Story Worthy Story Time

I planned on posting more about Flamingo Gardens today, but that is going to take just a little more time than I have today so instead you get story time.

I took Caitlin to story time at the library a couple of weeks before Sean was born. They call it story time, but it is actually all interactive songs. Caitlin loves to sing, but she was really shy. I ‘d planned to take her back…but it hadn’t worked out. The week before Sean was born I couldn’t walk thanks to a pinched nerve. The Irishman tried to take her the week AFTER Sean was born, but there was no story time in August. Week before last we went to see Elmo live on stage. It has been something every week.

Monday we tried again, but this time with both kids. I wasn’t sure how it would go. Caitlin again was SUPER shy. As in stood right next to me with her fingers in her mouth most of the time. When it was all over she relaxed a bit. She walked around and went up to say hi to the librarian. We are going to try again next week – this time getting there a little earlier and sitting closer to the front to see how she does.

We spent a fair bit of time in the library afterwards. Caitlin enjoyed the puzzles, but for the first time she seemed to notice the books. We picked out about 8 or so to take home with us, including 3 or so that Caitlin picked out herself. Now by “picking out” I mean she randomly pulled them off of the shelf, but she actually found some real winners!

As we left she asked for the books with “duck” and “Elmo.” I was happy to hand them over. The library is in a pedestrianized area of town, so my mother-in-law suggested we take a walk and maybe stop for lunch. Truthfully, I was not optimistic about this being successful, but I agreed to try it. I swapped out the single car seat stroller we had Sean in for the double stroller. As Caitlin saw it she said, “Sit?” Now at Flamingo Gardens she refused to sit at all, so this was big.

Sean is not a fan of his car seat, so the stroller down flat is a much better option. Caitlin held her two books and then gently put a hand on Sean’s leg. It was almost a “he’s MY brother” kind of thing. She kept her hand on him the whole way down the street.

We stopped and enjoyed lunch…grilled cheese, a hot dog, and a lobster roll. The whole time I was pretty much in shock. After lunch, Caitlin agreed to get back in the stroller and Sean went back to sleep. Both kids were angels! It was such a lovely morning!

(Yes, I know that Sean is not strapped in yet. This was after nursing but before the diaper change. He was strapped in once we started moving!)

We got home in time to read the library books before nap time.

It doesn’t get better than that!

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These photos are all from my phone, so I’m joining up with Fresh Mommy for Hump Day Dump.