Something I often forget is that an adventure for Ellie
doesn't have to be huge and adventurous (possibly even 'bigly' as the president
would say). While Ellie is intelligent, sometimes
all she wants is just to get out the house. I like to think I'm pretty good at
getting her out now and then. Trips to the zoo, the store, the park, or just
long car rides have all been used to entertain Ellie. However, I will say that
until today, I never really thought the following method could realistically be
used to entertain Ellie.
Like most days, I had resigned myself to hanging out at home
with the baby for the afternoon. Maybe an afternoon outing to Sam's to stock up
on a few necessities was in order. Otherwise, I was planning on a
perfectly boring day. So, when I
received a text from my buddy, Malachi, asking Ellie and I to come over and
hang out while eating lunch and playing Call of Duty, of course, I was going to
jump at that opportunity.
Now, you should know that I had some trepidation about
doing just that. After all, Ellie is very active, easily bored, and wants 100%
of my attention at all times. Go ahead and couple that with her weird dislike
of men at this point in time and there were plenty of opportunities for this
adventure to be non-successful.
As Malachi generally picks up lunch for us whenever he comes
over to visit, I offered to stop and grab lunch for him today. After a bit of
back and forth, we finally decided on Firehouse Subs which may or may not be America's
favorite firefighter-themed sandwich place. Someone should really do a study to
see if they actually have any direct competitors in the market for
firefighter-themed sandwich places.
After we put in the order (Italian sub minus mayo and
mustard and a New York Steamer if anyone cares) and got our number, I took
Ellie and sat down at a table near the door. Needless to say, my 16-month-old
toddler became restless with just sitting on my lap so I eventually sat her
down on the floor and watched closely as she explored the area around us.
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| Maybe if I'd thought ahead and snapped a picture, then you'd be able to see this special moment... |
The primary object of her fascination? Diamond plating
running along the wall. Seriously. Ellie spent probably a good five minutes
just rubbing diamond plating as she walked along the wall. Luckily our food
arrived just in time as Ellie was getting bored with the diamond plating and
was about to explore the old oxygen tanks and vintage fire extinguishers. Who
knows how that would have gone?
Once our orders were delivered, we loaded up in the car and
headed to Malachi's apartment to hang out. Despite Ellie's familiarity with
Malachi, I found myself slightly curious to see how she would react to him. You
see, she's going through a weird phase of not really caring for men at first
glance. I seem to be the exception to this rule (somewhat) which definitely
makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Anyway, between Ellie, her diaper bag,
and the bag of sandwiches, I found myself needing to make two trips to get
everything inside. Don't worry, Ellie was trip number one. I know better than
to leave the baby in the car in an apartment parking lot!
The one sad part about eating lunch with Malachi is that we
really couldn't eat lunch at the same time. You see, as Malachi was enjoying
his New York Steamer, I was busy feeding
Ellie some healthy portions of tuna noodle casserole and some sliced banana for
dessert. I assumed that once both Ellie and Malachi were done with meals, he'd
be able to hold her while I ate. Instead, that wouldn't be the case as Ellie
wouldn't really have much to do with that. Instead I found myself attempting to
carefully maneuver my Italian sub around my toddler's head to my mouth without
getting it yanked apart by her tiny hands. I also definitely wanted to avoid
drips of Italian dressing on either of our clothes. That stuff stains since
it's oil based, LOL.
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| I could eat another right now. Seriously, right this moment. |
Finally, once we were done with dinner, we retreated to the
living room for a little Call of Duty action. I had actually planned ahead and
brought several of Ellie's favorite toys in addition to some books. I carefully
laid all of Ellie's stuff out on a loveseat opposite the couch where Malachi
and I were sitting and playing. I figured as long as Ellie could see me, she
would be content doing about anything.
It didn't take long for that bubble to burst as Ellie
quickly hopped off the loveseat and clambered up onto the couch beside me. Of
course, she wasn't alone. She had her favorite stacking cups in tow. To my
surprise though, she didn't demand my immediate attention. Instead, she happily
played while occasionally nuzzling against me lovingly. In fact, she really
never did beg for my attention. She'd occasionally hop down, grab another toy
or book, and then reclaim her place on the couch beside me.
For me, I felt like this was a therapeutic session in more
ways than one. Number one, it helped
remind me that Ellie is able to leave the house and be a somewhat well-rounded
human being. In fact, there's absolutely no reason for this to not become at
least an occasional thing. You need proof? Look no further than the fact that
before we left, Malachi was chasing Ellie around the apartment with her happily
screeching in delight all the while.
Number two, opening
fire on nameless video game characters is surprisingly calming. Does that make
me sound like a psychopath? I think it might have made me sound like a
psychopath. I promise I'm not a psychopath...#DaddyWrite
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