Santa Claus is Coming to the Library

Last week it was Frosty the Snowman; this week Santa came to visit at story time at the Savage branch of the Howard County Library. A good time was had by all, including our friends Patricia, Zahra, and Saree. We started with a jingle bell song which Jacob clearly loved:

He rang the bells so fast, they're blurry!

Lucy liked the bells too, though she wasn't as proficient as Jacob:

Where did Daddy hide those bells?

After some stories and more songs, we started the craft. This craft was super simple: put some stickers on a blank ornament. Jacob was completely uninterested, which I blame more on his general unenthusiasm for stickers than on it being a craft. As we crafted, Santa arrived, to the delight of most of the children. He talked for a bit about how he'd be quiet when he came to visit all the boys and girls and how he loved the cookies people left out for him. He advocated carrots for the reindeer since they are so healthy. Lots of vitamins and such.

Santa delivers his PSA (the blond in front is not Jacob)

 Then he went to another room for photos. Lucy was ready to go:

Ready...set...

 In the room, Patricia took our picture while we (meaning me) took the picture of her and her lovely daughters. Alas, I only have our picture to post:

All in all, we had a great time at the library. We can't wait for next year.

Not So Frosty Reception at the Library

What a difference a year makes! Last year, we went to the library to see Frosty the Snowman, which was a lot of fun but also traumatic for Jacob. This year, they repeated the program. So we decided to go again, with completely different results.

The first difference was that friends came along: BJ & Amy & Colin and Teresa & Jeremiah. They all had a good time hanging with the Reningers.

The program started as usual with stories and songs led by our favorite librarian, Miss Ellie. We even sang this song to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":

I'm a little snow man, short and fat,
Here is my broomstick, here is my hat!
When the sun comes out to play,
Down, down, down in a puddle I lay!

Then, last year's moment of dread approached: The Craft. In the space of a year, Jacob pulled a complete 180 when it comes to crafts. He tried to get the kit while Miss Ellie was explaining how to do the craft. I tried to get him to wait, but he was too impatient. The kit included a tongue depressor with a ribbon at the top, three cotton balls, a tiny red scarf, and construction paper hat, eyes and mouth. With glue stick in hand and a marker to autograph his masterpiece, Jacob went to work with this result:

Unfortunately, Frosty did not survive the trip home :(

Lest you think Jacob did this craft under duress, take a look at his reaction to completing the craft:

A thing of beauty is a joy forever!

Afterwards, Frosty made his appearance. My has he grown since last year. I guess snowmaggedon had its benefits.

Many parents had to restrain their children from mobbing the celebrity

We even got a group photo with Frosty:

The photo doesn't show it, but Lucy was terrified!

Even our godson Jeremiah got to sit with Frosty:

Alas we did not get a picture of Colin, but maybe next week for Santa!

Halloween Library Storytime

Tonight I was lucky enough to take Jacob to the Pajama Time story time at the Savage Branch of the Howard County Library. The theme tonight (as you may have guessed from your calendar or from the blog title) was Halloween.

We arrived a little bit late. As we entered, we discovered that Miss Rita had a partner who was translating the books into American Sign Language. Thus we learned signs for orange, black, bat, pumpkin, and a whole host of other spooky words. The story time was almost completely stories, i.e. we didn't sing or dance. But there was a craft!

We formed a big circle and the assistant handed out supplies. We got a purple paper plate, orange yarn, a cardboard bat, a cardboard pumpkin, a cardboard bat, and a cloud with "Happy Halloween" written on it. Jacob grabbed a glue stick and we attached the cloud to the middle of the plate. Then we had to tie the orange yarn to each of the decorations (they had holes punched in them) and then to hole in the bottom of the plate. Getting yarn through a hole was pretty tricky, but Jacob succeeded more often than not. Sometimes he would just get a little bit of yarn in and then let go. The decoration would fall and pull the yarn back out. Luckily, Jacob didn't get frustrated, we just laughed over it. I had to tie the knots since we haven't taught Jacob that yet. When we got home, we showed it off to Mommy:

The bat is hiding behind the pumpkin for some reason!

Busy week at the library!

Actually, it's been a busy week at several libraries. We started with with the end of last week, where Jacob's latest craftiness produced these wonderful sheep at Pajama Time:

Jacob has to protect the sheep from the hungry dinos on his pj's

Jacob's picture shows the sheep a little better & juxtaposed with a random toy on the floor

Our next library adventure was on Monday. We went to Storyville in Woodlawn with Granny. See the photos here, since too many were taken to post on the blog. Jacob had a great time in spite of accidentally biting his lip while removing the drum. He got a little bloody. The family bathroom was no help since it was too environmentally friendly to have paper towels or tissues. I had to use a wipe from our diaper bag to clean up the blood. He really enjoyed working the grill and the cash register, which I guess means a fast food restaurant career is not out of the question. Maybe it'll be his day job to support his drumming passion.

Today (Thursday, September 30, 2010) we went to 3, 2, Fun at the East Columbia Branch of our local library. We were supposed to get a ticket from the children's desk to let us in, but we went the wrong way so Jacob could see photocopiers and the globe. An announcement on the library's PA system caught Jacob's interest and we ran into one of the children's librarians who helped convince Jacob it would be fun. We made it to the room a little late--Jacob still had to stop at every copier along the way and got two drinks from the water fountain before we made it to the right room. The theme was zoos. A story about ordering a pet from a zoo kept both Jacob and Lucy enraptured. Jacob also played along with "Old MacDonald" and a couple of other songs. At the end, he got his usual hand stamp on a piece of paper. While Jacob and I were busy negotiating that with the librarian, Lucy started cleaning up the room! She took all the bean bags that were on the floor and put them on a table. Lucy probably got us a guaranteed ticket to come back to story time at any time, ticket or no. Good job, Lucy!

Good and Bad at the Library

Yesterday (Wednesday) I took Jacob and Lucy to the library. We had some returns to make and a reserve for Angie was waiting for pick up. Also, Angie wanted some more books on potty training to get new ideas for what to do with Jacob. He still has little to no interest in using the potty.

After dropping off our returns, I noticed a free computer, so I thought I'd look up potty training books and we could get them before going to the children's section. What a big mistake that was. Usually, we go to Jacob's section, hang out for a while and then go find books for the rest of the family. Jacob had a little meltdown in the 649.62 aisle. He kept demanding to play with the computers, pulling books off the shelves, and whining without ceasing. Consequently, I grabbed three random books on potty training and hightailed it to the children's area. He calmed down a little bit, but it was very crowded (thanks in part to the triple digit temperatures this week). He picked a puzzle fairly quickly and wanted to go. The hurry was a bit of a shame since I had let Lucy out and she was enjoying exploring the toddler area, cruising the low shelves and playing with the toys. The librarian dutifully retrieved the puzzle for us. I carried Lucy so she wouldn't freak out about being put back in the stroller.

As we headed back into the main library to go to the 30-inch globe that Jacob loves, he asked if we were going to get a book for daddy. I said no, not today. His request made me realize the mistake I'd made. If only I'd have waited to go get mommy's books after the children's section visit, I would have followed proper order at the library. The globe was fun as usual and Lucy didn't fuss too much when I put her back in the stroller there. Checking out went smoothly, though Jacob did want me to pick him up so he could see the receipt print out. He told the librarian that it was just like the printer at the game store. She was impressed. We went home for lunch.


Today, we went to the Savage branch for story time. We arrived just at 10 a.m. so we didn't have to wait for the doors to open like last time. We went in and made a beeline for the children's section. Jacob happily looked through various books and occasionally asked about the computers. He received the usual response: "We can play with computers at home." He seemed satisfied. Lucy was mobilized again to her delight. She even rode for a bit on the rocking horse. Our old friends Miss Ellie and her son Alex showed up. Alex took a turn riding the rocking horse, then as soon as he got off, Lucy raced to have a second ride. She was cute and impressive. Then the bell rang for story time.

Today's story time theme was the circus. Miss Ellie and Alex were there. Alex was acting up, not wanting to sing or sit. I sympathized since Jacob went through a phase like that. Luckily, that phase is over and Jacob enjoyed jumping through the hoop like he was a lion and walking the tightrope (an orange string on the floor). There was a backup on the tightrope, so Jacob only made it halfway across and then stood with the rest of the kids. They looked like they were part of a police line up! A puppet theater presentation of Curious George Goes to the Circus rounded out a fun story time.

But that was not all, because when we returned to the library to check out some books,we discovered Louie from the Bowie Baysox, the mascot of our local minor league baseball team:

Jacob was totally fascinated. He received a high five and an activity book from Louie. We also received a second activity book for Lucy. She has not started chewing on it yet, but I am sure once we give it to her, she will. We went home for lunch, triumphant!

A fine day out

Jacob spent the morning asking to go to a "new-new playground." The "new playground" is hidden within walking distance of our house but has had lots of Jacob and Lucy visits, so it's probably passe by now. A "new-new playground" is one which we haven't visited before. Angie also made a request this morning for a couple of books from the Savage branch of Howard County's Public Library. This branch has a Friday morning story time (with craft). It seemed like we'd get a lot done this morning if I could find a playground.

Luckily, the internet came through with some surprising suggestions: school playgrounds. Howard County has a lot of schools and now that it's July, school's out for summer. We went to Forrest Ridge Elementary School, drove around back and found the playground. In addition to basketball courts and baseball fields, two wonderful playsets were completely empty and ready for customers. Lucy tried out the slide. After going down, she decided to go the wrong way for a second ride:

 Please note: Lucy's hair was subject to static electricity, not a bad hair day.

Jacob enjoyed playing on the playground, too, even venturing across a difficult bridge with a little help from Daddy. I gave enough help that I couldn't take a picture, so here's a shot of the bridge. You can fill in Daddy and Jacob with your imagination:

He kept his hands on the top two bars and stepped carefully across. The second time I think he would have made it on his own but I wasn't confident enough in him not to be right there holding him.

Lucy took a much safe bridge all by herself:

After all this picture taking, Jacob decided (as he often does) that he wanted to take a picture too. Somehow I was able to limit him to one picture. Naturally, his favorite subject is hanging on the side:

Yes, that is Jacob's cheek and ear on the right and the playground on the left. The sun seems awfully large and close in this picture, but it really wasn't so bad.

Afterwards, we went to the library for books and storytime. We arrived a little early and had to wait outside with some other people. It's nice to live in an area where people are lining up to get into the library! Once inside, we found three books for mommy (two with cake ideas for Regina's birthday and one for fun) and a video for Jacob. Then story time started.

Today's storytime was all about the Fourth of July, featuring stories and songs of patriotism. Then came time for the craft. Again with the patriotic hat!! Jacob had a lot of enthusiasm for making it, using the glue stick to attach the stars. Unfortunately, since Daddy was helping in stead of Mommy, the results were not as good:

Note the paper clip holding the star and pipe cleaner and the terrible taping job inside. This was supposed to be a hat for Lucy (since Jacob already made one for himself), but the measurement was far too large. Lucy wasn't allowed to model it since the structural integrity is weaker than a sandcastle's in a sandstorm. In hind sight, I think it would have been better to use the glue stick on the ribbon and stick the stars into the glue rather than putting the glue on the backs of the stars. Maybe there will be a new craft next week!

Jacob Makes a Breakthrough

Special guest blogger - Mommy.

Executive Summary - Today we had an amazing breakthrough - Jacob overcame his fear of story time crafts!

Jacob used to like story time at the library. Who wouldn't? There are stories, songs, dances, sometimes even puppets and bubbles and crafts.

Who wouldn't like this? Jacob.

He's always been very dubious about story time crafts and the dreaded hand stamp at the end of story time. A hand stamp, in Jacob's mind, is basically a boo boo and he can't understand why the other children are lining up to cheerfully receive an injury. For some reason, crafts (sometimes simple crafts are offered at the end of story time) are also a no-no. Jacob has been known to scream "No craft! No craft!" when we try to coax him to the craft table during story time. I've always marked this down as some sort of general fear of all things related to Martha Stewart. In Jacob's mind, perhaps there's a slippery slope - one day you're attaching stickers to a bookmark and the next you're knitting custom lampshades.

Recently, Jacob has been refusing to attend story time at all. However, I felt strongly that this was ridiculous and that he would love story time if we could just coax him in. So, I've been making a special point to take him to Pajama Time, a nighttime story time, after dinner on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We've only been going for 2 weeks now, but Jacob loves it. He has a smile on his face pretty much the whole time. The story leaders are very energetic and dynamic and the other kids are all following along enthusiastically. This week we even broke through the craft barrier and Jacob "made" this charming 4th of July hat.



OK - so his contribution was mostly in getting glue stick all over me and the hat in general. But, at least he was trying. Also, he never screamed "No craft". He did, however, refuse the offer of a hand stamp at the end.


I'll close with a quote from that great patriot, President Whitmore:
"And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: 'We will not go quietly into the night!' We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Let's all celebrate our independence from craft fears.

Lucy at Storytime

The other day at the library's story time, we sang a song which involved hand motions. Since Jacob and Lucy were there, Jacob sat by himself while Lucy sat in my lap. She was facing forward, watching the librarian intently from under her little pink cap. The song (sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping") went like this: Where is bear? Where is bear? Here I am. Here I am. How are you this morning? Very well I thank you. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Hands start behind your back, with one coming out on the first "Here I am" and the other coming out on the second. You then bend your index finger to simulate the bears talking to each other. At the end the hands go to sleep behind your back. The song repeats with different animals.

Jacob pretty much ignored the hand motions though he did seem interested in the song. I was performing the hand motions for Lucy, who I assumed was having as great a time as I with the interactive song. The song went on and on, first the bear, then a squirrel, then a turtle, etc. etc. I saw a mom from across the way looking at us and laughing quietly. She mouthed, "Her eyes are covered." I looked around to discover that Lucy's hat had slouched forward over her eyes, She was missing everything! So I adjusted her hat in time for the last verse. The mom came up to me later and chatted about it.

So my recommendation at story time is to keep an eye on your child's headgear and any helpful parents in the room.

The Scariest Thing at the Library

Jacob and Lucy attended a holiday program at the Savage branch of the Howard County Library on Friday. Frosty the Snowman was the theme for the program that included stories, songs, a craft and a special visit from the snowman himself.

Lucy was very attentive during the program and seemed to enjoy herself quite a bit. Jacob went into his usual passive mode. The librarian handed out colored scarves that the kids used as snowflakes. Most of the rest of the kids swirled the scarves in the air like snowflakes in wind and let them fall to the ground. Jacob just held on to his scarf. I helped him to wave it around. He enjoyed the stories and the sing alongs but would not stand up and dance around. He never has before, so I guess it was no surprise.

Then came time for the craft. Everyone who registered had one craft set to put together. The craft was pretty simple: glue a snowman to a stick, then glue a snowflake to a Styrofoam cup, then stick the stick into the top of the cup. The librarian handed me Jacob's kit. When I asked him if he wanted to do the craft, Jacob said, "No, no, no, no, No, NO, NOOO!!" After about 30 seconds of this, I asked Jacob if we should give the craft to one of the other children who weren't registered. Jacob just said, "No craft, no, No, NOOO!!" So I gave the craft to another child while trying to keep Jacob from bolting from the room before Lucy left.

We headed towards the door when Frosty came in. He waved to us. Jacob went up to him and gave him a high five, which made the librarian escort for Frosty (celebrities never go around with an entourage) laugh. Frosty then left to another room, where Jacob reenacted the high five and I was lucky enough to get the picture:


You would think that Frosty would be the scariest part of the program for kids, but they all loved him. Next week is Santa, so we will see how Jacob and the rest of the kids will do.

Toddler Tales and Tunes Time's Up

Today was the last day of the Toddler Tales and Tunes program at the library. The theme was a visit to the playroom, so songs and activities revolved around playtime and playthings. Jacob had a good time. The lady handed out little drum sticks that we used for banging on the mats or banging together, sometimes slowly/softly, sometimes quickly/loudly. Jacob really liked that, but wasn't very good at being slow or soft. At least he wasn't tossing them across the room like some others. We sang a jack-in-the-box song and pretended to pop out. And the usual tray of toy instruments was brought out. This time as it became empty, Jacob tried to climb into the bin! Luckily I was there to stop him. At the end, she almost forgot to hand out these cute little jack-in-the-box teddy bears. It's a styrofoam cup with a straw poked through the bottom and a little cardboard bear attached on the end of the straw. Pushing the straw up "pops" the teddy bear. Jacob likes it.

This program has been inspirational. The lady running it kept forgetting to do certain songs or activities and would say so. She also didn't like the children to run around and do their own thing; parents were to model appropriate behavior and if one got out of hand, the parent should take the child out of the room. This included not sitting still and quiet for stories. She didn't have a whole lot of energy or animation for the stories. And today was the third of four weeks of almost forgetting the handout at the end.

How is this inspiring? I am inspired by this to volunteer to lead a story time or two. I'm sure I could do at least as well as she did, if not more. The only difficulty is how to get in. I'm sure I'd have to go through some screening/profiling/training/indoctrination before the Howard County Library would let me lead a program for the pre-school set. One of the moms in the group today is a librarian at another branch that knows Jacob, and by extension me. Maybe I can chat with her about what it takes to be a volunteer.

Jacob's day

Jacob's had a tough day. First he and Angie wake up before I do. Typically he likes to bring a book into our bed and read. He does this at pretty much any time of the day. Apparently, he tried this morning but Angie let me sleep. Thanks, my beautiful wife!

The day proceeded fairly normally--breakfast, getting changed, getting ready to go to the library. 10 a.m. story time was our destination. I gave Jacob his froggy sippy cup to drink from on the way there. By the time we got there, his pant leg was pretty wet from a leaky cup (sorry little man for not tightening it enough!). It looked like he had a diaper overflow. Searching the diaper bag yielded a clean top but no clean pants for him to wear. Not wanting to submit him or me to shame, I took him back to the car to drive home. He was very upset about that, as was I. We were supposed to go grocery shopping too. That didn't happen in the morning either.

When we got home, Angie came carefully down to see what was going on. When she heard us coming in, she thought someone was breaking into the house! Jacob and I put some laundry on and played with his blocks and such.

He went down pretty easily for his morning nap, but woke up early from the nap and wanted some lunch. After filling him up, we headed out to the library again (I promised to make it up to him). This trip was much more successful. We found some cool toys to bring home. He actually tried to put on the elephant hand puppet and play with it. Elephants have become big for Jacob. He always demands the elephant marching song from Disney's Jungle Book. We also got the Sandra Boynton book Hippos Go Berserk. I hope it's okay. How berserk can they get? But I digress. The library is having another summer reading program, so we'll probably have Jacob do that again. Last year the theme was "Catch the Reading Bug"; this year's theme is about creativity. I hope it's lots of fun like last year.

The grocery store visit was okay. Jacob didn't go berserk over the bananas we bought, which is unusual. Normally he wants to hold/eat them right there in the store. Maybe the fact that I back up the cart to the banana stand and snuck our purchase right under his seat worked out well. We picked up a 64 oz. bottle of apple juice, which Jacob insisted on having right by his seat. He tried to drink it by biting on the cap. To bad I started an embargo on the sippy cup! One of the other patrons laughed when she saw Jacob giving so much attention to the apple juice. He did get cranky at one point so the pacifier came out. He still charmed everyone at the checkout (where he usually gets cranky since I invariably pick the slowest line).

After dinner, we went to Rita's (caveat clickor: the linked web site has a lot of sound), a local Italian ice and custard stand. Since today is the first day of spring, they were giving away a free small Italian ice. The only difficulty was it did not feel like the first day of spring. The temps were in the mid-40s. Surprisingly, such low temps didn't result in shorter lines. Free is a powerful draw. Angie and Jacob had to flee for warmer stores (the Rita's stand is outdoors) while I awaited our turn. The ices were good. We tried to give Jacob some but he still doesn't trust very cold food. Someday he will understand the joy of ice cream and such treats. Until then, Angie and I will have to pick up the slack for him. We are caring parents. No sacrifice is too great for our son.

Library story time

In case you didn't know it, I am a slave to my 16-month old son Jacob. His will is my command. He rules me with an iron pacifier.

One way to keep him placated is to take him to the library, where a toddler section has fun toys and books to play with. The library also has the advantage of having lots of room to run around in and no stairs to climb up or fall down. The other major advantage at the library is story time. One of the librarians comes in a presents about half an hour's worth of stories, sing-a-longs and games to keep the most tyrannical toddler preoccupied. Today was Toddler Tales and Tunes at the East Columbia Branch!

Jacob and I arrived at the library about 15 minutes early. We returned some books and a toy (yes, this library even loans toys!) and as we headed to the toddler section, I noticed that Jacob's shoe was missing. He wears these slipper-boot hybrids that don't tie, so they've slipped off more than once. So we walked back out to the car and found his right shoe. By the time we got back in, we were only 12 minutes early. Still some time to play in the toddler room before the start of story time.

In the toddler room, we ran into Miss Ellie, one of the librarians from the Savage Branch of the library who hosts the story times there. She was there on her day off with her son Alex, also going to Toddler Tales and Tunes. We caught up a little bit and then headed off to the storytime room.

Toddler Tales and Tunes is a fun month-long program for those aged 12 to 24 months. It focuses on various important aspects of a toddler's life such as being in the kitchen and potty training. Today was kitchen day. Songs were about food (including Humpty Dumpty sung to the tune of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall; I guess he's always depicted as an egg, though the only egg-like characteristic in the rhyme is that he can't be put back together) and cooking and pots and pans. For the pots and pans song, the lady handed out little plastic frying pans and pots for the kids to bang on or bang together. It was a lot of fun when the kids would actually share.

At the end, Jacob wandered over by the shelves and latched on to a large, slim book about the weather. Assuming he wanted to check it out, I let him keep it. We said our thank yous to the librarian and our goodbyes to Miss Ellie and Alex. At the checkout counter, we picked up our reserve copy of Twilight for Mom. All was running smoothly.

Often, I go to Giant (a local grocery store) after a visit to the library since it is fairly close by. Jacob did not want to come out of his seat without his newly acquired book. Figuring it couldn't do any harm, I let him bring it into the store with him. He's in the shopping cart so he won't be able to subtly drop it somewhere without my noticing (unlike his shoes). As we walked the aisles, we ran into Miss Ellie and Alex again. Miss Ellie had a good laugh when she saw us. At first I could not figure out why. Then I realized she saw Jacob with his book. Whoops! I hope she doesn't report us to the library authorities!