Ramps and ottomans

As all who know him or have read this blog will be aware, Connor's favorite activity by far, with perhaps the exception now of being silly with Jamie, is sending matchbox cars down an incline of some kind. There is something distinctly therapeutic about the way he does it, almost losing himself in the effect of gravity on small wheels. What I didn't realize until we went to Nonni and Diddy's house last month was that this is only half of the fun. You see, at home we use an ottoman with the top placed on an angle for the ramp. This has the added benefit of providing a storage space for the masses of cars, of all shapes and sizes, that he has now acquired.

When we got to Maryland, Nonni and Diddy were ready with a ramp and we proudly showed it to him and the cars. Well, very soon Connor is looking anxious and saying "Is der a Ottoooman?" Seems in his mind, an ottoman is an open structure attached to the ramp into which the cars may be placed, having gone back up the ramp. Fortunately, Nonni and Diddy cleverly jury-rigged a ramp and "ottoman" by duct taping a sturdy piece of styrofoam to a small trash pail and he was happy as a clam all week. Doesn't have to be fancy, just has to be what he wants.

The last week that Sarah and Jamie were away, some friends had us over for dinner. They have a divine three-year-old girl named Caroline. When I picked Connor up from school, I told him we were going to Caroline's house. He immediately began calling her "Carolina", which I found very cute. I think it comes from a) his tendency to actually over-complicate longish words (he says "blueblerries" for instance--try saying it, it's tough!) and b) hearing about relatives and basketball teams from North Carolina. Anyway, he immediately asked, "Does Car-o-li-na have cars, and a ramp and a ottoman???!!" Turns out Carolina had all of two cars in the entire house, which had to be dug out. He was none too impressed by her many dolls, but it happens that they have a shared affection for hurling balls around, so a fine time was had.