Daley Ponderings

It has been a long time since the last time Jonathan and I went out on a trip together, and Heather suggested that I take the kids to give her some time to clean and other things by herself.

First, we glued all of the dining room chairs, since they have been falling apart more than usual lately.  Then, Jonathan and I changed the oil in the car and topped off the various fluids. 

I did discover that our jack is a little worse for the wear after jacking up Iva Mae's shed a couple months ago.  It was very handy in raising the shed a couple inches, and replacing all of the foundation, so it would probably be worth it, even if it broke it entirely, but I do need to keep an eye on the jack - that it might be more likely to slip, and lower the car by itself.  I haven't been always careful about always using jack stands every time, but will have to do that from now on.  It no longer lifts its full height, but maybe only 6 inches.  Also, I highly recommend the bottle jacks, driven by hydraulic pressure, since Jonathan can jack up the car by himself (and has been able to for at least a year), which he probably couldn't do with a regular jack.

I managed to change the oil without spilling anything more than a couple drips, which was nice for a change.  Our oil bucket was full, so Jonathan and I drove it to Pep Boys to be thrown away.  While we were there, we picked up a off-brand Nalgene water bottle, that I thought Heather might like.  Later, when Jonathan was filling up the water bottle, he stated that it didn't look like a water bottle, since it was made of glass.  I said that it still was plastic, just not opaque like our usual water bottles, but transparent.  After studying it some more, he declared, "It doesn't look like a water bottle, it looks like transmitted light, and if you push this button, it turns on."

When I positioned the oil bucket in our car to not tip over in the trunk, for some unknown reason, I put my keys in the trunk, and promptly locked us out.  So, we walked home (about a mile, though I carried Jonathan from about the halfway point to most of the way home).  I got Heather's keys, and went back and got the car.  When I got back, Jonathan was almost asleep, but he said that he did want to go to the store with me, so we had lunch, woke up Noah, and headed off together.

Heather had gotten down our Snuggli backpack for Noah, but he isn't old enough for it yet (stated instructions say that the passenger must be able to sit upright unassisted).  But, Jonathan can still fit in it, since he lost weight since last year.  So, I put Noah in the sling, and Jonathan in the backpack, and we had a fun time together, though it was just a short trip to Home Depot, so might not have been worth the work getting everyone assembled.

I forgot to say that in Pep Boys, Jonathan likes sitting on the 4-wheelers, motorcycles, etc.  Today he discovered a two-passenger go-kart that was pretty fun.  "It has seatbelts, but not any doors."

We then headed over to Payless to get some shoes for me, as the last pair I bought for myself turned out to not really fit very well (too narrow) and so squished my feet.  They are size 12 or 13, and are a running-type shoe - let me know if you want them.  Jonathan did say that one pair of shoes that I put back (too small) on the shelf would be better for Aunt Janet, though I pointed out that even though they were too small for me, they would still be rather large for Janet (size 12).  I ended up getting two pairs, since the second was half off, and my feet have finally stopped growing (both pairs I purchased today were size 15, though sometimes I get 14s, particularly if they are wide).

Jonathan had been talking about going to a "Junkin Pole" store, and I said I didn't know where it was, but if he knew where it was, we could go there.  He said I did know where it was, though when I asked if I had been there, he did concede that he could show me how to get there.  It would take more than two hours to get there, though after I said we wouldn't be able to get home until bedtime, the distance changed to "just a bit of hours away".  He told me that there is spicy food, "so you will like it", boy food: candy that is best to eat just before bed and brushing your teeth.  Since he had implied that his teeth would be brushed in bed, I asked him how that would work, and it turns out he is an inventor at heart, because he launched into a decription of "automatic toothbrushers" consisting of automatic hands that come out of a hole in the wall and brush your teeth for you.  I asked if the automatic hands would gag him (a current problem when we brush his teeth - even prior to the toothbrush enters his mouth, a la Grammy style), but he had that covered, since the automatic toothbrushes would be short, though long enough to work in my mouth as well as Jonathan's.  When he repeated the story for Heather, he added something about automatic beds that would lift you up so the automatic hands could reach your mouth, and lower oyu back down when it was time to sleep.  The store also contains "mommy food", though he didn't explain what that was.

Upon leaving the Payless, I noticed that Trader Joe's was in the same plaza, and since that has been the most recent fad store, figured I would check out what all the fuss is about.  I told Jonathan that this was his Junkin Pole store, so he was excited about that. He carried the basket around, though kept putting it down, and forgetting where it was about 3 times an aisle. We walked through the whole store, looking at everything, and Jonathan "read" all the labels to me, the food was generally either labelled "my number 1", "my number 2", etc. or what you would expect them to be labelled, but with an added suffix that sounded like "unkin", "pole", etc.  The soymilk was labelled "unkin white flour", which seemed a little odd.

Lots of people thought Noah was quite cute (of course) in the sling. And at Home Depot (the only time I carried both of the kids) got the usual two types of looks - one of thinking it was cool to see a dad with his kids, etc. and the second - what kind of crazy/poor/unfortunate parent has to carry his kids around with him everywhere he goes.  At Trader Joe's, there were a number of comments between couples, "see - there is a thing I have been telling you about", followed by a skeptical look from the husband. (One guy couldn't contain hisyou'll-never-get-me-to-wear-that snort)

I bought a small bagful of things, though I didn't see much to get crazy excited about.  Prices seemed alright, and possibly better than other stores that carry the non-artificial-flavor and preservative stuff.  I saw one sign that said anything with the store name on it was guaranteed to not contain those sorts of things.  I bought some shrimp that were on sale.  We didn't buy any pistachios, though Jonathan insisted that the pistachio-unkin-nunkin-nuts were on sale.  I found a jar of curry sauce, with a recipe on the back that basically said, throw a bunch of stuff in a frying pan with this sauce, and that's it.  I bought a loaf of pumpernickel bread, after calling Heather to verify that having fondue would be good.  (Noah liked the pumpernickel - I don't remember if Heather has already posted it - Noah has been eating a lot more than Jonathan ever did.  He did choke a bit when Heather tried to let him bite off a piece of bread, rather than breaking off a piece for him)  I found some frozen nan, which I hadn't ever seen before, and figured it was worth trying once.  Heather said that it was cheaper than the Whole Foods version.  They also had a nice (at least looked nice, haven't tasted it yet) chunky, fresh, "hot" salsa, so we will see what that is like.

Jonathan started to act a little crazier by the end of the trip, and I probably talked to him a couple times, and held his head until he calmed down a couple times, but I didn't realize he was tired until I asked him on the way home if it was a fun trip, and he didn't really answer - and I asked if he was alright - it seemed like he had gotten sad all of a sudden.  He answered that it was a fun trip, and that he wasn't sad, and wasn't thinking about anything.  Probably 60 seconds later, he was asleep.  I had him go to the bathroom downstairs before coming up, and as I was taking off his jacket, he kept almost falling over, he was so tired.  But, once we got upstairs, he was done being tired, and told Heather all about the day, and then helped make dinner, and is still going strong.

I forget when he first made it up, but Jonathan made up a song to sing to Noah when we asked him to comfort Noah one time, the main (and sometimes only) line, "My little baby doesn't cry".  Generally sung while Noah is crying.  And he also learned a song at the babysitting for women's bible study, though the only line I have heard is "over the hills and far away".  Today, he was singing variations on those two themes, substituting rhyming words, generally at the last syllable, though sometimes in the middle as well.  I don't remember all of them, but "cry" changed to "tie", "kai", and finally settled on "kayak" for a few "verses".