Piece of cake

On Saturday I decided to take Finn to my parents house for the day. I thought maybe we could make our first visit to the zoo or something along those lines. Finn got a very short nap on the car ride up. He really was not in the right mood to go to the zoo. So instead we walked down to the corner with Muti to mail some letters (that's just as good as the zoo, right?). We walked an alternate route home and swung by my old kindergarten to check out the playground. The playground is for K-6 so definitely pretty advanced for my 1 1/2 year old. But Finn is fearless. He could not get enough of the slide. Up the stairs and down the slide he went again and again. Giggling the whole time. Not bad for Mr-No-Nap.

Then what a surprise. Muti came climbing up the climbing wall. (No, I'm not making this up. And, where the heck was my camera?) And then she went down the slide. Oh, this was just too much for our young Finn. He went barreling down the slide after her. Bam! He crashed into her. Roaring laughter ensued. Again, where the heck was my camera. Note to self, even trips to drop off mail may result in a photo opp. Bring camera.

After a fun day at Muti and Papa's we packed up and drove home. Finn was exhausted. He had a little dinner and then Jason got him ready for bed about an hour earlier than usual. We all settled on the couch (Scout included) to watch some tv. After all of one minute, Finn scooted himself off of the couch, turned to us, waived and said "bye bye". He started walking out of the sun room, through the living room to his bedroom. "What's he up to? Could it be? Nah. Oh my, he is." He was putting himself to bed. No meltdown, no crying. Just a "Bye-bye. See ya tomorrow. Don't forget to have my milk and cereal ready no later than 7:30," look on his face. Finn has always been good about going to bed but that's because I figure out when he is tired and put him there. This is the first time a little light went off in his brain and he determined that he was tired and then he made the choice to go to his bed. Now I know how those scientists feel when their little lab mice make it through the maze.

I ran after him, scooped him up and put him in his crib. Pooh Bear snuggled in one little arm, and Mr. Monkey in the other. I covered them with his twinkle, twinkle quilt to keep them all cozy.

I went back to the sun room and Jason and I revelled in our parental awesomeness. Okay maybe it was more like marvelling with disbelief.

Whatever. This parenting thing is a breeze.