Days 88, 89, and 90

We were forced inside today by some cold rain, so we did our best to stay entertained. For my son, that mostly consisted of tormenting the dogs. As we are all confined to the living room most of the day, there is only so much sitting space to go around. While he doesn't seem to have any malevolent intentions, his mere presence in their personal space is often enough to get them to jump up and run away. Couple that with the fact that he imitates the way I playfully pat the dogs on the torso with his own (much harder) version, many times on their heads and snouts, and you can understand their reasoning. He's also taken to sticking a toy right in Davi's face in an effort to get him to try and take it from him. More often than not this results in Davi running away in frustration.

It isn't always like that, though. I have always tried to keep Davi and Ellie involved in our playtime. If they look like they want to play, we play. Today I grabbed one of Davi's toys from him and threw it behind me. Due to his age and depending on the light, he may not always be able to see more than a few inches in front of him. When it became clear that Davi wasn't going to be able to find the ball, my son trotted over to it and brought it back for him! Though I knew it wouldn't be long before he would be smacking Davi in the face again, it was a sweet little moment while it lasted.

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It looks like his illness has finally subsided. Just in time for a week off from music class! Once again we stayed inside. He's been spending a lot of time with his shape sorting toys lately. He's also getting very good at figuring them out. He even rarely tries to put the wooden shapes in the plastic holes anymore! I still have to turn the toys on the right side for him, but I suspect it won't be long until he figures that out, too.

Every now and then the dogs respond to his goading for playtime. Today he managed to get Davi to chase a few balls for him. He throws almost exclusively with his left arm. Sometimes the toys go a few feet; sometimes they land behind him. I've managed to "play catch" with him a few times, but he doesn't do much catching. He is good at keeping the ball in front of him, though. I guess as a lefty he won't be playing much infield. Perhaps its time to start teaching him a curveball.

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Our local Food Lion is closing. It's not even as old as my son. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to build a tiny grocery store with very little local name recognition in the middle of a 5 mile radius that includes two Giants, two Weises, a Shur Fine, Redner's, and Target. Regardless, the decision was a poor one. It's the closest grocery store to me, and including today, I've been there a total of 4 times. We went there today solely because everything (not regulated by the government) is 25% off. While the important stuff like Diet Pepsi and Doritos are completely sold out, we did manage to find some baby food, Mommy food, and dog treats.

As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed a very unique, yet familiar, car in front of Five Guys. I stopped the car and peeked in the window, but I didn't see who I was looking for. Just as I was about to get back in the car, Pop Pop G, who restores classic cars, walked out the door and invited us in for lunch. It was a nice surprise, and it gave us a chance to catch up on some recent happenings and further hash out our game plan for the sun room's conversion from tiki bar to sports bar. I also learned that Five Guys sells a grilled cheese sandwich. How about that? Because I wasn't planning on having lunch until we got home, I didn't have a sippy cup for my son. Pop Pop G got him a paper cup to drink out of, and he managed to only spill it on himself once. Not bad at all.