Regular Life

Ben and I enjoy an observation tower’s view at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

(Readers of “Apartment Life” may click here to read Part Nine)

I forgot to mention something in my last few posts.

Ben peed standing up for the first time. Then for the second time. For both, he took aim and peed right in the toilet bowl.

The next couple times? He peed in the toilet bowl, around the rim of the toilet bowl, on the toilet tank, on the floor… you get the picture.

In fact, the last effort went something like this:

“You want to pee standing up? Okay.”

Ben stands on toddler step stool, pulls down shorts, starts to pee.

“Whoa, whoa, Ben!” I say as I grab his hands. “Pee in the water! Pee in the water!”

My frantic reaction probably just made the whole affair much messier than if I had let him work it out on his own. Regardless, I think it’s time for some formal training, and a demonstration.

With a very large visual aid.

Back to the present. We went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday. I still have a hard time seeing that word in print and not thinking it says, “Arkansas.” Unfortunately, wildlife don’t much care whether you see them when you’re driving through. In fact, they prefer that you don’t. Damn survivalist freaks.

The drive there took us onto the deck of a ferry, which waited for a ship to pass before taking us across. We saw a few dolphins jumping in the ship’s bow wake. Several of them jumped around in the swirling water it left behind, having about as much fun as their brains allow. I admired their grace.

I tried to take pictures for the preceding paragraph while on a work call. My supervisor called my mobile phone for help and I talked him through a couple things while firing off shots one-handed. A careful, close-cropped look at one of my pics reveals a dolphin I captured accidentally, before we knew they were there.

Sometimes the trip affords more interesting photo ops than the destination.

At the visitor’s center, we saw about six or seven whitetail doe chilling near the picnic area, not far from the same number of wild turkey. Besides that, we saw some shorebirds from a distance. The exception was my fleeting glimpse of a javelina, a close relative to a pig and, apparently, the only wild, native, pig-like animal in the United States. Oh, and we watched a snake cross the road.

Enough facts. Wooo, pig sooooieeee!

The mosquitoes were relentless and numerous. Before our picnic lunch, Paw emptied an entire can of Off! by spraying each of us, front and back, in turn. That coupled with the wind made our mealtime strictly utilitarian — a rarity in this family.

At each stop we made along the 16-mile driving loop, mosquitoes invaded the minivan. The sounds of jewelery against glass filled the car as Shannon and her mother swatted the little buggers. By the time we left, three of my victims lay dead on the dash, and one was stuck to the windshield. Various carcasses adorned other windows throughout the van.

The worst injury of the day, although non-lethal, was Grammy’s. After one of our stops, we grabbed a few things from the back of the van. When she turned to walk back to the left side door, she whacked her forehead on the corner of the back door. The knot was almost the size of a ping-pong ball. Somehow, she’s sitting on the couch right now watching game four of the World Series and uttering coherent sentences. I contemplated whether we should let her fall asleep tonight, but she seems nearly unfazed.

Until she touches her forehead.

Ben tried Shannon’s patience today. She graciously had given me the front passenger seat since it gave me the best view of wildlife and the fastest exit method. Later in the drive, when it was far past Ben’s nap time, he defied her several times when she told him to stop kicking the seat and playing with the window blind. Six hours in the minivan had taken its toll on the boy.

Finally, she said, “Okay, you’re sitting in the seat next to him now.”

I did, and within about five minutes he fell into a deep sleep that lasted the remaining hour of the return trip.

On our return, I got a call from my supervisor just as everybody else sat down to eat our fast-food takeout. I ate after everybody else, then made Ben a PB&J that he wolfed down in a hurry. He set up his train track and played for about an hour before we put him to bed.

Bed time and nap time have been rough the whole week. The house features ceramic tile in the entire downstairs, and laminate flooring upstairs except in the two bedrooms. With 10 people in the house and one toddler trying to get to sleep, that spells trouble.

To his credit, Ben dozes through everything once he finally gets to sleep, and overall it’s been a treat seeing his reactions to all his firsts. Everybody has enjoyed his company, and vice versa. He’s established quite a routine, making a round of the huge sectional to give everyone goodnight hugs and kisses. Still, after one more day and night, Ben and his parents will be glad to return to their own environs.

At least, that’s what a little birdie told me.