Found Another Library!

At this point, you probably think that all we ever do is go to the Howard County Library and the occasional play date. We've done some other things this week.

We went shopping on Monday morning (day before yesterday as I write) and back to the same shopping center in the evening to use our "buy one, get one free" coupon at Meadows Custard. The daily special was a custard called "Dirty Turtle," which sounds bad but tastes good. If you've ever eaten the candy called "turtle," you know it's a blob of caramel with five toasted pecans stuck into it and coated in chocolate. The pecans look like four legs and a head, hence the name "turtle." Such a description hardly does justice to how tasty such candies are. Anyway, this custard was clearly based on the candy and we weren't sure where the "dirty" part came from. The custard is chocolate with caramel flavoring and toasted pecans. They were the best toasted pecans I've ever had. We should have bought a pint, or a gallon, or the recipe.

Yesterday (Tuesday morning) we had a fun play date. Lucy is on the verge of walking and tried to show of some skills. She pushed a little ride-on toy around the first floor. The host's younger sister is about six months old and is on the verge of crawling. She tried to show her skills by chasing after some toys. The older children got along quite well. Jacob had so much fun he forgot to ask Patricia for her cell phone!

Today we went to visit mommy at work. We didn't see her office, instead we met out by the planes in the parking lot. No fooling, check them out:

She had some leftover snacks from a party, so we all had some cookies and grapes. Actually, Jacob didn't have any because he couldn't be bothered from playing with the rocks underneath the planes.

Since we were half way there, we went on to the western branch of the Anne Arundel County Library. They have a lovely children's section right by the entrance. The play area was fenced off by a train and included Legos, board puzzles, bead mazes and stuffed animals. Jacob and Lucy had a fun time playing with the stuff and the other kids. One little girl kept coming by and patting Lucy on the back. We rode the elevator to the second floor and walked around the grown-ups section. Jacob wanted to play with every computer we walked by. Luckily no one was using any of them. He is getting better about whispering in the library which is gratifying for me. Then we headed home for an early lunch and nap. The library was a fun discovery and will be a good stopping off point on the way to the comic shop in the future.

Tomorrow we are off to Costco and to our local library to return some items that are due. It's shaping up to be a fun week.

The Longest Drive Ever!

Now that enough time has passed, I can talk about our morning excursion last Wednesday. The original plan was to go to the Savage Library and then on to Annapolis to hang out at the mall there, go to the comic shop and buy some groceries (Lucy and Jacob go through milk faster than light through a vacuum). Jacob had a completely different agenda in mind.

Jacob spent the morning begging, whining and flat out stating that we were going to the "Millis Mall," which translates to Arundel Mills Mall. This continued through breakfast and snack time. Eventually, he started throwing toys to make his point. I told him after the second toy that he'd get a time out if he threw another. He picked up another toy. He smiled. He threw it. Then he said he wanted time out in mommy and daddy's room. He was pretty smug about it, too. So I put him in his own room. Then he really pitched a fit about being in the wrong room. Lucy and I hung out for the two minutes then released him from his prison. Now he was upset and we were running late for running errands.

So I decided to concede and draft a new plan: we could go to the Elkridge Library and the Mills Mall. So we loaded up in the van and headed out. After about 10 minutes of driving, Jacob fell asleep! At 10 in the morning! Quite annoying, so I decided we would just drop the books that were due in the outside box. Not having been to the Elkridge branch before, I drove past it and had to turn around. So it eventually worked out. Then I saw a Shell gas station, which is offering a gas discount with a grocery store frequent shopper card. The card didn't work, so I had to pay full price. After that, I told Lucy we would head home and put Jacob in his bed.

Driving back down I-95, a truck with a smoking engine was pulled over on the curb. Everyone in front of me had hit their brakes to slow down and look, so I had to hit the brakes too. I braked hard enough to wake up Jacob 5 minutes from home. He started crying and demanding the mall again, so we turned the car around yet again and headed back north to the mall.

We finally got there and followed our usual routine. We visited the coin-operated ride-on machines, riding them without coining them. Lucy rode on some of them for the first time. Then we walked over to the book store and hung out in the kid's section, which features a Thomas train table. On our way back to the car, we looked at the waterfalls and the fish tank in Bass Pro Shop. Jacob was finally satisfied and we headed home for lunch.

Lucy was very patient through the whole affair and got to eat a quarter of a slice of bread with her lunch as a special treat. Jacob had his usual peanut butter sandwich with fruit on the side. I was worried that nap time would be delayed since Jacob slept in the car, but everything went normally.

Changing plans constantly was a challenge. I'm glad I rose to the occasion, but I hope the occasion does not arise again.

Lucy's New Ride

Lucy has made another first today. Gone are the highly hazardous days of riding in her stroller while Jacob rides in the cart. We went to Costco today. Since Lucy has done so well at home sitting by herself, I decided to try her out sitting next to her brother in the shopping cart:


This picture is after we checked out. Lucy clearly is not having as much fun as she was at the beginning. She did have a good time, though. She didn't even try to take Jacob's cookie from him when we tried a sample. Some day, you too will get to sample Costco's finest, Lucy!

Jacob was constantly looking over his shoulder, back to the past when he was the lone rider. Alas, that past is gone. Or maybe he was looking to the future, when he'd ride in the cart with the groceries. Most likely, he was looking for the next free cookie.

Fighting a losing battle

Today was day four of the snow removal marathon. Since we were walloped with over two feet of snow on Saturday, I've been slowly digging us out. On Saturday morning, I dug out the car and the front walk. On Saturday evening (after the snow stopped), I dug them out again and got down the driveway as far as the sidewalk.

Sunday I dug out most of the side walk in two shifts (morning and evening).

Monday morning I dug out the rest of the side walk (which included cutting some tree limbs that had fallen and been buried about a foot down in the snow) and in the afternoon cut our way out into the street. We went to Chick-fil-A to meet some friends for dinner to celebrate our escape. See pictures here. It was a lot of fun to catch up with people and just to get out. Arriving home, we didn't make it up the driveway due to snow and ice that had fallen from the trees.

Tuesday morning I dug out to the street again, since the plow came through at some point in the evening. Of course, that meant icy, solid snow. We managed to make it out to play date. Angie was off, so she came too. I dropped her and the kids off at Chloe's home while I headed off to the store for more provisions.

The store was swamped with people. Most of the milk and all the fresh meat were gone. Most of the produce was gone too. The only bananas left looked green enough to serve on St. Patrick's Day. Still, I managed to get some food for us. Then I had the luxury of shopping at the liquor store without the two tots. I could by four bottles of wine without any juggling! I returned to play date to hang out for another half hour or so. We came back home for lunch and naps.

After we all woke up (except for Angie, who didn't get a nap), we went to Arundel Mills Mall for our last chance to walk around, because...guess what...it's snowing again. Another 10 to 20 inches of snow is expected. Which means another day or two of shoveling. Just when I saw the finish line for the snow shoveling marathon, they move it back another 26.2 miles! Yikes!!

Jacob's Jealousy Reaches New Depths Today

When Lucy was first born, Jacob was not too jealous of her. Angie and I had heard the typical story. An older sibling tells mom and dad after a week of living with a new bundle of joy that the infant can go back now. Jacob never said that to us and has always been very good and affectionate with Lucy, for example:


What could be more affectionate? Things have changed this week, however. It started with Jacob taking toys and books out of Lucy's room and putting them in his room. To be fair, some of them were Jacob's previously (though Lucy did receive her own copy of Goodnight Moon, and it's unclear to me why Jacob needs two copies; nevertheless, he took both). Lately, Jacob has been asking to get into Lucy's crib and into her playpen, as for example:


Today was the biggest move yet by him. We had gone shopping to the local grocery store. I've developed this system where Jacob rides in the shopping cart and I pull Lucy's stroller behind me. Sounds awkward? It is, but it is much easier than going through the process of putting Lucy in a carrier and taking her out again. The stroller also has a handle at the front so I don't have to pull the stroller backwards through the store. We are like a little train in the store, with Jacob as the engine (even though I provide all the power) and Lucy as the caboose.

But enough of this digression, the important facts are Jacob was sitting in the cart and Lucy in her stroller. We got back to the van. The parking spot on the passenger side was empty, so I pulled the cart by the side door with Lucy in the stroller by the back wheel. I opened the front passenger door and loaded a couple of bags. As I turned back to the cart, I saw Jacob finishing a kick at Lucy's stroller which sent it slowly rolling away from the van and into the traffic lane. My heart leaped almost as fast as the rest of me did. Another van came by at the same time. The women rolled down her window and said how she was scared to see the stroller come out. Yikes, Jacob! Have you been playing nice all this time, only waiting for this opportunity?

I'm sure it really was an accident but you can be assured, I'll never load groceries first again.