I was at home from work this morning with LJB. He had his first Occupational Therapy session and it was really great. I really like his OT and her style. We sat in the floor and played and played. LJB eyed us curiously. He doesn’t play with his toys. He might hold on to a ball or matchbox car and he will watch his train circle around the track for ages, but he doesn’t really play with them. He takes blocks and stacks them as high as he can reach, stands back to marvel at his work, then walks away. Satisfied.
Today we spent a good while teaching him that it is fun to knock the blocks down and then rebuild them. He caught on after a few times, but he was still looking at us and the new tower of blocks, not entirely sure why we would build them just to knock them down again. I love watching his wheels turn.
By saying that LJB doesn’t play with his toys, I am not in any way saying that he doesn’t play. It’s just a little unconventional : ) One of his favorite games is fetch. Not with the dog. With Mommy. He has me very well trained.
Sometimes, fetch goes over our 3rd floor balcony. He loves to throw stuff over the balcony and then stare at it on the ground. He usually comes to get me and Mr B and asks us to stare at his latest feat. Often he wants me to hold him so that he can lean over the edge of the balcony and stretch as far as I will let him from 3 stories up and stare at whatever he tossed overboard. Mr B refuses this. Sometimes I do it just to watch the queasiness sweep over Mr B’s face, the whole time hanging on to my kiddo with a vice grip.
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| Step 1: Gather suitable objects for throwing. |
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| Step 2: Wind up and let 'er rip. |
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| Step 3: Admire the carnage below. |
In the evening once LJB goes to bed, Mr B or I will go downstairs, around to the back of the building and pick up the latest free fall victims, just so they can be tossed out again tomorrow. Secretly, I like this routine. I like to watch him stare down below and I like to try to figure out what he is thinking about. Sometimes I would swear that he is trying to use telekinesis to retrieve his toys. Sometimes when the ball and water gun that he threw over yesterday are happily waiting on the couch for him when he wakes up in the morning, he is convinced that he has.
At noon today I left the world of a 2 year old, put the blocks away, and joined the adult world. I came into work to 7 new voicemails. One of them has me perplexed. An adult living in a 4th floor condo in a busy metropolitan area tossed a flower pot over the back of their balcony onto a public sidewalk. As if that wasn’t enough, the flower pot was engulfed in flames as it hurled towards the street below. There was a walking tour of the city preparing to leave as the flaming flower pot hit the ground. The condo inhabitant stared down at his latest feat in a pile of charred potting soil. I realized the adult world and the 2 year old world may not be that different after all.
Flaming flower pots. This may be my new favorite expletive replacement ; )
Leanna
love your writing Leanna.
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