Corbin's First Campout: Day 1

It's hard to know what a two year old will think of any new experience, so we had a lot of anticipatory conversations in the month leading up to our big camping trip. One weekend we even set up the tent in Corbin's room and let him sleep in it overnight. He was very excited about everything we told hime about: cooking on a fire, sleeping in a tent, trees and rocks to explore, and lots of friends from church would be there. He really latched on to the idea that there would be wild animals around, though I repeatedly tried to temper this expectation.

We had to deal with stop-and-go traffic for the first 45 minutes as we left town. Corbin threw up, which I think was his first bout of motion sickness because he was fine the rest of the weekend.

When we got to Lake Mineral Wells State Park we checked in at the gate then found our group's campsites. We ended up with six sites along a road, with each site having spaces for two tents, a campfire ring, a picnic table, a faucet, and an electrical outlet. The first thing we did (after putting on some bug spray) was to explore a little around our campsite. Corbin wanted to look for animals. There were lots of little overgrown footpaths that connected all the campsites through the woods and eventually led to the lake. We took off down one and I pointed out things to be careful of like thorns and prickly-pear cacti. Corbin liked finding big rocks to jump off and just seemed to enjoy soaking it all in. We ended up at another campsite in our group, two families with 5 girls and their bicycles, scooters, and hula hoops. We said hi then went back to the road to walk back to our camp.

Corbin helped me set up our tent. Well, Corbin lost and then found tent stakes and tried to avoid thorns, but we got it up. Next we found some dry leaves to put in the fire ring. The state park system has a rule against collecting firewood there, so we brought some from home. Corbin seemed really fascinated with the fire. He kept putting more sticks in when I wasn't looking, so I had to set him straight a couple of times. Later on he discovered that if he dropped his food on the ground Daddy wouldn't let him eat it and he would get to throw it on the fire. Since he didn't make it a game or habit, I continued to let him do that.

By that time it was about 5:00 and the Norrises arrived at the campsite across the road. We go to Lee and Jennifer's house for our small group, and Corbin loves playing with Ms. Kitty (Jennifer's mom) and the boys (20 month old twins, Lock and Harrison). All the boys had trouble recognizing that there was a road between our campsites, so they all ran into it multiple times. Thankfully, it was just a road to more campsites and not to the lake or something busier. It takes the Norrises a lot of time to do just about everything (for obvious reasons) so I lent a hand when I could and offered to let them use our fire when they were ready for dinner.

It was just about dusk when Mark, another guy Corbin knows from our small group, showed up. We helped him pitch his tent, which was a weird shape therefore not a straightforward process--especially in the dark!

Now we could finally get started roasting our hot dogs! It was already 7:30 or so, but Corbin was doing just fine. I showed him how we could put the hot dog on the hanger and then put it over the fire, not on the log or in the ashes! Then we put it in a bun with ketchup and he ate the whole thing! He dropped his second hot dog after a few bites, so he got to throw it on the fire. By this time the Norrises had arrived with their "organic" hot dogs and marshmellows and we all had a good time. Corbin was very social with all his friends.

Lee and Jennifer took the twins to bed, but Corbin was still doing fine even though it was well past his bedtime. I started my Dutch oven peach cobbler and homemade ice cream. Well, the ice cream never really froze, but after 45 minutes the cobbler was excellent. Kitty just poured some of the "ice" cream on top of her serving and loved it, so that's what Mark and I did as well. Mark then went and found a few more people to share our cobbler, since Lee and Jennifer never came back. Corbin never tried his, though he usually eats peaches fine.

By this time Corbin was starting to get really tired, so after I rinsed the ice cream maker off we walked about 150 yards to the bathroom to get ready for bed. We changed his diaper in the tent and then went to sleep relatively quickly.


Next, Day 2: Fun with Friends in the Great Outdoors

Church Picnic

Our church Easter picnic was the day after our excursion to see Thomas the Tank Engine. We had a picture perfect day for cooking out, hunting eggs, and just playing outside.

Corbin had lots of fun hunting Easter eggs. He'd had plenty of practice over the previous couple of weeks at home. Farland told all the kids (the under 4 group was separate from the big kids) to just get 12 to make sure everyone got plenty. I noticed Corbin counting his eggs midway through the hunt and realized he had actually listened to the instructions and was following them! He stopped at 12 all by himself. Once all the kids reached a dozen Farland told them to get them all, so we came home with plenty.

There was a bounce house again, and this time

Corbin got in. Mommy or Daddy had to hold his

hands through the doorway, but at least he jumped

this time. It does make me a little sad when 18-

month-olds will do something Corbin is too afraid

to try.

We also played on the playground a little and made plans to go to the zoo next weekend with some friends.

What a Weekend!

A couple updates first:

Corbin seems to be giving up his naps. I think he slept a school once over the past week. Even last weekend he really didn't sleep. This of course leads to more crankiness and whining.

March and April are very busy and stressful as Angelique finishes out her last semester at seminary. It is my job to keep Corbin occupied, preferably out of the house, as much as possible. Good thing the weather has been so nice.

On Saturday, Corbin and I went over to Old Town Grapevine to the train depot. Thomas the Tank Engine was making an appearance and I thought it would be exciting for Corbin. Tickets to ride the train were $18 for anyone 2 and up. That was a bit steep, so we just went to see what we could do for free.

We had to park a couple blocks away, but Corbin held my hand as we walked back to the station. Right across the street was an old fashioned general store with a bunch of windmills in the front. Corbin was pretty impressed and wanted to climb them. I think this was actually his favorite part.

Next Corbin wanted to ride the miniature ponies. I paid and then let him pick which pony to ride. He wanted me to hold his hand the whole time, which wasn't very long. The guy at the gate commented that he didn't ride long, but didn't offer to give me any money back. Several of the other kids were Corbin's age and even younger, but none of them wanted off so soon and many didn't even need someone to hold them. We watched the older kids ride slightly larger ponies for awhile and I was able to sneak a few pictures. I think we'll wait until he's out of this clingy stage before trying to ride an animal again.

We went across the street to the rail yard area to see Thomas the Train and the big crowd of people. We crossed right on the tracks which would have given us a good picture opportunity with Thomas, but somebody told us we had to go 50 yards up the street to the main entrance. When we came in that way we found a table set up with lots of sticky bubble blowing paraphernalia. Then Corbin alternatively wanted to run around or be carried around. There were some old-fashioned craftsmen/shops set up (glass blowing, blacksmith, etc.) which we did not enter. We walked the entire length of the area to a little train that kids could pedal with their hands to go around a track. The attendant also pushed them along the track to make sure everyone kept up. We didn't want to wait in the long line for this, so Corbin got in an identical little car they had outside this ride to let me take some pictures.

Heading back to the front/Thomas, we walked past the line to take pictures with Sir Toppemhat. We stood in line to get temporary tattoos while Corbin drank his juice, but when he finished he decided he didn't want to wait in line any longer. Next we watched some kids in the bounce houses. It looked like a lot of fun, so Corbin got up the nerve to try it. Well, almost. I got his shoes off but when I lifted him in he whined and fought with me, so we tried to find Thomas again. We had to go around the other side of the station/ticketing area to get to the tracks. Again, someone blocked our way from taking pictures.

By this time Corbin was just a little cranky so we decided to leave. It was almost lunch time anyway and I only had $2 cash. It's so rare for someone to NOT take credit cards that I didn't realize I was down so low until I paid for the pony ride. What's wrong with the funnel cake vendor to not accept credit cards?

We got a picture of Thomas from across the street and then walked back to the car. Actually, I carried Corbin kicking and screaming.

Chick-fil-A for lunch, but since I didn't know/follow Corbin and Mommy's routine. this didn't go well either.

After we went home and got a nap, we went to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. He wasn't there, but a couple of his animatronic friends let us take our own pictures and didn't charge $15.

Fun at the Park

Today Corbin and I went to the park. First we played in the sandbox. We brought a shovel and pail, but when we got there, there were already lots of other shovels and pails. So Corbin got to try them all out, little ones, big ones, yellow ones and blue ones. When some big kids started playing in the sandbox Corbin decided it was time for us to leave.

Next we got our kites and picnic and started looking for a big clear area. There was a softball tournament going on, so we had to walk a long way to find enough room. First we flew the Pooh kite. It's just a cheap little diamond shaped kite with a maybe 100 feet of string. If it wasn't so windy today, I'm not sure it would have stayed up at all. Corbin liked it ok, but it really didn't hold his attention for long.

Pretty soon he wanted to get out our picnic lunch. Corbin sat at the picnic table very well while eating his peanut butter sandwich and oranges. We watched joggers, bicycles, dogs, and ducks while we were eating.

After we cleaned up our lunch mess we got out the other kite. (Mommy bought two because they were so cheap she expected them to tear up easily.) Nemo flew just as high as Pooh. I let Corbin hold the string and he had some fun running back and forth. I was watching the kite and I noticed that the string seemed to be really slack, though it wasn't losing altitude as if the wind died down. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the end of the string tumble past me headed toward the lake. I could hear Corbin crying behind me. I ran as fast as I could and finally caught up to it about 10 feet from the water's edge. Nemo was about 3 feet above the water's surface when I caught the line, and the kite amazingly shot upward instead of into the drink. Considering Nemo spent an entire movie trying to get back to the ocean, I thought that would have been an ironic way to lose a kite.

Corbin understandably was ready to put the kites away, so we went back to the playground. I checked the time on my phone and told him we could play for 15 minutes. We swang and watched some of the softball girls go really fast on the tire swing. I checked the time again and told him we had 5 minutes until we had to go home for naptime. We played on the equipment and Corbin did really well on the balance beam. Mommy called and asked if we were on our way home yet. Corbin didn't really want to leave yet, but he followed when I started walking toward the gate. He then asked for my phone, so I let him hold it. He opened it up, looked at it, then said "Not nap time, lunch time!" Pretty funny. It's amazing how much he picks up on. I reminded him we already ate a picnic lunch. Then he wanted to call Mommy, so we walked the rest of the way to the car holding the phone to his ear saying "Yeah...yes...by the water...in sandbox..."

It was a good morning, especially considering how difficult he's been the last week. He just hasn't wanted Daddy at all. Hopefully this will start us off on the right foot for this week.

Dr. Corbin and Mr. Hyde

by Daddy

Over the last couple of months Corbin has been like two different kids. Sometimes, he is the sweetest, most polite 2-year-old you could imagine. Other times (seemingly the majority of the time) he is the epitome of willful disobedience and defiance. Since we don't give in to his tantrums, we're at a loss as to why he keeps throwing them so often and for so long. Shouldn't he have learned by now that it doesn't work? He's gotten lots of spankings and time-outs recently.

But today he was almost the perfect child (aside from waking up the first time at 6:30 on a weekend). He helped me make scrambled eggs like we do every Saturday. Then he quietly looked at his Valentine cards while I cleaned the breakfast dishes. Then we did puzzles and popped bubble-wrap (a new discovery!) until it was time to get Mommy up at 9:00. The rest of the morning he alternated between playing with Mommy and/or Daddy or by himself. He ate lunch well, then took his nap without a fuss.

After he woke up, we went to the zoo while Mommy went to the seminary library. He had lots of fun looking at all the different types of snakes, lizards, and turtles. When we went to the Texas animals exhibit, he laughed at the chickens, tried to pet a calf, tried to pet a pig (and avoided getting splashed by the urine), then finally got to pet a soft goat. Corbin let me take his picture on the stagecoach and in front of a huge alligator. Then he spent a long time looking at the coyotes, mountain lions, and jaguar. When it was time to go, we got on the train with only a little fear, then found Mommy's car waiting for us in the parking lot.

We ate dinner at a restaurant, and Corbin was very polite--telling the waitress thank you for bringing his high chair and ordering his own food. He flirted with a little girl at the next table, then made up a song about the yellow train at the zoo. Even though we got home late, he didn't fuss that his bath time was shortened or that he didn't get a story. We brushed his teeth, prayed, then went to bed without protest.

It's so rare that we get to see the good Corbin for a whole day. When we do, it makes me think that maybe we're not doing it all wrong, maybe he'll turn out alright. You never know what tomorrow may bring--especially when there's a two year old in your life.

Another prayer...

Tonight while we were still sitting on the couch after brushing his teeth, we asked Corbin if he wanted to say a prayer. He said yes and it went something like this: "Thank you God for Elmo and Zoe, crayons, blocks, books, trains, cars, bed, 'tato head, couch, Elmo, Legos... Grandma and Grandpa and Papa and Nana and Uncle Steven...AMEN!"

I just about lost it when he said couch. But I'm thankful he got around to people and not just the things he could see.

For the past three weeks he's been going through his normal list of "Obey Mommy, obey Daddy, obey Grandma and Grandpa, obey Papa and Nana" and adding a new member, "obey Uncle Steven." I don't think anyone ever told him to obey uncle Steven, but I've been getting a kick out of it. I don't think he spent any more time with Steven than Louise or Bob or Karla. Somehow Uncle Steven made quite an impression over Christmas break.

Corbin's first prayer!

Mommy spent most of the day reading books on child spiritual development for her seminary classes, so Corbin must have learned something by osmosis. He was playing by himself while his dinner was being made, and climbed up to sit in Daddy's chair where he started "reading" his Bible. His favorite story is when Jesus was lost in Jerusalem at the temple, so he started loudly calling out, "Jesus! Where are you?" It's very cute. But then for whatever reason, he bowed his head and prayed out loud, saying thank you for everything he could see. The Bible, the high chair, his Mommy. He interrupted himself to tell Mommy to be quiet (who had folded her hands), because "Corbin do it." Then he finished and said amen. Mommy clapped and cheered. Sadly, Daddy was out of the room, but he was very proud, too.

Corbin is 26 and a half months old. :-)


P.S. to Nana and Grandma: I added several books to Corbin's wish list today. I hope he doesn't have to wait until his birthday to get some. (But no rush, because I also ordered plenty on my own.)

Two months behind, yikes!

Uh oh. It's been two months since our last post. Corbin's grown a lot in that time! Let's see... back in November we had Thanksgiving in Arkansas, spending the week at the Moses' house. Corbin had a great time, and we all miraculously survived the car rides to and from. Leaving first thing in the morning made a big difference; we arrived at our destination just in time to go down for a nap. Most recently, Corbin spent nearly four weeks in Arkansas over the Christmas break. Darrell and Robertta came and spent the weekend in Dallas and took him back with them on December 10th, because Mommy had finals the next week. He stayed with the Coles for a week before Mommy and Daddy came into town, then another week before spending one night in Harrison with Gran and Gramps. The last week was at the Moses' house before we all came home together on January 2nd (after the Razorback bowl game). Then two days later, Daddy left for an interview, followed by the arrival of Nana and Papa for a weekend conference. Corbin's been understandably confused, and still doesn't quite realize that seeing his grandparents so much isn't going to continue.

Corbin received lots of great toys for Christmas. (Fortunately, Mommy and Daddy returned to Dallas for a couple days alone and cleaned out all the ones he'd outgrown, making room for the new.) These days, he loves to play with his stacking alphabet blocks, new magnadoodle pad, driving steering wheel, electronic game pad, cash register, and new car mat with traffic signs. We've had almost half a dozen stay-at-home days now, and he's shown no sign of getting tired of anything. He also got several new books that we've been reading repeatedly before bedtime.

This past Friday, Nana and Mommy took Corbin to the zoo. It was fun, though exhausting. We tried to visit the monkeys first, but he was a little freaked out about something there. So we came back to them last, and that went over great. We got to see the male lion roar, and even the tiger. Corbin just kept looking for "more animals." Near the end of our visit, we rode the little train back to the other end. I asked him in several different ways if he was sure he wanted to, and he said yes until we actually got in line (even before the train arrived), when he started crying pretty hard. He was scared, but we didn't relent. After the train started moving, he was okay. Not exactly smiling, but no longer scared. We finally left the zoo at 2:00(!), and he fell asleep almost as soon as the car started moving.

So, what's changed in the last two months? Corbin's vocabulary and sentences are better, of course, and even his pronunciation is improving slightly. We still have to ask him often to repeat what he said, and don't always figure out what he means. He sings a lot now, making up songs just like his Mommy does. It's always a riot to listen to him talk to himself in his crib before or after sleeping.

He's been very affectionate, hugging all the relatives he barely knew (when prompted). A funny moment happened at the Johns' Christmas gathering when he handed out bells and proceeded to direct everyone in singing Jingle Bells, followed by the ABCs and a few other personal favorites. Mommy was almost laughing too hard to participate.

We've been working on un-spoiling him from all the grandparent time. That may be their perrogative, but it's our hard work afterward. He's back to saying "please" and "thank you," sometimes without reminders. But he's being very defiant, yelling "NO!" at us when we tell him to obey. Consequently, there has been an increase in spankings. What's cute is when he tries to negotiate everything. We'll tell him to eat 5 bites of broccoli before he can have more bread, and he'll immediately respond with, "Three." I'm not sure how much he's doing it on purpose, because he also argues when we tell him that Gymboree (or whatever) is in five days. Corbin would shake his head and say, "Six." Why would he want it to be longer? Maybe it's because at bedtime he "bargains" for more books or songs. I'll have barely started the last song before he starts demanding, "Two more songs. Three more songs. Four more songs." It would be funny if it wasn't so exasperting.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up better now that life is getting back into a routine. Corbin will go to school two days this week, then four thereafter.

Two Years Old!

Well, we all survived Corbin's second birthday. It was a long week, but Corbin had a great time. He was so excited when Grandma and Grandpa walked in the door on Monday (an hour before bedtime). They had fun walking outside and going to the park. He also loved his new basketball goal, though he liked his new Little People garage even better. Tuesday night we had a cake, and Corbin did a good job trying to blow out the candles. Corbin helped decorate it by telling Daddy what to draw. Wednesday was another play day. Then Nana and Papa came in on Thursday, so we all went to Macaroni Grill together for dinner. He opened one present that night, a book that he could read before bedtime. Grandma and Grandpa then went back to Arkansas. Nana and Papa took Corbin to Gymboree on Friday, which was immediately followed by a trip to the doctor's for three shots. Corbin has been cranky and irritable since then, probably due in some part to the soreness he must be feeling. He later opened a latch-board, a box of Wiggles books, a bath toy, and a tricycle. The latch-board was perfect timing; he can do some of them, but some are still a challege. For whatever reason, he LOVES the Wiggles books. The books themselves are nothing special, but he just loves that there's a set in the box. We haven't figured out all that his new bath toy will do, but that just leaves more for later. He's still figuring out the tricycle; it's taken him a day just to learn about steering. His feet just barely reach the pedals (with his shoes on), so that part will undoubtably take a while longer. Nana took him to the park on Saturday while Papa was at a local elders' conference. He sure was sad when they went home. Now we have to deal with the fallout; hopefully his behavior won't be too much of a battle. He was surprisingly agressive this week, using hitting much more often than usual. Hopefully he was just overly stimulated with all the attention, and will calm down this coming week. Unfortunately, he's going to have to go to daycare all five days, since Mommy has to work on Monday and do schoolwork on Friday. He should move up to a new class, too, which could either be great or just a hard transition.

One of the neatest parts of the week was his consistency with using the potty. He went peepee pretty much every time it was suggested to him. And once he even asked to use it before he needed to go! Wow! Hope the week of daycare doesn't slow down his progress.

We'll get pictures up soon!

October 31

Well, Halloween 2006 gets filed under the lukewarm category. Corbin neither loved it nor hated it. This morning when I took him to daycare, he was extremely clingy and cried a lot after I left. Was it because some of the other kids and teachers were dressed up? He didn't seem bothered by that. Maybe it was because he had diarrhea all day and felt sick. We'll never know.

After school, we got home about 5:00 and ate supper. Mommy and Daddy got into their costumes first, which Corbin didn't seem to mind. Putting on his Murray costume was equally okay. Trying to take pictures was NOT. First he wanted to play with the camera, then he just got tired of standing against the wall. Understandable, I guess.

At the city Halloween carnival, I was surprised at how small it was. The Easter egg hunt was so overcrowded, I had assumed that this would be similar. There were probably ten booths with games for older children, all sponsored by local companies. They did have a nice little pumpkin patch set up, and Corbin enjoyed picking out a pumpkin for Daddy to decorate. We then got a balloon and cookies. The tractor taking people on a "hayride" really intrigued him, but twice when it was our turn Corbin freaked out and didn't want to get on after all. That was fine with us, since it was already cold.

So we went home and walked next door to knock on our neighbor Barbara's door. She gave Corbin a handful of nickels, which was great. Tomorrow he can wear his costume to school. It really turned out well, though I should have saved myself a ton of hours by just purchasing the $15 licenced shirts. Oh well.