Maple Sugar Time

 For a field trip, we went for an informative maple sugar tour at our local nature center.  The snow has finally (mostly) melted.  But it was windy and cold.  Standing outside in one place and listening for about forty minutes was very taxing for poor Dylan, who had  to go sit in the car with his dad after loudly stating repeatedly that he wanted to go home. (Although as a side note, I had possibly mis-led him by telling him we might be going on a bear hunt and might see a bear and he felt a little cheated. We did see a stuffed bear in the nature center hut, but this is not what he had in mind.)

 Ryan and I learned about how to bore the hole in the tree, insert the spile, and collect sap in a bucket.  The sugar sap that comes out of the tree is completely clear and liquid, like water.  Our nature center guide told us several indian stories of how maple sugaring came to be.

Just when we thought our toes were going to fall off from the cold, we were invited back to the fire.   This is where they cook the syrup down.  There was a large trough hollowed out of a tree which contained tree sap.  In the fire were very hot stones.  The kids got to practice the indian way of cooking the sap by moving the stones to the trough and dropping them in, where they sizzled and hissed.

Happy last weekend of winter! 

Baby Monkey!

 As Ryan would say, the boys often need to go somewhere to "knock some nerves out." Since it is winter, we go to our local mall and enjoy the play area.  It is so much fun to watch Dylan move! He is coordinated and graceful and daring.  I have thought more than once about signing him up for gymnastics should the opportunity present itself.  He has this signature hop that looks exactly like a baby gorilla running.  I managed to capture it above.  I always find it extremely amusing when he gorilla hops!

 While out and about, I usually get comments from other parents.  The first type of comment usually comes from grandparents out with their kids.  They are the kind that sit back and observe all the kids. They say things like, "Wow, your little one is very coordinated!" and shake their heads in admiration.  The second kind are younger parents who are extremely concerned that my little one is climbing the trolley--up and over, hopping across seats and generally keeping up with older kids.  Sometimes other young parents will even go pick him up and set him down on the floor they are so concerned. I tend to see this type of parent scolding their little ones for trying to climb the trolley or walk up the slide. They have that note of panic in their voices.  They are so scared their child will get hurt! I don't really have an opinion on what they should do, but for myself I am comfortable letting my child test his limits and work on his motor skills.  If I am worried for him, I stand near him to catch him if he falls.
But he never falls.  It makes me smile.  He has never once fallen. Not once.  When he was only twelve months old he was swinging from the bar above the slide on the playground. Then he would let go and slide down the slide, laughing.  He never fell. Not once. Sure, it scared me at first and I hovered close by, but I have learned he is a very capable and coordinated child.  He can do it. So I let him test his limits. I think it is good for him to see what he can do.  I have also learned if Dylan does not think he can do it, he won't go through with a jump that's "too" tall or climb something that is "too" high.  He will climb down, or he will yell at me to help him.

 It really seems to scare the parents the most when they see him climb the castle turret and let go, dropping on the inside.  He is not quite tall enough to touch the ground, but he hangs by his strong little hands and then drops the last few inches.  He is in complete control.

  I can't help but feel just a little bit proud of him as he stands on the flowers and straight up box jumps from flower to flower.  It is just a little bit amusing to watch him walk his feet up the tree with Mr. Owl, his hands firmly planted on the ground until he is almost doing a head-stand.

That Dylan

Frequently my husband and I find ourselves referring to our youngest as "THAT Dylan." 

We will come upon three plastic sharks jammed into the heat vent and sigh, "THAT Dylan." 

We will come across an enormous wad of toilet paper in the toilet and moan, "THAT Dylan." 

We will find the baby giraffe stuffed into the mouth of his big plastic alligator and chuckle, "THAT Dylan." 

Then we have moments like we did yesterday.  We were conferring about what to do with our Saturday and Dylan marched into the room with the iPad.  He was watching his favorite Pluto cartoon.  He settled himself nicely in the chair for a few moments but quickly grew restless.  We watched him hold a perfect "plank" position watching his show and shook our heads.  "THAT Dylan!" we murmmered, "Just can't sit still!" 

 Then, balanced perfectly on the arms of the chair he easily performed the yoga move, "Downward facing dog," and continued watching his show.  THAT Dylan!