Just Two Friends, Two Best Friends

Riding Elephants

Toddler friendship is a funny thing. One minute the children are hugging each other, the next minute they have each other in a headlock. In the end these toddlers that can go from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes truly do care for each other. Thus is the friendship of Edmund and Emma.

Some of you may remember that Emma is the daughter of my co-teacher Jennifer. Emma is a spitfire to say the least. If you think Edmund is full of energy, multiply his energy level by 1000 and you get Emma. Emma is hilarious with her squeaky voice, bouncy walk, and I-can-do-it attitude. No wonder Edmund is drawn to Emma. Amidst our move in the past month our family was able to squeeze in some fun outings, and much to Edmund's delight, many of these outings involved Emma.

Our first outing was "Touch a Truck." You may recall I wrote about this event last year. Edmund was barely a year old and probably had little idea why we were sitting him on various trucks. He loved it all the same. This year we invited Emma and her family to join us at the event. Our first stop was the bus, as Edmund's shrieks of "on the bus, on the bus" could not be ignored. If it were up to Edmund, we would have spent the entire event on the bus, but there were other things to see. This year Edmund probably sat on less trucks than he did the previous year. Despite being in awe of the various trucks and vehicles, he was a little scared when it came to actually climbing inside one. Even Emma couldn't lure him in as she climbed in and "drove" every single vehicle available. Did I mention Emma's a spitfire? Emma and Edmund did have loads of fun running on a trailer bed. Running is a toddler's dream and since it didn't involve sitting up high, Edmund was all for it. The two children stomped, ran, and laughed until we told them it was time for other children to have a turn. In typical toddler fashion, neither one wanted to share, but we were able to lure them away with a toddler sized fire engine. In the picture you'll notice Edmund taking the wheel from Emma. Steven said I should insert a comment about women drivers here, but seeing as I am a woman I think I'll steer clear. Eventually we were able to get Edmund on a motorcycle. He may have been slightly nervous, but his current obsession with motorcycles overcame the fear. We're hoping the motorcycle obsession is a passing fad, or we're in for it. After sitting on the motorcycle, Edmund was a little more willing to sit in the driver's seats, provided he had a mommy or daddy lap to sit on. Several vehicles later we gave Edmund the "it's time to go, choose one more activity " speech. Thus we concluded "Touch a Truck," where else? You guessed it..."on the bus."

Last Sunday Steven, Edmund, and I went on another big adventure with Jennifer and Emma (Jennifer's husband is currently teaching a class in Italy). We squeezed (not an understatement) into Steven's car and headed to the zoo. Emma had already made two trips to the zoo, but this was Edmund's first time. Edmund's first animal encounter at the NC Zoo was with some very tall giraffes. According to Jennifer we were lucky to see them as they normally don't appear during rain, and it had been raining earlier in the day. I'd like to tell you more stories about Edmund and Emma's awesome encounters with animals, but to be honest, the two of them were much more interested in pushing their strollers around the zoo. Who needs to ride in a stroller, when you can push one? Despite having two very active toddlers who refused to ride in their strollers, we somehow made it to every animal exhibit. Of the animal exhibits the chimpanzees appeared to be the biggest hit. Edmund did his best to give the chimps kisses. He came closest to giving a chimp sculpture a kiss outside the exhibit. So we took our toddlers to the zoo for a little animal culture, and what topped their lists as the day's highlights. In no specific order they are... painting a chalkboard wall with water, playing in a helicopter exhibit, pushing strollers, and wait for it...riding the bus back to the parking lot. Did you notice I didn't mention any animals? Oh well. As any early childhood teacher will tell you, it's the experience that counts. And I don't know any adults who confuse tigers with frogs, so I think these kids will be just fine.