Lovin' It!

I am loving the dates with each of the kids! I was a bit nervous about it at first, but now I find myself looking forward to it each week. Yesterday was Ben's day, and we had so much fun together. Although it started out with Ben kicking, screaming, and biting me since I was taking him away, it ended up rather nice (isn't that the same thing I wrote about Maddie's date last week?)
It was a cold morning, but the weather report said it was going to warm up, so I had already decided to spend the day at the zoo again. Ben and I got there around 10 and it was still chilly, so we each wore two jackets. As soon as he realized where we were, Ben started asking for the lions. He was pretty interested in the rhinoceruses, and then he saw the elephants and giraffes and was amazed. Since it was his day, I let him set the pace. It wasn't much of a stop at any of the animals before he would say "Bye-Bye! Now lions." It was sort of funny that he wanted them since they take the longest to get to from any direction. He did get a kick out of the penguins, but again, it was "Bye-bye, pen-gen. Now lion!" When we got to the lions, he squealed with delight . . . for a minute. Then it was "Bye-bye lion. Shhhh. Sleeping." We had lunch overlooking the giraffes, elephants, and zebras, and Ben was thrilled each time something moved. It was awesome to see and hear his joy -- I should just say it was contagious. I loved soaking up every one of his delights and feeling it from my heart to my toes. A day spent with one of four is so very, very different. All my senses are focused on one kid -- feeling his warm hand in mine; watching his smile and the sparkle in his eyes; hearing the thrills and trills in his voice; listening to him talk, and talk, and talk, not understanding all of it, but loving it, just the same; smelling the scent of his freshly-shampooed hair and the smell of salty hot dog on his fingers; and all the while not having to worry about where the other three are and what they are doing to each other. I am learning more about them as I have each on their own. Ben usually seems like the dare-devil, but he has a timid streak. He wouldn't go near animals without me close by. He preferred holding my hand to walking freely. Walking into the dark reptile house? Ben wouldn't go into the dark, or through a door unless I was holding his hand or carrying him. He was just as curious about the squirrels, waterfalls, and pebbles on the sidewalk as he was the elephants and lions. It turned out to be a sunny, beautiful day that eventually hit the low 60s, and I'm glad we spent most of the day in the sunshine. We ended our day walking around the mall -- or rather, I walked, while Ben napped in the stroller. When we went to pick up the other kids, Jon spotted Ben at the door and gleefully ran to him, shouting, "My Ben! My Ben! My Ben!" That was just plain cute. When we got everyone in the car, I told Ben to tell the kids what he did, and he said, "'r-raffe" Will asked if he saw the giraffe at the zoo, and Ben said "syes!" Then Ben told them he saw elephants and lions and pen-gens and frogs and shoes. Shoes? I guess I forgot to tell him to keep part that a secret. :)

When we got home, the kids were tired, but not tired enough for another nap. We gathered all the pillows in the playroom, opened the windows, and felt the breeze on our faces as we laid in the sunbeams. The perfect way to nap -- except that all four kids ended up jumping on me instead. Why is it that an adult lying on the floor looks like a horsey? I don't think they've ever seen a dead horse, let alone ridden one; so why, why, WHY do they insist on being cowboys when I'm resting?