We went to Cafe Mela this morning. Jeff plays in a band there every other Tuesday evening and gets paid in restaurant credit, so we used to go there for "free" coffee and tea drinks a lot, but today is the first time I've been there since we got back, and it's the first time TongJie has ever been there. They have an area for kids with toys and books and kid-sized furniture, but TongJie was not interested in that. He was, however, interested in the chess board and all the chess pieces. He sat on our laps and picked up all of the different pieces and moved them around, and occasionally "sang" into them like a microphone. Later, we walked over the Bridge Over Troubled Waters to the park. I'm pretty sure that bridge has another name, like the Friendship Bridge or something nice like that, but we call it the Bridge Over Troubled Waters because it goes over the sewer treatment plant.
We visited with our friends, the Stromings, at their house this afternoon. They have an extensive collection of American Girl dolls and accessories, and TongJie was in awe of the little piano that actually plays music.
He also enjoyed brushing the teeth of one of the dolls. The entire time we were there, he was very serious. I think he enjoyed it and was definitely engaged and interested, but hardly cracked a smile. When he's in a new environment and around new people, it takes him awhile to feel comfortable enough to smile and laugh.
We also got to see their tiny foster kittens with the foster cat mom - the Stromings foster cats and kittens for the Humane Society. TongJie touched the kittens' soft fur a few times. He's usually pretty good about being gentle with pets, but those kittens were really tiny so I was nervous he'd get a little too heavy-handed, but he was too mesmerized with them to do much touching. We had lots of fun visiting with our friends!
Another piece of excitement happened today - a very large package was delivered by FedEx with TongJie's name on the box. Upon further investigation, we found out that it was a Radio Flyer wagon from our Wenatchee music teacher friends (thanks so much, guys)! After all the fun pulling TongJie around in a laundry basket the other day, we had been thinking about getting him a wagon for his birthday in September, but now he doesn't have to wait that long! We didn't get a chance to finish putting it together before we had to leave for Jeff's rehearsal and then when we got home it was time to get TongJie ready for bed. Tomorrow when it's all put together, he's going to have a great time with his new wagon! In fact, he's already been enjoying the box and all the packing materials. He checked the durability by standing and walking on it right away. I guess we now know it's sturdy enough to hold at least 21 pounds!
He also had fun playing with all the little pieces of cardboard used to hold everything in place.
That's all for today . . . what a fun day it was!
Don't be surprised if TongJie likes playing with the box as much as the wagon--when our first grandson was that age, they were with us for Christmas, so we went all out and bought a ton of Playschool and Fisher-Price toys for him. Guess what--he ended up spending the day sitting in a box and playing with a dish sponge that I'd received as a stocking stuffer!
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