Monday, September 15, 2008

Mister Man Rocks

Really, I know this already. I sometimes forget though because we don't have a ton of one on one time. Little Miss is a me-too-firster, and that sometimes puts Mister Man at a disadvantage, since he's such an easy kid ninety-nine percent of the time.

We had a birthday party to go to in Glenview, which is about an hour from our house. It was at 2pm, and Little Miss was not invited. She naps, and wouldn't have been able to go even if she were invited to decorate a cake and a cookie at a bakery. HA! Like I would have let her make that mess anyway.

I decided to take the easy way out and go to the Kohl's Children's Museum right after church and just make it a non-issue for Little Miss that a) she wasn't going to the party and b) that she had to nap and Mister Man didn't.

We belong to the museum because it's a great place that the wee ones and I love. We don't get to go too often because it's almost an hour from our house, but we go a half dozen times or so times a year. With two wee ones, it gets hard because I'm contantly monitoring who's where and doing what and negotiating to keep someone at the current activity or with the other to move on to another exhibit. It gets a little stressful.

I've never gone with just Mister Man and I, but we had fun. In fact, he asked if we could do this with just him and me again soon. Awww. You betcha, kiddo!

In the craft room, we got to look at worms in dirt and touch them and see what they do. Then, Mister Man drew a picture of a worm. He named it Lurker Turker (or LT for short, as you can see on his page). I thought it was very creative that his worm was a rainbow of colors with purple hair and lots of legs.



As always, we loved playing with the construction set. This is the first time we've been that he really figured out how the levers work and that he can control the crane bucket to pick up the "dirt" beanbags. And yes, that's a CAT tee shirt, so he inadvertantly dressed himself properly (my only requirement for his dressing is that it be a bright color if we're going to be in a crowded place).


He did a lot of really hard work on the conveyor belt where you place the dirt onto the conveyor belt, turn the wheel (which he did cooperatively with a little friend he made -- he made a friend!) which sends the bean bags down a chute and off the roof, catch the falling beanbags in a wheelbarrow and wheel the load back to the conveyor belt. It was really neat to see him sharing the duties with several children who came and went and helped with various parts of the work. For a boy who started out with social delays, this is so cool to see!


We also went to Dominick's where Mister Man picked up a shopping list and picked up one (and only one) of each item on his list. There were plenty of other kids who swept whole shelves of items into their carts leaving nothing for the others. No comment from me on that. He was really proud of what he put in his cart, and he loved it when I helped him check out at the register and he had to "pay" me for the items.


I forget sometimes how much fun it is to spend time one on one with each of the wee ones. They really are good kids and a delight to hang out with (ok, usually). My goal is to spend at least one afternoon alone with one or the other at least once every other week. I'd like to do it more often, but with my and my husband's work schedules, that may be a bit of a stretch.

Either way, we have no school this coming Friday, so guess where we're headed!

9 comments:

Melisa Wells September 15, 2008 at 6:46 PM  

Fun! I love museums like that. I was at the Kohl only once, a long time ago: but I was with the other teachers from religious school and my kids were at home. I think Glenview is about 90 min. from here. We have the DuPage Children's Museum...but mine are too old for that now! :)

I'm all for one on one time, for sure! It's a totally different (quiet!) world.

Karen September 15, 2008 at 6:59 PM  

I love children's museums! Can I come next time?

Angela September 15, 2008 at 7:21 PM  

Awwww!!! Your little man is such a cutie! And the museum looks like great fun for kids of all ages!

Britt September 15, 2008 at 8:49 PM  

What a cutie-pa-tootie! That childrens museum sounds totally cool :o)

Thanks for the potato trick .. I was so excited, I whooped ;o) If I could find a $25 microwave, that baby would be coming home with me for sure!

I would have felt the need to deep clean if my landlord hadn't totally redone the place after the last tenants. Ick factor was raised considerably, and I'm staying away from any other dark places around here :o)

Thanks so much for coming over today!

Anonymous September 15, 2008 at 9:14 PM  

What a cute Childrens' Museum! I've only been to my local one once. I think they're great for older kids--not toddlers. :)

Kellan September 15, 2008 at 11:14 PM  

What a special time and what a cool place - Alexis would love that shopping cart and check out - so fun!

Take care - Kellan

Cookie September 16, 2008 at 11:11 AM  

I know what you mean. It really is hard to find one-on-one time!

Angie's Spot September 18, 2008 at 6:28 PM  

That museum looks awesome! We've got a great kids museum here, but yours has some features that I would love to see here. Hmm, we might have to plan that trip up north sooner than later.

Michelle September 18, 2008 at 7:56 PM  

Melisa - Me, too! Before I had kids, I used to like to go to the Science Museum to play. Sometimes I think I had kids just for the excuse to play with their toys!

Karen - Sure! We actually may head out there tomorrow since it's an off day!

Angela - Aww, thanks! Totally fun. Even my friend's 8 year old enjoys parts of it.

Britt - Welcome! I think I got my $25 microwave at Target. I'm sure Wal-Mart has one, too (but I don't go there). Check it out!

Jaci - This one actually has special little padded areas with things *for* toddlers. Totally cool, eh?

Kellan - Well, you'll have to vacation in Chicago sometime. Just make sure you do the museum in Glenview and not at Navy Pier. My personal bias but one that I've heard from others, too.

Cookie - Very hard. And oops, I haven't done it again since. BUT I may be taking only Mister Man to the NU game this weekend, so we'll see.

Angie - Hey, just let me know when you come visit the fair (windy) city!

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