Spencer and Sidney

February 9, 2008

Mike here:

Saturday morning, Spencer and I headed to the park. It was a beautiful California morning, a welcome break from the rain and overcast skies, and we had plenty of time before Spencer had to go down for his nap. I knew we'd have a good, long time to settle in and get the most out of the park but I didn't realize that I wouldn't be the one watching over and entertaining Spencer.

About ten minutes after we arrived, Spencer and I were indulging in one of his favorite park past-times: the never-ending quest to pour as much as sand as humanly- (or human babily-) possible down the tubes on Spencer's favorite playset. An "older kid" climbed up next to him and quickly volunteered to help him carry, shovel, and dump sand into the tubes. They hit it off and pretty soon, they were a team.

We quickly learned that the girl's name was Sidney (sp?) and she was ten. Spencer introduced himself and told her he was two. And repeated it a few times so she wouldn't forget ("I'm Spencer. I'm two.").

Sidney took Spencer on the swings, up and down every slide and even held Spencer up below some monkey bars and sliding posts, giving him his first taste of hanging under his own strength.

After about a half hour, I thanked Sidney for spending so much time with Spencer. "Spencer really likes hanging out with older kids, it's really nice of you to spend so much time with him," I told her.

"That's OK," she said, as she helped him navigate his way under a step on the jungle gym. "I like playing with younger kids. Kids my age like to pretend that they're all grown up. I want to be a kid as long as I can."

Amen Sidney.

Before we left to head back home, I snapped the picture of Spencer and Sidney with my phone.

Hopefully they'll see each other on the playground again...I know Spencer can't wait for his next chance to hang with such a cool big kid.

After naptime, we headed to the library and Spencer fell under the spell of another, slightly smaller big kid: a five-year old girl who was there reading with her grandmother. As Spencer searched for another book to read, she offered hers to him. "It's a ghost story, but I think he can handle it." Spencer got a little nervous hearing the tale of a ghostly creature looking for its stolen tail, but he did seem to like it. This wasn't lost on our five-year old friend who told us there were plenty of other books like it to read in the library. But Spencer was already off - racing down the American History aisle, hiding from us and baiting us to chase him.

There's nothing and no one to hide behind in the American History aisle on a Saturday afternoon, kid...