Inexhaustable Energy

After three (not consecutive, thank goodness) days of E. foregoing a nap, the goal today was to tire him out so Mommy could do some homework (and blog. . . ).  We went to mother goose at the library and I deliberately parked three blocks away so that E. would be able to run, which he did, three blocks and then some.  He needed to expend some energy in order to stay in the mother goose room.  During the rhymes and reading, he didn't try to bolt out the door as he has for the past few weeks, but he did think it was fun to bang on a metal cart.  When I removed him, he went back.  This became a fun game: E. trying to run to the cart and me stopping him and pulling him back.  He can be quite single-minded, I have to give him that.

Then we went to the park for lunch and so I could have small snatches of conversations with grown-ups when I wasn't pulling E. out of the fray of swinging swings.  The nice thing about the park was that it had a playground and a lot of areas for E. to deplete some of his stored up energy.  I have to say two-year-olds recharge something fierce during those eight-ten hours at night.

There was a girl on the jungle gym who wanted to play with E.  Their conversation went something like this:
    Girl: Do you want to be an alien?
    E.: (points to the slide) Slide.
    Girl: Do you want to be an alien?
    E.:  (runs to steering wheel) Driving.
    Girl: Do you want to be an alien or not?
    E.:  Poop in the potty.
    Girl: (walks away)

I guess he didn't feel like being an alien today.  And although he said "poop in the potty," he really meant in his diaper.  The girl was right to walk away.

I'm happy to say that it worked.  He slept almost two hours and now I hear him in his room talking about balls and buses.  And Up.  I think he's trying to tell me something. 

Wearing him out wears me out.  I should have napped, too or maybe it's just time for more coffee.