![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Life and Library time with Kidlet
Jan. 15th, 2012 05:06 pmIt's really been quite a good weekend, all told.
Friday night on the way home my coworker had a flat tire, so I got to change it for her and feel all butch for a bit (the not-so-secret reason I love doing minor rescues like that). I'm sore from the crouching and yanking in 20 degree weather, but it was totally worth it.
Saturday was Kidlet day, which I've been very excited for. We decided to postpone the Nature Center, since it was bitterly cold and windy (hey, we finally have snow!), and we assume some portion is outdoors. Instead, we went out to lunch (when we've got Kidlet with us, My Friends Diner in Lakewood is our favorite place, since they're really good with kids -- coloring pages and crayons and drinks in covered cups with straws -- Just a heads up for locals). After lunch we headed over to the library down the block from me. I spent the drive there talking up libraries to Kidlet; about how they're where we all share books, and isn't that awesome, and I bet there's one near his house too, etc. Before we went in I explained that the library is a quiet place, and that if he needed to be loud we could go outside again and run around. For being a very energetic little kid he did really well with that during the visit. At the library he loved the Engine bookcase that has a little cab that small kids can sit in. We checked out a pile of books, and I talked him through the checkout process, and explained they were letting us borrow the books, and that was very nice of them, and that we have to make sure to take very good care of them. The librarian played along, and got him to nod solemnly in response to her request for a promise, so he got a sticker! I brought home about a dozen children's books to check out, and will have notes on those in a separate post. I'll send all the decent ones in Kidlet's age range off with Chad on Wednesday so they can have them for a week or so before I need to take them back.
After we picked out books we spent a while in the library yard playing snowballs, which was pretty adorable, since he hasn't figured out packing them yet, and just lobs handfuls of snow in various directions. Then we headed over to Visible Voice for the book reading that wasn't (it was just a signing, and the book wasn't that great). We had a good time there anyway, though, and I went through the used children's books and found a few more to send home with Kidlet.
Also, I'm very excited that my goal of building Kidlet a library of his own at his Dad's are really taking shape (since Chad and his ex separated it's a big project to outfit a whole new household with kid stuff). Chad says there are so many books now that he's setting up a bookshelf for Kidlet this week! (this is a combination of what he already had at his Dad's, books I bought for him, stuff from my personal collection, and stuff Mom passed on from the family collection during Christmas). I see not the least bit of shame in used books (in fact, books that were passed on to me from others in my life have been some of my most treasured; I still have the treasure trove of books Uncle Charlie gave me from his personal collection, for example), so that makes it not too hard or expensive to help get it all set.
By the end of an hour or so at Visible Voice Kidlet was pretty worn out, and when Chad dropped me back at home he was barely awake in his carseat, and apparently slept the whole trip home. Same for me; I went back inside and fell asleep for a few hours until my date with Erin.
Erin and I were going to try to see the play at CPT, but it was sold out. Instead we went to Fathead's for a friend of hers' birthday party. That was lots of fun with good folks, but was loud and social enough that I was pretty worn out by the end. I had Erin drop me home for a few hours of introvert and fatigue recovery time, sent her back to the real party, and then we had excellent snuggle time when she got home; it's been ages since she's spent the night, so that was lovely.
Today we got news that a good friend of the household fell and messed himself up pretty badly, and is in the hospital in ICU. It meant that the morning suddenly got very intense as we tried to get more info and figure out plans to get Grafton to a hospital an hour away in order to visit. I think that's all sorted out and Grafton's on his way with my credit card to pay for gas (certainly an emergency exemption on not using it, since we're cash-broke at the moment).
And now I'm here at work, and it's a nice quiet Sunday. I'm up for a nice quiet day.
Also, I started in on Kingdom because it's on Netflix streaming right now, and, well, Stephen Fry. What else needs be said? I'm enjoying it immensely, and have consumed most of the first season in the past two days. Also, it turns out Phyllida Law is in it, and there's something about her that always makes me inexpressibly happy when she turns up in something I'm watching. Oh! Hadn't realized she's Emma Thompson's mother, although it makes sense.
Friday night on the way home my coworker had a flat tire, so I got to change it for her and feel all butch for a bit (the not-so-secret reason I love doing minor rescues like that). I'm sore from the crouching and yanking in 20 degree weather, but it was totally worth it.
Saturday was Kidlet day, which I've been very excited for. We decided to postpone the Nature Center, since it was bitterly cold and windy (hey, we finally have snow!), and we assume some portion is outdoors. Instead, we went out to lunch (when we've got Kidlet with us, My Friends Diner in Lakewood is our favorite place, since they're really good with kids -- coloring pages and crayons and drinks in covered cups with straws -- Just a heads up for locals). After lunch we headed over to the library down the block from me. I spent the drive there talking up libraries to Kidlet; about how they're where we all share books, and isn't that awesome, and I bet there's one near his house too, etc. Before we went in I explained that the library is a quiet place, and that if he needed to be loud we could go outside again and run around. For being a very energetic little kid he did really well with that during the visit. At the library he loved the Engine bookcase that has a little cab that small kids can sit in. We checked out a pile of books, and I talked him through the checkout process, and explained they were letting us borrow the books, and that was very nice of them, and that we have to make sure to take very good care of them. The librarian played along, and got him to nod solemnly in response to her request for a promise, so he got a sticker! I brought home about a dozen children's books to check out, and will have notes on those in a separate post. I'll send all the decent ones in Kidlet's age range off with Chad on Wednesday so they can have them for a week or so before I need to take them back.
After we picked out books we spent a while in the library yard playing snowballs, which was pretty adorable, since he hasn't figured out packing them yet, and just lobs handfuls of snow in various directions. Then we headed over to Visible Voice for the book reading that wasn't (it was just a signing, and the book wasn't that great). We had a good time there anyway, though, and I went through the used children's books and found a few more to send home with Kidlet.
Also, I'm very excited that my goal of building Kidlet a library of his own at his Dad's are really taking shape (since Chad and his ex separated it's a big project to outfit a whole new household with kid stuff). Chad says there are so many books now that he's setting up a bookshelf for Kidlet this week! (this is a combination of what he already had at his Dad's, books I bought for him, stuff from my personal collection, and stuff Mom passed on from the family collection during Christmas). I see not the least bit of shame in used books (in fact, books that were passed on to me from others in my life have been some of my most treasured; I still have the treasure trove of books Uncle Charlie gave me from his personal collection, for example), so that makes it not too hard or expensive to help get it all set.
By the end of an hour or so at Visible Voice Kidlet was pretty worn out, and when Chad dropped me back at home he was barely awake in his carseat, and apparently slept the whole trip home. Same for me; I went back inside and fell asleep for a few hours until my date with Erin.
Erin and I were going to try to see the play at CPT, but it was sold out. Instead we went to Fathead's for a friend of hers' birthday party. That was lots of fun with good folks, but was loud and social enough that I was pretty worn out by the end. I had Erin drop me home for a few hours of introvert and fatigue recovery time, sent her back to the real party, and then we had excellent snuggle time when she got home; it's been ages since she's spent the night, so that was lovely.
Today we got news that a good friend of the household fell and messed himself up pretty badly, and is in the hospital in ICU. It meant that the morning suddenly got very intense as we tried to get more info and figure out plans to get Grafton to a hospital an hour away in order to visit. I think that's all sorted out and Grafton's on his way with my credit card to pay for gas (certainly an emergency exemption on not using it, since we're cash-broke at the moment).
And now I'm here at work, and it's a nice quiet Sunday. I'm up for a nice quiet day.
Also, I started in on Kingdom because it's on Netflix streaming right now, and, well, Stephen Fry. What else needs be said? I'm enjoying it immensely, and have consumed most of the first season in the past two days. Also, it turns out Phyllida Law is in it, and there's something about her that always makes me inexpressibly happy when she turns up in something I'm watching. Oh! Hadn't realized she's Emma Thompson's mother, although it makes sense.
