I don't know if he's just getting more able to play or I'm finding fun things for him to do, but David's been having a blast recently. I mean he tolerates long car rides to visit my friends and being pushed around the grocery store. He'll settle in for a stroller trip through the neighborhood, but recently we've been having some FUN.


the beach at alki

I live in Seattle, full of lakes and bays, water that moves and the sand that moves under it. Yet, I rarely leave the sidewalk. Friday, David hit the beach, literally. He tripped and fell on his hands, he pounded the wet sand, he gushed it through his fingers, he got up and ran. I think he did one summersault over some driftwood; otherwise the balance was good. I nixed stepping in the forty-five degree water. He watched the ferries and the big sky and grinned a lot.

the wet slide

I don't do well in the hour plus between dinner and bedtime. Even though it had been raining on and off all day, I convinced Rose to come to a new park with me after dinner. David didn't have much choice; I just shoved him in the stroller. The good news: the park was open to the public (it's part of the Catholic school playground), and the play equipment was geared to both kids. The bad news: it was all sopping wet. I mean not just drops here and there, but large puddles at the bottom. Rose chose not to engage. David chose to throw himself down the slide headfirst. I did approve this. The slide was tiny, totally safe. Both kids were having hysterics. David went headfirst, feet first sitting, feet first lying down. He tried to do a 360, but I rearranged the limbs on that one. He really wanted to climb up the slide, and I let him try.


the indoor playground

It was still raining today. I did mention that I live in Seattle? After Tot Shabbat, a group of us headed over to an indoor playground at a community center near synagogue. I don't know where I've been, but I've just discovered these places in the last year. Ten toy cars, the kitchen area, the slides, the teeter totter, the play house--the fun doesn't stop. David refused to go in the door side of the car and kept climbing in through the window. He loved pushing the vacuum cleaner around. Only once did a big kid on a trike almost run him down. Otherwise, it was hammering and cooking and he made sure to show me the toy banana.