moominmuppet

Yesterday was a Kidlet day with Chad. We've been planning to go to the Lake Erie Nature Center for ages, and have been waiting out bad weather and kiddo illness. Yesterday turned out to be a great day to go; sunny and warm enough to really enjoy the outdoor stuff as well as the indoor, although it being Ohio we all brought extra layers just in case. LENSC is a really good environment for younger kids; it's much smaller and more manageable than the zoo, and since most of the exhibit animals are rehab cases, they're often much more visible and up-close than is possible at the zoo (especially true with the birds of prey!) It's donation-only, and Kidlet had fun feeding dollar bills into the Donation Owl. They also had a great old hollow tree trunk for kids to climb through. It took Kidlet a bit of time to work up the nerve, but then he had a lot of fun, and I know Chad got some great pics. He also really liked the red fox, who was napping in a spot of sun, and the bald eagle, who was being apparently uncharacteristically active. He also loved the oversized garden implements (a pail he could hide in and a 10-foot-tall rake he tried ever-so-hard to move), but no love for the turkey vultures! (they're a favorite of mine, but didn't interest him in the least, even though one was just inches away from the edge of the cage). He also loved the tidal pool display, once Chad pointed out two fish who looked like Dori and Nemo.

We spent a few hours there, then headed back to my place to watch dragon movies; Kidlet was very set all day on being a dragon (a blue one, who lives in the mountains in a cave). At one point we had to explain that no, the best way to be safe around cars is _not_ to roar at them! We watched "How to Train Your Dragon", played with some of my toys (he's got some impressive fine-motor control; was doing well with a little wind-up mechanism on an action figure), and then managed to survive about half of the 1980s Care Bear movie (the music. Oh, good maude, the music!) while Chad made us all pasta. Kidlet did really, really well with our critters this time! Tarma's big, and has a loud hound voice that can startle him, but by halfway through the evening he was curled up on the couch with her. He really wanted to hold one of the cats, but none of them were quite willing to go that far with a three-year-old. Several did let him pet them, though. We worked more on telling dogs "No!" when they do things you don't like, and on wagging tails showing happiness, and "big boys are gentle". I also got Pookie out for him to touch again (he'd met her once before, and at the Nature Center I explained that he couldn't touch those snakes, but he could touch Pookie if he liked). Pookie's a very mellow 20-year-old ball python that I've had since college; she's great for helping folks over fear of snakes (or helping prevent that fear from setting in in the first place, with little kids). He'll still only dance forward and touch her briefly before he backs away again, but that's not bad for his age. I did show him where her snakey-butt is. That pretty much always entertains kids.

All in all, it was a really good visit, and I think we've got the pre-visit kid-proofing pretty well down to a science now, which makes prep for visits easier.

Oh, and we didn't make it to the library this trip, but I did send my copies of Where The Wild Things Are and Look and Find Muppets home with him for his personal library.

Unfortunately, I'm still not over the fatigue probs I've been having this week, and after Chad and Kidlet headed home I crashed out until almost midnight to recuperate. I was going to go to a party with Erin, but ended up bailing for post-party cuddle time and sleepover instead. Today's gorgeous outside, but it's mostly tempting me with the idea of a nap in the sun.