Rain, Rain, Go Away!!!

Things are getting desperate here at the Shaw Household. The rain has had us cooped up for a week now, and we are running out of things to do indoors. Last week, Nick was out of town, and Charlie and I nearly went bonkers inside. We went to the mall yesterday just to get out of the house. Today, Nick watched Charlie so that I could go help my SIL register. I was gone most of the morning and did not get back until after Charlie's nap. When I got home, Nick asked the million dollar question, "What do you do with this kid all day when you can't go outside?" Seriously, if I had the answer, I would be a much happier person. Charlie is like a little pinball bouncing off the walls of our home. He moves from room to room searching for something to play with or get into. If any of the mommies out there have any great ideas for rainy days, I would love to hear them!!!

Tonight, the rain started to really come down right after dinner. So, I decided to throw open one of the windows in the kitchen and let Charlie see, hear, and feel the rain. We had done this earlier in the week, but it was not raining nearly as hard. He loved sticking his little hand out the window to catch the rain. He would pull his hand in to show Nick and me what he had caught. After a while, he started bringing the rain over to Nick and washing his hair with it. He then started scrubbing his own arms with the rain. Such a goober!

We skipped our normal bath after dinner tonight because the thunder and lightning started up pretty hard. It was straight into pajamas and reading a few books. After we read, I always ask Charlie if he wants me to rock him in his chair. Sometimes he wants to be rocked, and other times he is so tired he wants to get right into bed. Tonight, he rested his head on my shoulder and let me rock him. Every time the thunder would rumble, he would lift his head and begin babbling about it. This went on for about five minutes. I would just LOVE to know what he was telling me about that thunder. What does his little mind think of all of these new experiences? One can only imagine...