This weekend I witnessed
something amazing. Something so novel to
me, that had I not already been on my knees, it would have brought me
there...
We attended a family member’s 5th
birthday party at Pump it Up in Bethesda, MD.
What a rush one can get from that place!
We arrived early, per the information card, to sign waivers for the kids
and sign-in all the adults in our party, including Ben, Kelly (even though she
totally acted like a kid in the back seat on the 2 hour drive) & myself. Before we knew it, all of Kate’s friends had
arrived and it was time to head into the first room of moon bounce heaven. By the time I had a moment to orient myself,
park the stroller and slip into a pair of socks, Hannah was gone. Ben saw the panic in my eyes and informed me
that she had a green glow necklace on.
Pump it Up gets a thumbs up for marking each child in a different color
glow necklace for easy child identification!!
Ben and I are in full happy mommy and daddy mode, watching our 3 year old
bounce around with approximately 10 other kids in what I would basically refer
to as, a child version of a padded room.
Hannah and Kelly decided to test out the two obstacle bouncies in the
corner of the room that no other children had discovered, yet. As Kelly and Hannah disappear through the
arch opening, Natalie starts kicking her feet and doing her “put me down” whine,
so I obliged. She TOOK OFF for the entrance
to the obstacle bouncy! I let her climb
up and down the padded entrance. It was
a giant padded, wavy bolster (imagine a wide padded, wavy slide) that I helped
her climb up (she only required my hands in place to give her feet something to
push off of). Once at the top of the
bolster, I would have her turn around and slide down it. She was quite content with this activity, but
as other children discovered the hidden moon bounce, the entrance became
crowded so we moved along. Following
Kelly & Hannah as they headed for the giant slide Natalie had the same
reaction and this bouncy had the same bolster at the entrance, so I let her
climb it. Only this time, sliding down
it was NOT an option…she wanted to keep going!!
I let her crawl up to the stairs and that’s where I stopped her. It was a narrow area and kids were getting
anxious and shove-y. We continued this
pattern a few more times before she became really pissed that I wouldn’t allow
her to climb the stairs. Kelly offered
to take her up and bring her down the slide.
At first I was hesitant, the PIU staff were watching this bounce and I
didn’t want to get kicked out for breaking any rules. Upon talking to the birthday girls parents,
apparently no one under 2 is supposed to be participating. Screw it!
Natalie aged 6months in 6 seconds.
I handed her off to Kelly and stepped back to watch Natalie’s reaction
as she came down the slide. Kelly
lingered at the top of the slide, allowing other kids to go ahead of her. With each passing child, I could see
Natalie’s uncertainty subside. By the
time Kelly and Natalie came down the slide, Natalie had a huge smile…she LOVED
IT! Next up, the circular moon bounce
and this time I got in! Hannah, Kelly,
myself and Natalie had the whole moon bounce to ourselves. I ran around with Natalie in my arms and she
responded with the biggest, deepest laugh I’ve ever heard out of her…a full on
belly laugh! Then I set her down near
the netting where Ben was standing, watching us. She looked around hesitantly as she watched a
few kids clamber in, but once she adjusted to the bouncing, she turned over
onto her belly and took off as fast as she could with her army crawl, chasing
after the other children. She was in her
glory, giggling and cracking herself up so hard, she would have to stop b/c she
didn’t have the core strength to laugh and hold herself up at the same time. It was at this moment, as I was kneeling next
to her, my eyes well up with tears. My
heart had become so over-joyed that it spilled over into my belly, giving me
butterflies. I’ve never been so
delighted to see Natalie interact with children older than her…and she didn’t even
have to be walking in order attain this experience. I just watched in awe of this, 11th
percentile for height, little girl with low tone, bouncing around in a giant
moon bounce having the time of her life! On several occasions she took a knee or elbow to the back or head, yet
she kept on truckin’. I have a feeling
she might end up being our tom-boy, that Ben and I so strongly desired…perhaps our
little sports diva!?!
We’ll just have to wait and
see!
As we drove home that evening
with a car full of 5 sleepy Rohe’s (yeah- Kelly counts as a Rohe), 2 bathroom
breaks, and a bout of traffic…my feelings of utter elation never waivered. I can say with full certainty, it was hands
down one of the best days in recent Rohe family adventuresJ
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| Sorry- No pics from our PIU experience...but here's a cute one of Natalie!! |
