Thursdays are Toddler Story Times at the local library, so around 9:45, we suited up, Mal got onto his tricycle (after I caught both of the cats he let out), and we walked over. We were a little early, so Mal did several puzzles first.
After "tasting" most of the treats on the numbers puzzle (sorry, Jonestown friends; the germs should be dead by the time your kids get to this), he went to look for the stepstool.
He kept telling me that the stool was "Mal's." He's really into possessions and that things need to belong to him. He's been possessive on behalf of others for a long time (crying when I let a lady at McDonald's use my phone, or when the maintenance guy took our microwave, etc.), but recently takes it very personally that we have several drawers in our common area that are specifically for D's arts and crafts. He'll reach in, pull out the glitter or food dye, and say, "Mal's," then fuss when I remind him they're D's... until I give him something else to play with.
Anyway, we were talking about these books, and I walked over to other aisles to see if there were any more stools. I said, "Nope. There is just that one stool with the grown-up books." So he would say, "Mal's stool? Grown-ups." Over and over.
He was the only kid there, so he got some one-on-one attention from Mona, one of the two librarians who does story time (the other one, whose name escapes me but I'll remember after next week) moved here after retiring from working for Clark County, so we were in Las Vegas at the same time!
Anyway, the second week of being the solo toddler has really been to our benefit, as you know well that this child is active and just doesn't sit still naturally. The librarians have been so patient with him, waiting for him to come back, and even changing out books to keep him plugged in. Love it!
After the stories, he colored a dog... and got distracted when his soccer sticker fell off.
When he was finished with the picture, we walked up and across the very busy street to the Subway James told me about. I'd not been before. It's super beautiful there!
We had a coupon for buy one and a drink/get one free, so I got a veggie on multigrain flatbread, and he had a melted ham and cheese. This is the first non-PB&J sandwich he's ever eaten!
Oh, and check out that lake view out the window! It was so pretty, we decided to finish the meal outside. Did I mention we set a record for today's high? It got up to 83 in Austin proper, but I don't think it broke 80 here.
On our walk home, we passed a filling station (what my Mema used to call it) that has a locally well-known barbecue joint inside. I hadn't noticed this sign before.
When we got home, Mal wanted to check the mail. It was empty, but we waited... see down the street? It's the mail truck!
There was something from the company that built Mal's swingset!
It was a flying disc! (Not a FrisbeeTM.) We played with that in the back yard, but I don't have pictures because... it's hard to take pictures of yourself playing not-Frisbee. I also moved a bunch of random old fence wood to the back of the yard and made a rectangle where I think I'm going to throw wildflower seeds for spring. I want to garden, but I have no idea what I'm doing. This seems like maybe a place to start.
After a while, we came back in and Mal watched Daniel Tiger, finished his lunch, and relaxed.
We ended up going back outside later, to the front yard, and spent a couple of beautiful hours raking, pulling out dormant stuff, replanting things, and clearing out old growth. Again, I don't know gardening, but I can use a rake. And so, apparently, can this kid.
He had a lot of fun, and we both got filthy. We raked, we swept, we watered. We met our caddy-corner neighbor, whom James met before we moved in. He has a neat screened-in porch with a writing desk at the front corner, and I often see him sitting there with the lamp on reading when I go past. It makes me happy.
Finally, we got this view as a parting gift from our day!
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