(no subject)
Feb. 24th, 2005 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI'd hoped that this year might be one in which Scott's birthday went entirely well. According to him, this is an annual occasion for bad luck. He took the day off from work so that we could have a family day, and we were both looking forward to it.
Things started out all right. Delia got us up a bit after seven. That was bad luck for me since she'd gotten me up twice last night, but it wasn't unusual. We fed her breakfast while she watched Sesame Street. After that, we went to the bank to deposit some money in Delia's account. It was a Christmas gift from an old friend, and I've been meaning to get to the bank for the last two months. It was just never the right time.
From there, we went to Jungle Java in Canton. It's a place that combines a coffee shop with a huge kids' play area. Delia and I had been there twice before with playgroup, and I'd been wanting to get Scott there so he'd know why I was so excited by it. They've got a nice toddler area and a huge, three level maze of tunnels, toys, slides and so on for bigger kids. The first time Delia was there, she wasn't interested in the big kids' area at all. The second time, she spotted the slides and decided that she liked watching other kids on them (and going down a few times but more watching). The food's not great, especially given Delia's allergies, but it's not dreadful either. I've bought her cinnamon applesauce every time we've been there.
At any rate, Scott and Delia did a bit of exploring the maze. Delia got upset a couple of times when things didn't go where she thought they should, and she came back to the toddler area a few times to play. Several times, she hugged other kids. I'm trying to figure out how to set limits on that because she doesn't know when to stop and doesn't listen to no yet. And it's hard to be absolutely sure when a pre-verbal child is saying a mild no.
We got home and put Delia down for her nap. She was not altogether pleased by that, but she did eventually sleep. While she was napping, Scott and I watched Hero. We'd planned to hold off on that till evening, but we had to wait for the plumber. Our kitchen sink has been giving us more and more trouble over the last few months. It was refusing to drain. Last night, Scott snaked the drains, even going out to buy a new snake when the old one proved too short and too cranky. But it wasn't enough.
So the plumber finally showed up about four. He used a more powerful auger to push through the blockage. When he left, the drains were running fine. A couple of hours later, Scott discovered that the clear drains had a price-- The bend in the pipe right below the sink has corroded through. We have a puddle on the basement floor. I had to move a number of books and a couple of shelves (well, Scott did the shelves. They were too heavy for me). I also had to finish the bean salad I was making in the bathroom (to drain and rinse the beans). Meanwhile, Delia was being very cranky and demanding.
Tomorrow some time, we'll find out how much fixing this is going to cost us. We'd hoped to put our tax refund into some very badly needed kitchen renovations, but... The plumbing's more urgent, and the kitchen's still functional, more or less. Redoing it would give us a dishwasher, drawers with stops and a countertop that didn't stain if we so much as sneeze, but we can live without all those things. It's too bad, though. Mom had promised to come up and do the work with Scott so that we could afford to do it, and it's not something we can do incrementally.
The present I ordered for Scott, two seasons of the Kids in the Hall DVDs, hasn't arrive yet. I'd hoped to get it before his birthday arrived but no such luck. Ah, well, they'll be a pleasant diversion when they do arrive.
I'm also waiting for some Sesame Street DVDs that I ordered last week. I worry a bit about the risks of using the TV as a babysitter, but... Delia dances to the songs. She sings along. She demands that I sing, too, and gets really happy when I do. Right now, we have two Sesame Street DVDs, and I'm sick to death of them. I ordered four new ones. Hopefully, at least one will be a winner.
Things started out all right. Delia got us up a bit after seven. That was bad luck for me since she'd gotten me up twice last night, but it wasn't unusual. We fed her breakfast while she watched Sesame Street. After that, we went to the bank to deposit some money in Delia's account. It was a Christmas gift from an old friend, and I've been meaning to get to the bank for the last two months. It was just never the right time.
From there, we went to Jungle Java in Canton. It's a place that combines a coffee shop with a huge kids' play area. Delia and I had been there twice before with playgroup, and I'd been wanting to get Scott there so he'd know why I was so excited by it. They've got a nice toddler area and a huge, three level maze of tunnels, toys, slides and so on for bigger kids. The first time Delia was there, she wasn't interested in the big kids' area at all. The second time, she spotted the slides and decided that she liked watching other kids on them (and going down a few times but more watching). The food's not great, especially given Delia's allergies, but it's not dreadful either. I've bought her cinnamon applesauce every time we've been there.
At any rate, Scott and Delia did a bit of exploring the maze. Delia got upset a couple of times when things didn't go where she thought they should, and she came back to the toddler area a few times to play. Several times, she hugged other kids. I'm trying to figure out how to set limits on that because she doesn't know when to stop and doesn't listen to no yet. And it's hard to be absolutely sure when a pre-verbal child is saying a mild no.
We got home and put Delia down for her nap. She was not altogether pleased by that, but she did eventually sleep. While she was napping, Scott and I watched Hero. We'd planned to hold off on that till evening, but we had to wait for the plumber. Our kitchen sink has been giving us more and more trouble over the last few months. It was refusing to drain. Last night, Scott snaked the drains, even going out to buy a new snake when the old one proved too short and too cranky. But it wasn't enough.
So the plumber finally showed up about four. He used a more powerful auger to push through the blockage. When he left, the drains were running fine. A couple of hours later, Scott discovered that the clear drains had a price-- The bend in the pipe right below the sink has corroded through. We have a puddle on the basement floor. I had to move a number of books and a couple of shelves (well, Scott did the shelves. They were too heavy for me). I also had to finish the bean salad I was making in the bathroom (to drain and rinse the beans). Meanwhile, Delia was being very cranky and demanding.
Tomorrow some time, we'll find out how much fixing this is going to cost us. We'd hoped to put our tax refund into some very badly needed kitchen renovations, but... The plumbing's more urgent, and the kitchen's still functional, more or less. Redoing it would give us a dishwasher, drawers with stops and a countertop that didn't stain if we so much as sneeze, but we can live without all those things. It's too bad, though. Mom had promised to come up and do the work with Scott so that we could afford to do it, and it's not something we can do incrementally.
The present I ordered for Scott, two seasons of the Kids in the Hall DVDs, hasn't arrive yet. I'd hoped to get it before his birthday arrived but no such luck. Ah, well, they'll be a pleasant diversion when they do arrive.
I'm also waiting for some Sesame Street DVDs that I ordered last week. I worry a bit about the risks of using the TV as a babysitter, but... Delia dances to the songs. She sings along. She demands that I sing, too, and gets really happy when I do. Right now, we have two Sesame Street DVDs, and I'm sick to death of them. I ordered four new ones. Hopefully, at least one will be a winner.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 04:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 03:13 pm (UTC)She also enjoys the Sesame Street videos (we only have 3). Her favorite is 123 Count with me.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-26 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-03 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-26 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-26 04:42 am (UTC)I wish I could watch Toddler D dance and sing along with the Sesame Street songs. I did this with "Sesame Street Disco: The Record" when I was a little older than her. Hightlights included "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" and the Count counting the moments until we turned the record over to the other side. ^-^;;
no subject
Date: 2005-02-26 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 04:27 am (UTC)Anything by Fred Levine. This includes "Where the Garbage Goes," "Farm Country Ahead," "How A House Is Built," "How A Road Is Built" and several others. The music is pretty decent, and it is kind of interesting to see the details of how these things are done. Also, you get to watch Fred Levine's kids grow up over the years, in the different videos -- which I really enjoy.
"Cinderelmo" -- stands lots of traditional gender roles on their ear. The princess has values that I wouldn't mind my kids emulating, and she's generally really sweet.
Anything from the "Magic School Bus" series. Ms. Frizzle, the teacher, takes her class of 8 kids on a schoolbus that will travel among the planets, or shrink to the size of a microbe, or go floating through someone's body, or a zillion other places. They teach real science, at a kid's level. If Delia likes seeing familiar characters, the same 8 kids are in all of the videos, so she might like that. All the videos are also available as books, which my kids liked a lot.
"Harold and the Purple Crayon".
"The Wiggles" - an Australian band of four guys who dance around and sing. We have one Wiggles video. It's an old one with excessively goofy visuals, so I like this better if I don't look at the screen.
Arlo got hooked on "Escape to Witch Mountain" when he was surprisingly young. It was a childhood favorite of mine, so I was thrilled that he liked it too. Interesting that when we were kids, a favorite movie might be one you saw twice, while for today's kids a favorite movie is one you might watch dozens and dozens of times.