I got up at 4 this morning and was out the door with coffee in hand to drive Stephanie, Dan and Wesley to the airport. They are flying to Austin to spend Easter with family friends of Dan's. This is their third Easter trip to Texas and, I must admit, for the first time I am a bit jealous. It's still cold and damp here but not in Austin - 90 degrees today. Normally that's too hot for me but right now it sounds awfully good. I will pick them up on Tuesday and, no surprise here, I am already missing them.
My afternoons with Wesley are delightful. The daily drive from pre-school to my house has become a treasure hunt. First we have to find "Gramma's car." I lose it everyday. Given that there aren't a lot of parking spaces in front of the preschool, it is quite easy for him to be successful finding it. Once he is in his car seat, we begin the search for buses (3 types - city, school and "Grampa Tom Buses" - Dan's dad is disabled and rides to Dan's house in one of those small city vans that carry wheel chairs). Then there are the trains. Wesley loves trains so we stop at the local industrial park near his preschool to find the 2 red engines that service the businesses. I drive around the park until we find both. Then, closer to my house, we pass the train tracks. If we are lucky enough to spot a train, I pull over so we can count the cars. When we are almost to my house we pass the train yard. Here the 2 "Buddy Engines"(as he calls them) - #1243 and #1214 - are often working, but not always, so that makes it interesting. Will they be there? If not, will we say "Drat!" loudly or softly? Wesley gets to decide. We also look for what he calls the "tunnel of trees." Right now the trees are bare. Each day we look to see if the first growth of leaves has popped out. He also hunts for daffodils.
We chat the whole way. Yesterday something he said caught me by surprise. Remember he is a bit over 2 1/2 and is still perfecting pronunciation. I now understand about 75% of what he says but the remaining 25% is often a mystery. What surprised me was his response to the sudden rain. As I turned on the wipers this little voice from the back seat piped up, " Gramma, that's rain, not condensation." In slight shock, I looked at him in the rear view mirror and said, "What did you say?" He repeated it slowly, being kind to his apparently impaired grandmother, the same grandmother who loses her car everyday, "Condensation, Gramma, con-den-sa-tion." When I asked him what condensation was, he said it "wasn't rain, it's wet but not rain." Later, when I asked Dan, I found out he had had this discussion with Wesley. Ah, the abilities of brains at this age - truly little sponges.
Once home Wesley helps me with chores - he loves to vacuum, sweep and cook (he prefers making cookies but stirring soups is also fun). Then we do whatever he wants. A favorite game right now is recreating our Zoo Lights experience of last Christmas. The Portland Zoo has a gorgeous light display over the holidays and Wesley loves it. In reality, I am not sure which - the ride in the school bus from the parking lot to the zoo entrance or the light display itself - has the stronger impact. In our version we climb up onto my high bed and sit facing the pillows. This is our bus. I am a passenger and Wesley is the "conductor." We start the song, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round" and vigorously move our hands in circles to represent the spinning wheels. When we get to the verse "The doors on the bus go open and shut" Wesley's toys (4 teddy bears, a bunny, Stephanie and Lee's Cabbage Patch doll from their youth - Frankie Hal, and, most interestingly, his tall crane with about 7 small railroad cars dangling from it - he calls them all his "kids") enter the bus one by one. When we sing the verse "The driver on the bus says 'Move on back'" I move them, one by one, behind Wesley. Once everyone is on board, he has me read one or two books so that all the "kids" can hear. At that point, we have arrived at the zoo. To get to the actual Zoo Lights display we get off the "bus" and climb up the attic stairs. Once there Wesley moves all the "kids" into the little storage space over the stairs. When they are seated on boxes inside, he creates a light display by flipping the storage room light off and on. Sometimes he leaves them in there while we play with other toys. This whole process, from climbing on the bus to the culminating light show, can take 45 minutes and we have been doing it every day for the past few weeks.
If there is time afterwards we go downstairs and read books on the couch. It is still cool enough that we turn on the gas flames in the fireplace and "get cozy" while we read. Dan picks him up a bit after 5. As we wave goodbye I am already looking forward to the next day's adventures.
I wonder what new games await? Perhaps they will have a Texas flair. Are cowboys and wrangling cattle in my future? Or will we revisit some games from the past? We haven't played Hide and Seek with flashlights in a long time. Whatever new idea pops into his mind, I am sure the "kids" will be up for it and I will happily go along for the ride. I am in my element.
My afternoons with Wesley are delightful. The daily drive from pre-school to my house has become a treasure hunt. First we have to find "Gramma's car." I lose it everyday. Given that there aren't a lot of parking spaces in front of the preschool, it is quite easy for him to be successful finding it. Once he is in his car seat, we begin the search for buses (3 types - city, school and "Grampa Tom Buses" - Dan's dad is disabled and rides to Dan's house in one of those small city vans that carry wheel chairs). Then there are the trains. Wesley loves trains so we stop at the local industrial park near his preschool to find the 2 red engines that service the businesses. I drive around the park until we find both. Then, closer to my house, we pass the train tracks. If we are lucky enough to spot a train, I pull over so we can count the cars. When we are almost to my house we pass the train yard. Here the 2 "Buddy Engines"(as he calls them) - #1243 and #1214 - are often working, but not always, so that makes it interesting. Will they be there? If not, will we say "Drat!" loudly or softly? Wesley gets to decide. We also look for what he calls the "tunnel of trees." Right now the trees are bare. Each day we look to see if the first growth of leaves has popped out. He also hunts for daffodils.
We chat the whole way. Yesterday something he said caught me by surprise. Remember he is a bit over 2 1/2 and is still perfecting pronunciation. I now understand about 75% of what he says but the remaining 25% is often a mystery. What surprised me was his response to the sudden rain. As I turned on the wipers this little voice from the back seat piped up, " Gramma, that's rain, not condensation." In slight shock, I looked at him in the rear view mirror and said, "What did you say?" He repeated it slowly, being kind to his apparently impaired grandmother, the same grandmother who loses her car everyday, "Condensation, Gramma, con-den-sa-tion." When I asked him what condensation was, he said it "wasn't rain, it's wet but not rain." Later, when I asked Dan, I found out he had had this discussion with Wesley. Ah, the abilities of brains at this age - truly little sponges.
Once home Wesley helps me with chores - he loves to vacuum, sweep and cook (he prefers making cookies but stirring soups is also fun). Then we do whatever he wants. A favorite game right now is recreating our Zoo Lights experience of last Christmas. The Portland Zoo has a gorgeous light display over the holidays and Wesley loves it. In reality, I am not sure which - the ride in the school bus from the parking lot to the zoo entrance or the light display itself - has the stronger impact. In our version we climb up onto my high bed and sit facing the pillows. This is our bus. I am a passenger and Wesley is the "conductor." We start the song, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round" and vigorously move our hands in circles to represent the spinning wheels. When we get to the verse "The doors on the bus go open and shut" Wesley's toys (4 teddy bears, a bunny, Stephanie and Lee's Cabbage Patch doll from their youth - Frankie Hal, and, most interestingly, his tall crane with about 7 small railroad cars dangling from it - he calls them all his "kids") enter the bus one by one. When we sing the verse "The driver on the bus says 'Move on back'" I move them, one by one, behind Wesley. Once everyone is on board, he has me read one or two books so that all the "kids" can hear. At that point, we have arrived at the zoo. To get to the actual Zoo Lights display we get off the "bus" and climb up the attic stairs. Once there Wesley moves all the "kids" into the little storage space over the stairs. When they are seated on boxes inside, he creates a light display by flipping the storage room light off and on. Sometimes he leaves them in there while we play with other toys. This whole process, from climbing on the bus to the culminating light show, can take 45 minutes and we have been doing it every day for the past few weeks.
If there is time afterwards we go downstairs and read books on the couch. It is still cool enough that we turn on the gas flames in the fireplace and "get cozy" while we read. Dan picks him up a bit after 5. As we wave goodbye I am already looking forward to the next day's adventures.
I wonder what new games await? Perhaps they will have a Texas flair. Are cowboys and wrangling cattle in my future? Or will we revisit some games from the past? We haven't played Hide and Seek with flashlights in a long time. Whatever new idea pops into his mind, I am sure the "kids" will be up for it and I will happily go along for the ride. I am in my element.
The "kids" waiting for Wesley
You are doing such RIGHT things with Wesley. I am so glad to have been invited into your world with him, and love reading your writing about events I've been able to share with you- the Zoo Lights! The snuggly reading! The repetitive games at the table, the cooking.
ReplyDeleteYou are a superb grandma.