Can't Catch Me

This afternoon, we're having some weather. It's the second time this week. Tornado warnings have been issued and funnel clouds have been spotted. Hail the size of tennis balls has been spotted. So far, we've gotten a sprinkle out of it. Such is the roller coaster ride of Kansas weather.

Despite my attempts to explain to Gabe the possible severity of the situation (I've got the 24 hour local radar channel that runs non-stop weather coverage when storms are near on in the background), complete with a detailed explanation of how he can best interpret the radar and our location on the map relative to Wichita (where the weather is being reported), Gabe took a Nero-esque approach to the chaos that was going on around him. Only, since he doesn't have a fiddle, and his Gabba guitar is, blessedly, upstairs where we don't have to listen to it all the time, Gabe did what comes naturally to him instead. He ran around in circles. He was obviously trying to stay away from Norah, though she really didn't show all that much interest in pursuing him.

I started this video about two minutes after he started, I estimate. By this time, Norah was already starting to lose interest, but Gabe wasn't.

After five minutes of not filming, I decided to go ahead and start it back up again because he was STILL going. And, I decided, that I was going to film it every five minutes until he stopped.

Oh, and excuse the dining room table. It's a disaster. It's Gabe's "big boy table" where everything non-Norah friendly has to be kept. So, not surprisingly, it's always covered to the point of being unusable. That's not an excuse for the rest of the dining room and living room being a mess, of course. For that I only have my frustration at the futility of keeping things clean all through the day--which ultimately led to me giving up on it entirely until bed time--to blame.

After this go, we had a little break. Rather, Norah and I did. Gabe kept trying to convince both of us that we should be chasing him around the table. But, honestly, how interesting is THAT? Norah and I had the right idea to move on.

However, she started doing something pretty weird herself. As she rolled around on the pillows in the living room, she started making this weird noise. I couldn't figure out what she was doing at first. But I did manage to get it on video.

This is her new trick. She's been doing it ever since (about two hours now, more or less continuously). Guess it's nice she finally found a use for all the slobber she's got going for her.

And, then, Gabe started running again. He didn't stop until Libby got home from work. By my count, he spent almost forty-five minutes running around the table, only stopping occasionally to beg Norah or I to chase him (I didn't bother to stick with my "every five minutes" thing because, frankly, I got bored and he wasn't being as entertaining as I'd hoped he'd be).

I'm not sure how we're going to contain this kid's energy once he has to start sitting in a classroom all day. That will be fun. For this he added the slipper running shoes and decided that, if Norah wasn't going to chase him, he'd use her as a hurdle. And, clearly, I shouldn't have chuckled when he threw the first truck. He's been trying to throw his trucks ever since.