There have been several specific events that I've looked forward to on our
Camp Mommy calendar this summer, and some of them happened these past couple weeks! As I've mentioned in these
past posts, my goals in organizing a calendar for our summer were to keep me from going nuts while waiting for BBJ2, to keep Banner entertained and educated all summer, and to give us some quality time together before Baby Brother enters the picture! So far, all goals have been met, and these past couple weeks have been no exception! Whether it's due to increased activity or simply passage of time as he gets older - or both, I have noticed a significant increase in Banner's vocabulary and sentence structure. He's growing and developing in almost every aspect, and I couldn't be more proud. He's making complex connections, remembering lots of experiences from the summer, and generating new ideas and concepts daily!
My two favorite activities from Week 7 were definitely taking Banner to his first movie and trying out yet another new indoor facility. I'd been looking forward to experiencing a movie with Banner since June, so it was really nice that he actually made it through the entire movie. We saw
Sesame Street: Follow that Bird at Studio Movie Grill. It was part of the Children's Summer Series, and it was the perfect movie to pick. I'm glad my mom got to be a part of the experience as well, and it was certainly helpful to have her around to distract, redirect, and contain my active boy. There were a few times he wanted to stand in his chair, get up and walk around, or crawl under the table, but mostly if we redirected his attention to the movie by showing him a character or seeing if he wanted more of his snack/lunch, he would easily watch the movie again. All-in-all, it was a great time for him, and as we left he kept saying, "More movie!" I'm not sure we'll go again this summer or not, just not sure they are playing a movie that would hold his interest like that again, but I'll think about it! The other favorite was a facility that's only been open for two months, and my friend, Casey, told me about it several weeks ago. I was thrilled when she blogged about it, too, and we were able to get a group of friends together to go check it out! This place did not disappoint!! In fact, we will definitely be going again and again! (For privacy reasons, I am not disclosing the name of the facility, but if you are interested, message me or comment below.)
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| Standing in his chair watching the movie |
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| Mom and Banner |
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| First ticket stub! |
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| Cool slide! |
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| At the sensory board |
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| Playing with rice |
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| Classroom |
This room was by far MY favorite, and once I got Banner to push past the fear of the dim room, he was all about it, too! SO many cool things to do in this sensory quiet room!
Highlights from Week 8: I loved taking Banner to the splash park with his cousins Colby and Miles this week! Not only did they all play well together, but Banner stayed on the splash pad area - which is a big change since the beginning of the summer. It was nice to hang out on the playground and the spray area with Colby, Miles, and Aunt Gayle. Later that same day, Banner and I tried out some ice play in the backyard, but it was a complete FLOP. I made
this recipe and, although the letters were vibrant and cute, the taste was way too lemony (even though I only used four lemons, as opposed to the suggested six), and in this awful afternoon heat, the letters melted immediately. I had to capture a few pics really fast! They melted so fast that whenever Banner tried to pick them up or move them, they fell apart right away. There was NO time to really talk about the letters or sounds or play with them at all. It turned into a mess, and we quickly turned the hose on to wash away the colorful puddles on the cookie sheet. However, playing in the water and dirt after that disaster was a lot of fun! We also had a blast with Grandma at the gym (the same one I wrote about in week 7 above), the library, and Chick-fil-A (with a special ice cream treat to top it all off)! Finally, we tried out a Gymboree Play & Learn class for free - it was a great way to spend the morning, but definitely not something I'm interested in signing Banner up for.... not only is it way overpriced, but he really just wanted to do his own thing and not follow the teacher or even the other kids. He thoroughly enjoyed the equipment and running everywhere, though! I enjoyed watching him have fun, although I wished he had paid better attention to the directions of the teacher. His favorite part was running up and over inner tube "hills" that were under the floor mats. Such a giggly boy during this activity! The teacher was impressed with his abilities and told me he was, "Awesome," "So sweet," and "Very advanced," but she may have been kissing my a$s for us to sign up. (I do happen to agree with her, though!)
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| This was taken through the screen door but too cute not to post! |
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| Ball pit at the Gym with Matthew and Ryan |
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| "Help, Mommy!" |
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| "An umbrella!" he said as he climbed up. |
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| Ready to jump off! |
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| A "selfie" |
Other stuff we did these two weeks: went to story time at the public library, got a haircut, visited "Banner's school" where Aunt Kira is working, had fun with NaNa & Uncle Paul when they babysat, went to a workshop at Lowe's with Daddy, played and had brunch with Avery, Jed, and Cherie, played at Ella's house, experimented with scissors (so not ready for them yet!), enjoyed a morning alone at the park by 8:00am with my teething boy who wouldn't sleep past 5:45, went to another Home Depot workshop with Daddy, and had an impromptu play date at Grandma's when the gym we thought had an open gym did NOT, in fact, have open gym as advertised on their website - but it was still fun to play and have lunch with Landry, Marin, and Brayden!
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| Showing me the truck he and Daddy made at Home Depot |
By far my most frustrating moment was when Banner decided to take off running out of the children's area, past the circulation desk, past the first set of automatic doors, through the second set of automatic doors, and outside to the front porch of the library where I finally caught the fast little booger before he jutted into the street. I'm telling you - this kid is a runner, and he's FAST and will take off in a heartbeat. I was looking at books to check out, he was standing next to me. All of a sudden he makes a run for it, and I didn't initially run after him because I thought he was heading for the toys and puzzles he usually enjoys playing with. Well, a little distance got between us before I realized he was not stopping. My 8-month pregnant, arthritic body tried to waddle after him as fast as I could, and with no one's help to stop him (thank you, public library staff), he was way faster than I could be. With unchecked-out books in my hands, I dropped everything at the entrance and sprinted to capture him. Sweating and annoyed, I clasped his hand tightly in mine, told him he is NEVER to leave my side, checked out our books, and calmly walked to our car - where we had a stern talking to! My boy is adventurous, daring, and completely unaware of boundaries! We are working on this... and working on it, and working on it, as he continues to just take off out of buildings, houses, and stores. This was definitely the farthest he's gotten from me, and the farther along in the pregnancy I get, the slower and less confident I get that I can catch him! Camp Mommy may start to include a LEASH for this kid!
Coming in the last three weeks of Camp Mommy: more pool time, more indoor fun, a sibling class at the hospital, more gym/music/art intro classes at local kid gyms, play dates, baking, and lots of prep for preschool!
