"W" is for waterpark

Hurray for water! Alexander really loves the kiddie pool at the "waterpark" near us. I use the quotes because in most other countries, one would not call it a waterpark, but a decent kiddie pool in a gym, which happens to have one waterslide. Ahem. Anyway, he likes it. The water is warm and there are jungle-themed creatures to look at.

The creatures shoot water, as you can see. Here is an amusing, unsafe, mildly alarming oddity of our "waterpark": the jets of water are the mechanism which regulates the temperature of the kiddie pool. That is to say, when the pool is in need of being warmed up, they are often just on the safe side of scalding hot. You can pass a hand through the stream, but were it to hit your belly or back for a full minute, it would rather hurt. Smart, eh?

I will also point out that the water level is perfect for us parents. When we sit down, it comes just to the midsection, where one does not want attention focused. Lovely. Nice warm (pee) water, lapping around your spare tire.

But he likes it, so we go. However the hot tub is nicer for the grownups, so we took him in there as well. It isn't very hot, and it's deep enough for him to get the sensation of actually being in water. So, we had a nice morning paddling around, and then went out to lunch with friends.

Alexander did something which I found very exciting at lunch. I'd brought an avocado in my purse, and was feeding it to him. At some point I became distracted and left an avocado-loaded spoon sitting on the table in front of him while I focused my attention elsewhere. Rather than screaming or whining, he simply picked up the spoon and fed himself! Whee! He repeated it a few times, each time taking the loaded spoon and putting it in his mouth.

I've experimented a bit since then and there are a few variables. He has to be in a very good mood, he has to really like the food and it has to be sticky enough that he if turns the spoon upside down (every second time), it will not fall off the spoon. Still, it's a step in the right direction.