Booger Boy

Aerin loves her stuffed animals. She has 3 favorites: Henrico Bear (a polar bear with a pink sweater that reads, "I was born at Henrico Doctors' Hospital"), Pork Pal (a small pig that we kept in her isolette), and an unnamed lamb (suggestions welcomed - it's a boy lamb). She will bring one or all of them over to me, climb into my lap, and hug them. It's so cute. She can do this for hours, though, which is less than ideal for me.

Today we went to the Mother Goose story hour at our local library. This is misleading in that they don't read any Mother Goose and it's only half an hour. It's the 6- to 24-month-old group. This isn't the storytime that I remember, where you sat quietly while the librarian read to you. There is singing and dancing and clapping games. Aerin was pretty unimpressed with all of that and chose instead to walk/crawl around the room. I picked her up for a bit and she was more interested in the pictures on the walls. She did participate during the times when the kids were supposed to be quiet or there was a lull - she spoke out, in full voice, "Daddadadadadadada!" Her timing is remarkable and her voice is impressive, too. She will definitely be a singer. She did enjoy the part where we all trotted in a circle with little bells. The librarian handed them out, but I just couldn't take a set or let Aerin. I know they're not sanitized between kids and there's no way I'm compromising Aerin's health. The librarian looked at me like I was nuts when I politely declined, but I'll bet she catches a lot of yukky bugs.

It was at the end of the (half) hour that we had a traumatic (for me) encounter. I was loading all of our stuff into the stroller. Aerin was already buckled in and enjoying an apple wheel when a little boy walked up to us. I'm sure he has a given name, but he'll always be Booger Boy to me. This child's face was so coated with boogers that I actually gagged. They were colorful and enormous and encased in an astounding amount of dried mucus. I cannot imagine what this child's mother was thinking. This was a situation that had surely been building for hours and there was no way she couldn't have noticed it. I know kids can be messy and dirty, but this was like nothing I've ever seen and I've seen some stuff, y'all. He eyed Aerin's apple wheel and I knew we had to get out of there, so I threw all our stuff in the basket and retreated to the YA section. Aerin was oblivious to the danger she was in, but I'm scarred for life. We'll be trying another branch for next week's story (half) hour. And we'll both be encased in a large, plastic bubble.

Prayers

Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and families of the Virginia Tech shooting.

On the Go

Aerin's Grandpa came all the way from New York City to see her and we all had a lovely time. Aerin especially liked to hear Grandpa read her favorite books in his New York accent - she was riveted. Grandpa gave her ice cream and she really enjoyed it (not as much as every other baby I've ever seen, but she's not as into food as most babies).

I finally feel comfortable reporting that Aerin can walk. Her longest sojourn to date is 15 steps without stopping or falling. She still crawls some, but she loves to walk. Aerin is a very self-aware child and knows when she should be proud of herself. She just beams when she makes it from one place to another. She stacked 6 blocks the other day and grinned from ear to ear.

We're finally cleared to go to story hour at the local library and I just can't wait. I think Aerin will be in high cotton because she loves books and she loves other kids. I'm trying to decide on the perfect outfit.