Owen is having a race. He isn't racing against anyone in particular, he's only making endless laps around the Davis coffee table with his toy motorcycle. The motorcycle is red, therefore one of the crown jewels of the toy bin here at Grandma's house, and it makes a "wrreeeee" siren whenever he presses a button on the side. I think he prefers the siren to an engine noise, because then the operator of the motorcycle and hum an engine noise as he circles the table. It isn't a loud siren, but it pierces downstairs from upstairs, and certainly into Felix's room from where the other boys are sleeping.
Owen was up early this morning. Something about being at Grandma and Grandpa's has given him permission to get out of bed as early as he's awake and I'm frightened he's going to insist on this precedent at home. He opened our door at 6 AM and asked if it was getting-up time yet. When I told him to go back to bed he went downstairs instead, but finding that there were no adults or ready breakfast down there, he returned to our room and started asking for J. I told him that she was asleep on the other side of me, but he didn't believe me and opened the door to Felix's room to look for her there. That got us both out of bed right quickly, and Owen earned himself an hour curled up between us in our bed, which might have been what he was after all along.
James is upstairs, probably arranging toy cars atop the old chest in their room. They are camping out in sleeping bags on the floor this visit, and yesterday James laid in his while J tucked Felix in next to him on his pillow. James still hasn't said terribly much about his baby brother, but he was quietly content to lean on a skinny arm and just look at him for a half hour, trying to make eye contact with him and inspecting his face.
Yesterday we walked them down to a neighbor's pool where we have an open invitation, and after about an hour of floating in the Very Safe pool float with the biggest life jacket on, J coaxed him into the water with just the life jacket. (And a swim noodle.) He made his way out beyond the steps to where he could just barely touch, retreated multiple times, and then came out further. I kept Owen (in the float) back at the other end of the pool and watched as she convinced James to just float in the life jacket and then eventually to kick his feet and paddle out into the deep end. By the end of our time there he was paddling from the deep end to the shallow end just as freely as he pleased.
Love this sweet little piece about a family’s day at their grandparent’s place. Looks like it was a day full of fun, staying over at grandma’s.
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