Alex's Third Fourth

This weekend, Alex got to celebrate his third Fourth of July. In recent years, it's become a tradition of ours to spend the Fourth watching fireworks at a friend's house. Alex has been there every year since he was born, but this is the first time he showed interest in fireworks.

Our weekend started on Friday, since I was off from work, daycare was closed, and Eugene only worked a half day. I wanted to take Alex to the library to play in the morning, but it was closed. Instead, we bought Alex some summer-weight pajamas, browsed at a pet shop, and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. (Alex had to get a balloon, of course.) Alex fell asleep on the way home but woke up when I tried to take him out of the car. We hoped to take him to a local festival in the afternoon, but the carnival didn't open until the evening. By then, Alex had a late nap, which made it tough to put him to bed. It didn't help that our neighbors kept shooting off fireworks. The noise startled Alex, but once we showed him what fireworks were, he was entranced and kept asking for them. Still, it took me two hours and four attempts to put him in the crib before he was finally sound asleep.

Saturday was unusually cold and rainy for the Fourth--we couldn't spend it in the park. Instead, we had lunch with Eugene's mother and brothers. I took my laptop along to entertain Alex with videos. He got a decent nap on the way home, allowing me to write, but then Eugene had a headache and needed to sleep it off. (I had a headache too, but I don't nap very well, and Alex wanted to play with me, so there's no rest for the mother.) We wound up getting to our friend's house around seven, later than we normally do. There was still plenty of time to eat (Alex ate a cupcake first and went for the burgers later) and play. Alex particularly enjoyed a playhouse (he laughed whenever I climbed in and out of the windows), a toy riding pony that made sounds, and a slide. We pointed out the early fireworks to him, and he kept running down to the edge of the lawn to get closer. He was pretty good during the show itself, though he did go up to Eugene a couple of times as he was taking pictures. We finally left around ten, well past his bedtime. We changed him before leaving, so he fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep when I put him to bed. Unfortunately, he woke up at 5:30 crying, so everyone had to get up too. At least he's taking a good nap now. Hopefully we can take him to the park or enjoy the last of the weekend in some other way.