Tots 'n Turf

Yesterday started early... Maia usually sleeps until 6:45 or 7, a reasonable time by Mommy's standards. At 7 you can venture out into the world, find a cup of coffee, a newspaper, and a freshly baked treat. It's... civilized. 5:45, on the other hand, is not. And for whatever reason, Maia has been waking up at that hour for the last few days. This makes for an always on the edge of being overtired toddler, and a definitely overtired prego Mommy. The silver lining, there's always one where there's a toddler, is that it means we get lots of time with Daddy before he goes to work. Yesterday, Maia decided to read her favorite book to Daddy while he was in the shower: One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey. It was a great way to start the day!

Yesterday also started cold... like, 19 degrees outside cold. (See Mid-Winter Blues for our feelings on cold...) Normally, we would happily ignore the frozen world outside and just snuggle inside until a more reasonable temperature appeared. Yesterday, though, we had no choice but to venture into the frigid air. Gritty has become something of an escape artist... he's pushed through gates, found holes in badly patched fence, and finally... made the great leap over the fence in front of our yard. Left with little choice, we had Invisible Fence installed. Gritty is now in the "training period." This means 2 things: inconvenience and inconvenience. What it actually means is that he is not allowed out in the yard unless he's on leash. Each time we go out there, we have to go through a certain routine, show him his boundaries, etc. By the end of this week, we should hopefully be able to let him have his reign over his domain back, for his sake and mine!

Yesterday morning was the second of our two training sessions, and the first time he was actually going to be "corrected" when he crossed the boundary. So Maia and I bundled up and headed out with Gritty and the trainer. He did great! He didn't like being "corrected," but he's smart (and sensitive) enough that we can keep it on the lowest level and trust him to not break it. The best part of the training is Maia's "assistance," of course. She LOVES Gritty, and loves to do anything the grown-ups are doing. So Gritty got lots of extra praise when he did something right. And Maia even collected a nice pile of sticks for him, once he's let back out to chew, chew, chew.

After we thawed out for a while, we headed out for some fun. There's an indoor sports complex in our area that had the brilliant idea of hosting a weekly toddler playgroup. (Seriously, it's a gold mine!) They charge a not-ridiculous fee ($7 per family, much cheaper than most museum admissions) for two hours of open play on their 20,000 square foot turf area. It's completely escape proof, allowing parents to relax, and they have tons of different balls, tunnels, room to run, and Maia's favorite... a bouncy castle!

As soon as we entered the turf, Maia made a beeline for the castle. She bounced for ages, until I finally convinced her to see what else was out there. We played football (no sacking this time, just tossing the rubber pigskin), soccer, catch with a wiffle ball, batting with a wiffle ball, and did lots and lots of running. Another big hit was the discovery of a Dora tunnel and house! Maia doesn't watch Dora, but she still manages to have a deep love for the character and all things associated. She spent a long time sitting in the house and having a strong debate with another toddler about which side each could sit on. They worked it out, hooray!

It was only a matter of time, though, before we headed back to the bouncy castle. The playtime is for kids 5 and under. Wouldn't you assume that most 4 and 5 year olds would be at some sort of pre-school at 11am on a Monday? Apparently not. There was one big boy in the bouncy castle who kept tackling Maia and wouldn't let her get up. She's a pretty tough kid, and generally isn't bothered by a little rough and tumble, but this was just too much for her. (I mean the kid had to outweigh her by a good twenty pounds, though he was only a couple inches taller.) His mother would look over and absentmindedly instruct him to leave the little girl alone. Needless to say, Maia was quite happy to escape the castle, have some Mommy cuddles for recovery, and move on to another activity. By the time we left, she was exhausted... and we'd had a fabulous time. We can't wait for the next one! Though we're going to avoid any 5 year old boys...