Cars, Playdates and Daycare party

The past two days have been hectic as usual (honestly, sometimes, I get tired just thinking of my own life). On Tuesday, I decided to hop into the car with Son and drive 115 miles up north in Connecticut to meet a friend whom I had never met. I know it sounds odd but it really is simple--I have the priviledge to belong to a group of 20 moms who likes to call itseld the Crazy Mommas - (Mostly) First Time Mommas Over 30. Indeed, all of us are over 30 years old and in September 2008 we all had our first babies (well, to be more precise—we were all SUPPOSED to have our kids in September, but as these things always go, a couple were born in late August and the beginning of October). One of my moms-in-crime lives in the exotic town of Coventry CT. In the spirit of good-byes, I decided to get in the car, drive up there, meet her in person after talking to her for over 2 years and meet her son and her newborn baby. Now, let me tell you about traveling in a car, in broad daylight, with a toddler, when it is NOT his time to nap. The first 3o mins go OK, he plays with his cars, sings loudly, points to other cars and trucks, and is generally in a good mood. The second 30 mins he realizes he is stuck in the car seat for some time. He freaks. You try NOT to let him cry since he will pee himself before you have the chance to park dangerously by the side of the road to let him go potty. You find a book in your bag that you cleverly packed. He is happy for entire 4 minutes. He begins to yell again. You (again, cleverly) toss him a cup full of Cheerios. You buy yourself about 20 mins. Once that is over, he is seriously bored. You resort to singing--if your baby repertoire is as poor as mine (Old McDonald and Twinkle Twinkle pretty much sums it up), you try the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, Black Sabbath, even truly horrendous versions of Kelly Clarkson's hit songs. It does keep him amused (I wonder why...) for another 20 mins. You are almost there when the storm really hits. You end up stopping at a parking lot 10 mins from the place you are headed only to discover that he has, after all, peed himself. Peeved and disappointed, you get back into the driving seat, tell him to zip it and get there.

Meeting my friend was fantastic, and while our kids did not play together at all, they had fun playing along each other. Individualists...books do say that is what happens at this age, so no surprises there. While we were there, I managed to put together a crib for my friend's baby. I am handy that way. Son becomes obsessed with a Fisher Price garage thingy. He actually refuses to leave. I drag him out of there by carrying him under my arm. The drive back was surprisingly easy. Not sure why. He simply chewed on his sandals most of the time. Yes, I did tell him not to. Like, 128 times. Another great thing I found out on this trip is turkey franks. Son LOVES them. We are all stocked up now.

And today, we had Son's end of the year party at daycare. All kids danced, sang, ran, screeched, played, pulled, fell, beat up an Elmo pinata (?????), ate, drank, pushed and shoved. It was fabulous and I have some absolutely awful video footage to prove it. I can tell you though, even though Son is the youngest at his daycare, he did insist loudly on beating the Elmo pinata as well. Boy, was I one proud mommy...

On a different note, the Diplomat keeps insisting that I cease calling him that and switch to Mr. D or something like that. He thinks it sounds like I am mocking him. Now why would he think that? Also, I am not likely to stop.