tub

A colleague of mine shared a brilliant idea with me a few weeks ago.  When it snows she fills the bathtub with snow and lets her kids play inside.  You can't sled, but Nicholas doesn't know that such a thing is even possible given that we have neither a sled nor a hill.  But you can make snowballs, make a mini snowman, turn the snow different colors using food coloring and a spray bottle, scoop the snow with beach toys, etc. 

And the best part?  Mommy stays warm, dry, and doesn't have to deal with dressing kids in snow attire or cleaning up all the clothes afterwards.

We got another massive snowstorm (officially 16 inches in town, but I think we got a little more) today and so tried out this new idea.  Clair and Leila came over to play with us.  And it was beautiful.  The kids had a blast (go to the album to see a video of the snowballs: last image in the bathroom is the video) and Clair and I sat in the hallway chatting and drinking fancy hot chocolate.  And cleanup consisted of turning on the shower!

From 2013 March

From 2013 March

Missing my Baby

You all know that I am not a very sentimental mom.  I usually crave my space and alone time and consider a day completely to myself to be heaven.  And yet right now I sit in the airport going on a trip (and not even for work!) completely by myself for 3 days and all I want to do is get back on the bus and go home to curl up in bed with my little boy and read Magic Treehouse books. 

Maybe I'm just feeling lazy and/or sentimental because I seem to be coming down with something (I really hope it is just a cold!) or maybe the transformation of our evening and weekend activities to include tons of novel reading has made the time together more enjoyable for me.  Or who knows.  All I know is that I miss my little boy and am really bummed not to be home this weekend.