I had every intention of taking some great pics of them playing but I quickly discovered that it is tough to capture Kodak moments when a little one is in perpetual motion.
I needed a "super-charged" shutter speed. As it was, I sounded like desperate Italian paparazzi as I cajoled "Daddy Fish, look this way!" "Nemo, smile for Nana!" "Turtle, hold still for just one photograph, please!"
The little one in question was trying to be both the driver and the passenger in the mock-up car, which should give you a good idea of the strength of her little personality.
She'd occasionally hop out to gas up the car and even obligingly filled it up for some other tykes, too. In the meantime, I hovered around like a helicopter parent though I was easily one of the oldest ones in the play area.
Sweet Pea loved playing in the ball bins but it was nigh impossible to get a posed picture of her in them. She decided they were like swimming pools and would dive in to one headfirst and then "swim" around in it before lobbing out some balls and then heading out over the side to chase them down before beginning the process all over again.
She was a perpetual motion machine. Thank goodness she had a striped shirt on because I just followed the blur of color from area to area. One play spot that I thought she would really enjoy was the little "fort" area with slide and I kept trying to get her over to that.
She finally made her way there and as I started to direct her to the stairs, she blithely walked straight up the slide, to my horror. I lurched to the slide with my hands at the ready to catch her, should she fall over backwards.
"Now, sit down and slide back down," I said, but before I could finish my sentence, she came tearing down the slide UPRIGHT! Parents around me were giving me the old evil eye so I clasped her hand and gamely said, "Um, we usually go down a slide on our bum, Honey!"
Back she went up the slide walking it once again but this time I was ready for her and stood ready to catch her, should she need me. Free spirits! They keep this world interesting.
In the meantime, brother "Spud" was not a happy camper. He didn't want to be put down anywhere. No matter what enticing toy we tried to set him next to, he puckered up and clung to the Commander like a little monkey. He's teething, too, at least from the amount of drool that he was producing, so I don't think he was feeling his best today. He DID rally later on the ride home, doing those little "dolphin" chuckles that he does when he's tickled about something.
Tonight they were both exhausted and I could sympathize. I was tempted to tell Sweet Pea, "Hey, you think you have it bad. Nana has swollen feet and arthritis in her hip today!" But then, I'm not a toddler, I'm not teething, and I know I've been getting more sleep than anyone else in the house so I put on my big girl panties and said, "Anyone want Nana to read them some stories?" The smiles and cuddles were just the medicine I needed.
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