How Wren Plays

Wren and I have created a new game.  It is called AirPorts.  The game started with the Duplo airport and evolved into a world laid out on the carpet, three planes and various scenarios of baddies and goodies and excited animals.

The Lemurs get a ride to Madagascar

Here is my participant observation of a few minutes of morning play.  It begins when I have build a rough square structure from Duplo and Wren has named it "the Heekee Hole" for Baby Dinosaur to live in.  Bad animals have threatened to attack.

Wren:  "[Mama Dinosaur] is going to hide in the Heekee Tent.  Now she is in the Heekee Tent!  She is safe."

Me:  Where is baby dinosaur?

Wren:  He is in the Heekee Hole so he can't find anything to eat. 

The Heeky Hole with coconut palm

Me:  He can eat coconuts that fall off the coconut tree.

Wren:  They are too small for him.  He is a giant fella.

Me:  There are quite a lot! 

Wren:  Okay.  Gawp gaup gaup.  He ate all the coconuts.

Me:  What!

Wren:  He ate all of them.

Me:  But I told you baby dinosaur can eat them.

Wren: Oh, uh oh.  BIG DINOSAUR ate them.  The baby girl can plant some more.  She can go in the Heekee Hole.  I am going to eat some really quick because of that Godszillary Guy coming.

[Wren brings a little Duplo girl into the Heekee Hole and munches 'coconuts'.

The BIG ONE who ate all the coconuts

Wren:  Mummy.  Looks what comes running down.

Me:  Is it a boulder?

Wren:  It is a volcano.  This is a volcano ERUPTING.
[The lego rocks enter the Heekee Hole]
It is coming into the Heekee Hole.  Its falling.

[I squirt it with blocks of blue lego.  ]

Wren:  Now its cold.  It still rushed in but it is cold. 

Me: They can use it as a table now.

Wren:   They will play with it.

Later, we went to Value Village and I found one of those 'excavation' kits where you get a block of plaster or sand and some tools to chisel into it.  It was Egyptian themed.  It said 6+ but Wren was very excited, having 'helped' Frost and Alex excavate a few weeks ago and been sidelined by the bigger boys.

We took it home and he dug and chiseled for a long while before I helped him get the sarcophagus out.  Thereafter he painted all the pieces with the craft paints provided.  It was a very worthwhile purchase.

Go Snow, Go!

We have some snow in Seattle.  The boys are very disappointed that it is falling overnight and predicted to be washed away by a warm front by morning.  Its been very cold recently - without gloves my hands were very painful running around Greenlake on Monday and I couldn't believe how red they were.

Frost wanted to play in it and hoped for a day off school.  Wren wanted to watch.

Snow out the window at 11.15pm.

 Annual Checkup for Wren
Wren had his annual pediatrician visit this week.  The pediatrician told him "When you were a baby we did not know what a big healthy boy you would grow up to be."   It brings tears to my eyes.  Of course, Wren has cardiology this month so I always get that superstitious "don't trust the future" feeling.  However, he looks great.  Here are his stats:

Age:  4 years  (he told the nurse to put a 0 in for zero months)
Height: 41 inches (70th percentile)
Weight:  37lbs (70th percentile)
Hearing:  perfect
Eyesight:  20/30

Height:  41 inches

Weight 37lbs

Raise your hand when you hear the BEEP.

Other than the shot, Wren really enjoyed his visit to the doctor.  She talked to him like he was a big boy and asked him his favorite colors, about his preschool and what he liked to read.  He told her his favorite colors were white and black because white is no color you can see and black is too dark to see it.  She said "he is really thinking!"

When we came home he wanted to play Doctor Dinosaur.  All the dinosaurs lined up and were given well-child visits.  They had their hearing tested, received a shot, had their feet checked for Plantar warts (Because Josh had one and it has greatly impressed Wren) and had splinters removed.  They were also asked about "any problems in their body".  At his appointment Wren told the doctor he had a sore in his mouth and she saw that it was a canker sore.  He also asks the dinosaurs this question.   It is very satisfying and we have many dinosaurs still lined up to receive treatment in the hospital!

Great Wolf Lodge
We also spent a night at Great Wolf Lodge last weekend, with Kindra and her family.  It was lovely to see them and we spent a long time eating, swimming and wandering around with wands.  It is interesting how kids suddenly change around adolescence.  Mason (12) is so much older than Frost (9)right now!

Here are Wren and Cousin Charlie at the big bear.

4 Year old cousins.