Posts Tagged ‘The Incredibles’

  • Nonstop

    1

    A few posts ago I wrote about Jude’s Jekyll and Hyde-type split personality: One minute he’s vegged out in front of the computer screen, eyes glazed over, watching The Incredibles or Finding Nemo; the next he’s up and running (often in circles), yelling and laughing (and sometimes falling) with reckless abandon. Yesterday morning, we walked to a playground on Paulina to play. A few minutes after we arrived, a father and his son (three months older than Jude) arrived. The boys played together for a while, running and climbing on the play structure. The father and I sat back and watched the boys and chatted, and suddenly, in the midst of an unrelated conversation, the father tuned to me and said, “Wow… he’s… crazy.”

    Preceding this comment, Jude had run full throttle up the play structure ramp, thrown himself up two separate platforms, grabbed the top of the tunnel at the top of the slide, swung himself back and forth a few times, and finally sent himself flying down the slide. Then he got up and started the sequence all over again.

    That sequence of events pretty well sums up life here at the Frank household. It’s a crazy whirlwind of adventure most of the time, so you can’t blame me for relishing in the nearly two hours of uninterrupted calmness The Incredibles afford me.

  • A Mental Pick-Me-Up

    5

    Today is not what I would call a “good day.” Jude woke up around 7:20am, and within seconds was whining and crying and screaming and making me want to shove screwdrivers in my ears. Getting out of the house and to the park was a HUGE ordeal. Playtime was marked with bouts of crying and whining. I’m exhausted, both physically and mentally. As soon as the twelve o’clock hour rolls around, I’m going to go to town on the bottle of wine that’s calling to me from my kitchen counter.

    What I want to do it bitch and moan about staying at home every day with the boy. I want to garner sympathy from others who understand what a tough job being a mom (or dad!) is. I want to quit, go into my bedroom, shut the door, curl up on the bed and have myself a good cry. But I won’t.

    What I’m going to do instead is tell you all about my fantastic son and the things he does that make me smile.

    He watches The Incredibles daily. He requests “Movie!” and “‘Corn!” each and every day. And while that piece of information might make you want to throw him into the “Couch Potato” category, I beg you not to. Instead, come over one afternoon and watch as he runs around, in a circle, for what seems like hours on end. Watch as he runs down the hall yelling “I FAST!” and “RUN!” Listen to him as he tells you all about Dash and Jack-Jack and about the rocket he waits patiently to see in the latter half of the film.

    Jude likes to practice “oga” with me (yoga, for those who aren’t fluent in ‘toddler’). He asks for the oga video and intermittently mimics the instructor on the screen. He likes to do Downward Dog and Warrior II beside me on my sticky mat. He really likes to climb on top of me when I’m in Plank or crawl underneath me while I try my hardest to do Cat.

    Puzzles. Puzzles are Jude’s new favorite indoor toys. My mom got him a few when we went to visit Scranton in May, and Jude is finally taking to them. One of the puzzles has a piece for each letter of the alphabet with a picture of an item beginning with each letter. A-Airplane, B-Books, C-Crown… You get the idea. Usually after nap time, Jude drags my yoga mat over to the far end of the living room, grabs his puzzles, lies down and matches puzzle piece to corresponding picture. Sometimes he asks for my help, other times he’s content to play on his own.

    And finally, he naps. Nap time makes me smile. During nap time I can catch up on sleep or read the many blogs I love but tend to neglect. During nap time I can enjoy a cuppa or a piece of cake. During nap time I can read. Or, I can write a blog post…

    Cheers!