This weekend, we headed up to the OC where Gabe and Rhiannon were hosting a party for watching some dumb football game on TV. At first, Diana and I weren't sure what to do, and we fell back to our default position, which is that I'd go, and Diana would stay home and Allison would take her nap at her normal time and stick to The Routine. Allison takes a hour-and-a-half nap in the afternoon, and we work pretty hard to keep that consistent. If she's sleeping until 3:30pm, and dinner/bath/bed starts around 5:30pm, that doesn't leave much time for a 50 minute drive each way.
But then Norm and Teri announced that they were heading up with their entire family for the game. "The kids can nap in the car," they said, "or maybe they just won't nap at all." It struck me as a good time to try to expand our comfort zone and push the boundaries a little. Diana was down with the idea, so we headed up a little early, had lunch and played for a while. When it came time for her nap, Allison spent a good bit of time fussing around in her crib. With ten minutes before kickoff, I went in and pulled a manual override, rocking her in my arms until she fell asleep (putting females to sleep is apparently my secret X-man power, I'm discovering as time goes by).
The rest of the afternoon was interesting for Allison. Gabe and Norm's oldest kids are much older and bigger and louder than she is, so she viewed them with a great deal of caution. She warmed up to Norm's middle kid Tyler, who is closer to her age and a little calmer when he's not under the influence of his older brother.
And in spite of how much she talks about them behind their backs, she still is pretty nervous around my group of friends. I'm trying to be patient, but I really am looking forward to her opening up a bit around them. It was so cute to watch Eryn read a Lego book with Colton, and see how much fun both of them had. Allison recently learned about Spiderman, and frequently says "Spiderman makes webs from his hands… like this!" and she'll shoot a hand out, fingers splayed, and go "PSSSSSSSSSS!" with a big smile on her face. At some point, I said "Allison, my friend Mike likes Spiderman. You should show him that!" and she really seemed pumped on the idea. But when the time comes, she clams up and says "No, Daddy, you do it." I know it will change as she gets older, but it's just too bad that they don't get to see the same little girl that brings us to much happiness.
Speaking of adventures, we hit up Legoland on Saturday, and discovered that Allison was big enough to ride the roller coaster. She's seen roller coasters in her books, and watched the one at Legoland many times, and always looked forward to the day that she was "bigger, bigger, bigger!" enough to go on them. Well, Saturday was the day. We waited in line, Diana and I constantly wondering if this was really a good idea. It's not a huge coaster by any stretch, but it goes ten times as fast as any other ride she's ever been on. We got to the front of the line and on board. The safety bar was a belt for me and a chin-strap for Allison. I told her to hold on tight, and we headed up the incline.
She did a good job on the ride. She cried out "woo!" a food times, mimicking me, and even raised her hands up in traditional roller coaster style for a second (which I didn't do, but she must have observed others doing). She didn't seem scared or cry or anything, but didn't appear to have a good time, either. When it was all over, we talked about it.
Me: Allison, you did such a good job! What a big girl you are! Was that fun?
Allison: Yeah!
Me: I was a little scared, but sometimes being a little scared is fun. Were you scared?
Allison: No…
Me: Do you want to go on it again?
Allison: No!
We decided that we might try again "someday", when she's a little more "bigger, bigger, bigger".
But then Norm and Teri announced that they were heading up with their entire family for the game. "The kids can nap in the car," they said, "or maybe they just won't nap at all." It struck me as a good time to try to expand our comfort zone and push the boundaries a little. Diana was down with the idea, so we headed up a little early, had lunch and played for a while. When it came time for her nap, Allison spent a good bit of time fussing around in her crib. With ten minutes before kickoff, I went in and pulled a manual override, rocking her in my arms until she fell asleep (putting females to sleep is apparently my secret X-man power, I'm discovering as time goes by).
The rest of the afternoon was interesting for Allison. Gabe and Norm's oldest kids are much older and bigger and louder than she is, so she viewed them with a great deal of caution. She warmed up to Norm's middle kid Tyler, who is closer to her age and a little calmer when he's not under the influence of his older brother.
And in spite of how much she talks about them behind their backs, she still is pretty nervous around my group of friends. I'm trying to be patient, but I really am looking forward to her opening up a bit around them. It was so cute to watch Eryn read a Lego book with Colton, and see how much fun both of them had. Allison recently learned about Spiderman, and frequently says "Spiderman makes webs from his hands… like this!" and she'll shoot a hand out, fingers splayed, and go "PSSSSSSSSSS!" with a big smile on her face. At some point, I said "Allison, my friend Mike likes Spiderman. You should show him that!" and she really seemed pumped on the idea. But when the time comes, she clams up and says "No, Daddy, you do it." I know it will change as she gets older, but it's just too bad that they don't get to see the same little girl that brings us to much happiness.
Speaking of adventures, we hit up Legoland on Saturday, and discovered that Allison was big enough to ride the roller coaster. She's seen roller coasters in her books, and watched the one at Legoland many times, and always looked forward to the day that she was "bigger, bigger, bigger!" enough to go on them. Well, Saturday was the day. We waited in line, Diana and I constantly wondering if this was really a good idea. It's not a huge coaster by any stretch, but it goes ten times as fast as any other ride she's ever been on. We got to the front of the line and on board. The safety bar was a belt for me and a chin-strap for Allison. I told her to hold on tight, and we headed up the incline.
She did a good job on the ride. She cried out "woo!" a food times, mimicking me, and even raised her hands up in traditional roller coaster style for a second (which I didn't do, but she must have observed others doing). She didn't seem scared or cry or anything, but didn't appear to have a good time, either. When it was all over, we talked about it.
Me: Allison, you did such a good job! What a big girl you are! Was that fun?
Allison: Yeah!
Me: I was a little scared, but sometimes being a little scared is fun. Were you scared?
Allison: No…
Me: Do you want to go on it again?
Allison: No!
We decided that we might try again "someday", when she's a little more "bigger, bigger, bigger".
1 comment:
I feel pretty lucky that I've gotten glimpses of Allison being herself.
It only took two years for her to actually not be afraid to make eye contact with me. :)
Go me!
Gwen
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