Accidents will happen....

....and some of them will involve me. A couple of Saturdays ago while Aaron was at dragon boat practice, Saul and I were played on the sidewalk out front after returning from Jim & Patty's. Neighbor Christine has a little push car for her daughter Sarah that has become the little kids' toy. Saul loves to push it and until a few Saturdays ago, he also liked to ride it. He would put his legs up and I would push him. And, he would propel himself Flinstones style. And then, the awful happened....

While I was pushing him full steam ahead, Saul decided it was his turn and dropped his feet. It was a slow motion moment of awfulness. It was as though he dropped anchor as his feet hit the ground and his upper half began moving up and over the handlebars before I could even come to a complete stop. "Grab him! Grab him!" my mind said. And, my body reacted. I reached for him and came up with a leg and diaper....after his face had already hit the ground. The only thing I can claim is that I kept his impact with the concrete short. But, it was not averted.

Instead, the picture below demonstrates the nose and lip damage. There was blood. Lots of blood. But, somehow, despites the pain and blood, after the silent scream and some fully justifiable screaming, Saul's first real post-injury word was, "Outside?" He wanted back at it.

For a few days after the fall, he didn't really want to play with the toy. Instead, he would walk up to it and fake cry. Today (two weeks post-trauma) he definitely was all about the toy and pushing it at old record speeds. Oh, for the child's ability to recover!

A Cold Day at Grant Park

A few weeks ago Saul and Claire got to play together at the Grant Park. The dog statue that's part of the Beverly Cleary area is definitely a favorite and each of the kids took a turn. The Grant Highschool marching band practicing on the track was too much of a lure for Saul. The result was a lot of action shots of him and only a few decent pictures. The kid likes his music! And, he was definitely taken in by the echoing of drums across the playground.

We also spent a bit of time on the slide and climbing equipment. And, all of us adults were reminded that playground equipment really isn't safe! It's a good thing kids have little sense of fear! While climbing the tall ladder up to the slide or walking across the bouncy bridge, how is it that I am bit uncomfortable while the kids just bounce along laughing?! And, how is it that the merry-go-round now makes me dizzy?! I'm sure this is just the beginning, but I can truly say that these are just of the few things that are beginning to remind me of my age....not 20-something anymore! Aaah.

Claire's turn on the doggy. Followed by Saul's turn on the doggy - ended short by the Pied Piper marching band.

Another cute moment.

Kicky-di-doi

Translated as Clifford the Dog, Kicky-di-doi remains one of Saul's favorite books. I bought it at Powell's for $3 thinking it would be great for when he got older. However, Saul reached it on the shelf of books he'll grow in to and won't put it down. It contains three books in one - the alphabet, numbers and general around-the-town vocabulary words. Also, it's not a board book. Seriously, depending on the day, we can read this book upwards of 20 times!

The fun part is seeing how each of us adults - Aaron, me and the two nannies - focuses on different things when we read it with Saul. In the alphabet section there's a page dedicated to each letter of the alphabet, with things that start with that letter. C = cat, clown, cow. T = turtle, tea pot, tractor. I'm continually amazed by how many of these words he knows! At first, I thought it was just that he was memorizing them as they related to the book. But, then he started applying them more broadly. For example, y is for yak. We got him a new little alphabet book and while looking at the inside cover where there's a collage of animals, he suddenly pointed out "yak"! Crazy.

Saul loves to sit at his table to read. He pulls out a chair and points, "Mama. Chair." or "Dada. Chair." And though he won't do it unprompted, as soon as we start to say, "How do you...." he said "Peeeease!"

Aaron reading with Saul and pointing out a is for apron.

Both looking at the camera. Happy times.

Fall colors...and plaids

Once again, catching up.....We did get to the pumpkin patch pre-Halloween. It was a lot of fun - perfect brisk air, sunny and not muddy. The next weekend it rained, so I'm really glad we got out when we did. And, Saul got to dress like his dad for a day - flannel! The shirt's already too snug for a second wear. Fortunately, it's a hand-me-down, so I'm not feeling as guilty about the lack of wear we got out of it. I'm particularly partial to the last picture and predict many more like it in coming years.

Since the trip, tractors have been near the top of Saul's list of things to focus on, likely influenced by the tractor-drawn hayride out to the pumpkin patch. This morning we were looking at his Duck and Goose "Find the Pumpkin" book. (Warning: I'm going to give away the ending!) On the last page is the picture of a nice big pumpkin they got at the pumpkin patch. Saul started saying "hay ride" (his version of it). He added "momma" and "Saul" - meaning we were both on the hay ride. When I asked, "Who else was on the hay ride?" in an effort to get him to mention "dadda", he instead replied, "People."

Click on the link to Aaron's flickr page at the bottom of this post for
cooler pics of Saul at the pumpkin patch.

"Rock rock," Saul says.

The hay ride back to the car.
A favorite...picture for me and Sauvie's Island stop for Aaron.
We are walking up to the entrance to Cistus Nursery.

Aaron's flickr page loaded with great pictures of Saul, as well as plants and more!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22608595@N03/