DingDingDing

wrestled
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

Let the games begin!

Nate and Desi have been engaging in regular wrestling play since, well, Des was perhaps a week old?! Nate has told me that Desi is now starting to verbally repeat some of the wrestling terms as Nate administers them. They put on a match for me Sunday (see pics link in the previous post). The cutest is when Desi says "arm bar!" He's actually learned to count to three largely because of wrestling -- Nate counts to 3 before Des is officially pinned.

The other day on the train ride home DPJ was having a hard time staying in his stroller and being happy about it and I suddenly had a flash of genius... wrestling talk. His face lit up as he repeated back to me all the various ridiculous terms Nate has remembered since childhood: full-nelson, figure-four, arm bar, 1-2-3, etc.

Baby D has also become a bat and ball enthusiast, esp. since buying him a soft set last Saturday for indoor play. He talks about them all the time. When they meet me after work Desi immediately begins telling me about his bat&ball, swinging his arms for emphasis. Upon arriving home his first thought is to locate them and play with me. Which is great as the weather has been cold and rainy and he hasn't been nearly as adamant about "go! walk!" this week.

Stay tuned for coverage of DUDE VOLLEYBALL

Birthday Party in the Park

birthdayparty
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

Saturday was the craziest day we've had in a longlong time. We started early in the morning posting flyers for the community clothing exchange I was organizing with my friend Natasha. We got the flyers up and then went to the church to finish putting the clothes in order. We finished early and still had about an hour till we were open for business at 11am. So Desi and I went ran over to a flea market acoupla blocks away (can't resist them!) and then to a playground to play for about an hour. Then I got him in the stroller with some milk and marched around till he fell asleep. I headed back to the church and spent the next 3+ hours straightening and folding clothes and meeting lotsa folks from the community. Desi was great and slept for about an hour and then played and ran around till it was time for us to head over to another playground close by for a birthday party. Kaden, who we met through PlayGroup, had turned 2. We got there and Desi was thrilled to see the huge ELMO cake and ELMO birthday hats. hehehe... I had to look away as he took big handfuls of potato chips the the orangest cheetos I'd ever seen. Then, of course, he had to have some of the orange soda. I suppose birthday parties are times for food exceptions. They actually had a pizza delivery guy on a bike bring about 6 pizzas to our little spot in the park. Cool! DesmondJones was never so messy: orange soda, orange cheetos and greasy pizza. He was wearing a basically white t-shirt. Then there was the cake and ice cream too and the regular park/playground dirt. eeeeekks!! He had such a fun time though, playing (sorta) with his little friends and throwing the ball around and climbing on the playgyms and going down the slides – I love seeing him have a good time.

We finally left about 4pm, we'd been out all day!! We hardly ever gogogo for this long without a break at home, we were so exhausted! I still had laundry to do so after Des took a bath we commenced with that and then around 7pm he was so ready for bed. My good sweet boy, he slept and slept a most restful sleep. :):)

birthday photo montage

Oversize Me

oversize me
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

We've been cleaning out our closets for a community clothing exchange that I'm organizing with a friend. Desi, who's increasingly imitative, went rummaging through my closet himself and found this happy colored t-shirt (an old girlscamp tee from Philadelphia) He held it up to me and I said thank you and put it back. He protested. I didn't understand. Later in the day, he fished it out again and I listened longer and taking a guess put it on him. Smiles! That was what he wanted. He was very happy and asked to... go walking!

WalkWalkWalk

walkwalkwalk
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

Now that the weather is most pleasant, every night when Desi and I get back uptown he's ready to go back out again and walk!! He's relentless while I change and gather together beverages and balls, "walkwalkwalkwalk", "gowalkgowalkgowalk", "gogogogogogo!" he'll stand by the door, follow me around the apartment, bring me shoes... All the while I give him assurances and the count down before we can leave, "first we have to change your diaper, then mommy's going to change her clothes..." These adults and their trappings!! He's happiest when we don't take the stroller and he can be big and free. He won't hold my hand, so I herd him with my body though I insist on carrying him when we cross the streets -- he's learning to accept that. We'll often go to the park, but sometimes we'll just run errands and he'll stop and play on any old thing along the street. He loves sitting on stoops and feet level window sills, loveslovesloves climbing stairs and recently hanging from any sort of railings or bars on ramps or stairs. He greets people and dogs and jabbers excitedly about how happy he is, flinging his arms, rolling his head; "happy!" is his newest word.

This series of photos was actually taken last Saturday while in Inwood Hills Park. We ran into some friends and Desi got to sit on the medium sized bike. He loves bikes -- points them out to me all the time, "bike!". Hoping to get him a little Kettler or a foldable tricycle. Also, one pic shows his first Elmo toy, or rather, as he calls him, "LaLa" after the catchy little tune Elmo sings. Elmo is cool.

Photos

PlayGroup

PlayGroup
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

Hooray for NYC and all the parks and playgrounds for our kids to meet, mix and playplayplay in! From left to right is Kaleb, Oliver, Desmond, Ruby, Kaden and Porter. Not pictured is cute little Mabel Jane (solo pic is at ofoto link below)

We will be starting up a park rotation soon which will take us to many different spots in the city. I like the idea of exploring and staying mobile.

When the weather is hothothot, the space behind the kids turns into a fountain zone for splashing and playing. A lot of the parks in the city offer this alternative to preserve the fire hydrants for emergencies only, I'm sure! I can't wait for Desi to discover the water -- he will go wild!!

Thursday pictures

Playing Ball

playingball
Originally uploaded by globalgirl246.

Later Thursday afternoon we walked to the Inwood Hills Park. At the first playground Desi tried unsuccessfully to get the kids to let him play with their ball. He did meet a little girl who turned out to be a hugger too. Finally! She actually approached him with her arms out stretched and he happily responded. They stood there for a bit and then mutually pulled away to look at each other again and then decided they must embrace one more time. He was so happy! It was him however, for the first time, to wrestle out of the hug and toddle away. We left the playground to walk more throughout the park. He loves walking, he'll say, "walk, walk..." and grin and wave his arms. As we passed the tennis courts, Des charmed a tennis player into giving him a ball and when we reached the second playground in the park he finally found a group of folks that would let him join in on there ball play. It helped that it was a dad with his kids. He stood with them and played for about 15minutes!! It was so nice!! I sat on a bench and watched with a little girl who talked prettily and blew bubbles. Des kept turning around to look at me with the biggest grin on his face! He was so happy to be playing with the kids. From there we wandered down to the water, stopping to collapse and roll around in the grass. He's so funny! He likes to collapse and just lay on his back for fun sometimes. He was doing this with the ballplayers just moments before, but in the dirt. At first we thought he just couldn't get his balance and then we all realized he simply wanted to lie in the dirt! hehehe... Anyway, we eventually reached the ducks and found a rock to sit on to feed them. Des would say, "ducks!" "quack!" then he'd use the power throw he'd just been polishing to toss them the bread, whacking me in the face a couple times with his gusto. After we'd been out for an hour and a half, I strapped him into his stroller, swabbed him down thoroughly with a wipe, and then gave him a beloved apple. Apples totally cheer him, he loves them!! It convinced him it was time to sit back and relax and head home. He held the apple tightly and munched, with happy little occasional bursts of, "apple!" and "byebye!"