Hangin' with Louis

OK, so maybe you've noticed that my posts come in spurts...in the last one, I was even caught up!  I posted the same day as we had our adventure!  But then, I kind of fell off the wagon. So now, coming your way, are a few more posts to update you on what we've all been up to!

Recently, the Art Institute opened its new Modern Wing. This much anticipated opening was widely attended since admission was free for the first week.  My mom (who is in the midst of applying to become a museum docent) got a sneak peek and told me that the new wing had a wonderful new kids area, and that AJ and I should check it out.  So, my friend Sam and I made plans to take AJ and her sons Louis and baby Axel downtown to see what there was to see!

We took the train downtown and AJ and Louis liked the ride.  Up elevators, onto a train, lots of people watching, then more elevators up the sidewalks of the Loop. What's not for a 2 year old to love?!  When we rolled up to the museum, the doors were about to open and there were lots of people bunched up waiting to get in. When we got inside, the space was flooded with natural light and I can only imagine how great all the modern art looked in that setting.  And I say "only imagine" because we headed straight for the kids area and never even got into the actual museum!

The kids area has a big playroom with art and architectural toys, puzzles, books and computer games. It is big and open and was a lot of fun...at least for the first few minutes. Then AJ started running around like a crazy kid, smashing other kids block towers, and generally ignoring my directions and requests.  Soooo, after having a time out in the corner, we had to leave the room and move on. We found the arts and crafts room, another great, open space with tons of natural light. The boys got to color, cut, paste, and use colored tape to make little square collages. These are some of Louis' favorite things to do, so he was in his glory and sat working intently for quite a while. AJ's attention span is a little shorter (and sometimes I have to remind myself that he's also 6 mo younger!) than Louis', so he was over the collage activities pretty quickly.  When he started trying to use the scissors to cut his shirt, I decided we had to go. 

(I have found that chasing after AJ and enforcing my behavioral expectations at this point in my pregnancy is really tough. He is no dummy and has totally caught on to this, so that makes it even more difficult sometimes. But overall, I still really enjoy taking AJ on outings and we both really like to get out of the house a few times a week whether its a museum, a park or a playdate with a friend. I just hope that I will be able to regain control at some point after the baby is born and I can move a little faster again!)

It was coming up on lunchtime, so we split from the AI and called Andy. We went up to his office space to say hello to some of his co-workers and take him with us to lunch. We had lunch at Louis' dad's place, Lunch Rolls, and it was good!  I swear I have had dreams about the bread pudding that Andy apparently ordered for AJ to have for dessert. Hahaha!  AJ never even got to taste it!

The next day, we met Sam, Louis and Axel again, this time at a great neighborhood lunch spot called Curio Cafe. The food is yummy, the service is friendly, and the best part is that they have tons of toys to keep the kids busy. There is a little table with small chairs around it, as well as bins of toys, and the children are not just tolerated, but encouraged to play with them! AJ and Louis had a great time playing with all of Curio's Thomas the Train toys. They were really much better behaved than the previous day at the museum, and I was much more relaxed hanging out there. Axel has not gotten much attention in this post, because he is such an easy baby!  He was maybe about 1 month old during these outings, and mostly slept and only woke to look around and then nurse and go back to sleep. He is certainly a cutie and Louis is doing great adjusting to the role of big brother. I hope AJ will follow his lead when he becomes the big brother at our house!