The weekend began on a very positive note. We stopped at Cornwallis Road Park on Saturday morning to let Griff blow off some steam before we ran some errands, and we had a blast. This is definitely one of our top 3 parks in the area. It’s always clean (unlike many of the sketchy Durham parks with parking lots full of used condoms and trash), never crowded, and the equipment is really varied and interesting.

After naptime, we decided to stop at another park on our way to the grocery store, and that’s where Griff fell down crying in the mulch while running back for a repeat trip down the slides. He calmed down in the car and we did our shopping (carrying him to/from the shopping cart), not realizing until we got home and he actually stood up that there was a problem: he couldn’t put weight on his left foot. Long story short, he’s still limping a lot, and his pediatrician will refer us to an orthopedist if he’s not doing better tomorrow morning. Poor kid.

Today was not too fun. We spent the early morning at Durham Pediatrics, and the rest of the day trying to find ways to keep Griff entertained that didn’t involve him running around like a banshee. (It’s surprising how much our weekends have become scheduled around trips to the Museum of Life + Science, parks, etc with Griff.) We were so bored that we went to Northgate Mall this afternoon. The 45-second carousel ride was the highlight of the entire day.

Some random notes:

Crayola glass markers are pretty cool. Griff enjoyed doodling on the window in the living room almost as much as he enjoyed cleaning off the window afterwards.

I can’t remember if I’ve blogged about this before, but I cannot say enough good things about the Learning Tower. We bought this in November and it gets tons of daily use. Griff eats all his snacks while standing in it and hangs out with us in the kitchen, playing with toys, flipping through books, doing art projects, “helping” us cook, or just watching what we’re up to. It’s rock-solid construction that doesn’t budge when Griff jumps up and down in it (it’s rated for up to 500lbs), it was fantastically easy to assemble, and the whiteboard/blackboard attachment is awesome. We’re currently using it with dry-erase crayons and magnets. Here’s Griff on Saturday after his morning snack, grinning though a mouthful of cheese.

I think I’ve found the ultimate toddler craft medium: clear contact paper. I’ve seen lots of kids’ projects using it on various blogs, and this stuff is awesome. Griff helped me tear up some red, pink and white tissue paper, and he added that, plus some yarn bits and heart shapes, to a big square of contact paper taped sticky-side up to his craft table. When he was done, I put down a second layer of contact paper, cut out some heart shapes, and voilà, instant suncatchers! I can see us making eggs, pumpkins, trees, shamrocks, and all kinds of other seasonal projects.

I ripped out Griff’s cabled vest and started something else. But I’m not sure I like this one either. Sigh.