the fireman

At dinner tonight, Gillian and I told John that tomorrow a fireman would be visiting Gillian's school.  This made John very happy.  If you remember a few weeks ago the fire department visited John's school and he really enjoyed it and learned a lot (check out Fire Safety).  Anyway, we had John's attention.  Gillian tells us "I like the fireman.  But I don't have a hat.  Maybe I can use Johnny's hat.  But it needs stickers.  I could decorate it."  John's face said it all.  He wasn't happy with his sister's idea.  He said "I hope she isn't talking about my hat.  I'm going to put it under maxima security!  And she better not put any stickers on it!"  I suggested that maybe the fireman would bring hats for everyone since John got his hat when the fire department visited his school.  Gillian was very happy to hear that, but then she said "I get a hat.  But what about Minnie?"  Gillian has a small Minnie Mouse doll that she carries around everywhere.  John took his hat and put it on Minnie and said "See Gill, it won't fit her!" 

Fire Safety

Gillian and I picked up John from school today.  We noticed that there was a plastic fireman's hat in his backpack.  I asked John if a fireman came to school today.  He said "Yes!  We learned about fire safety."  I asked him to tell Gillian what that means.  He said to Gillian "You can't play with matches or lighters or fire.  You know why?  Because then you would lose everything that you love the most.  You know what that is?  You would lose your Baby!"  Gillian said "I no play with fire!"  He said "And Mom, you know what?  In the kitchen, you should put a rug in front of the oven.  And then you should tell Gillian that she can't play by the rug.  And you know what?  You should also put something on the handles of the pots.  That way Gillian can't get hurt.  And you need to not let the candles go to the ceiling!  And we should clean out the garage.  We need to make sure all the matches and stuff that makes fire is put away."  He kept going, and I said, "We should remember about the candles."  Gillian said "Yes.  The candles."  I asked Gillian, "Do you remember what do with the candles?"  She said "You put them in the cake!"  Everything always goes back to dessert with this one.  But John didn't miss a beat, "No, Gillian, we need to make sure the candles don't go up to the ceiling.  And we should only use them in case of emergency.  And only adults should light them!" 

When we got to the house, I was able to tape John telling me some fire safety tips.

    
When Daddy got home, John told Daddy "I got to see the inside of a fire truck today!"  Daddy asked him what you are supposed to do if you get caught on fire.  John said "First you stop (and he stuck out his arms).  Next, you drop (and he fell to the ground).  Then you roll (and he rolled all over the floor)."  John truly enjoyed having the fire department visit his school and he learned a lot today.

Brielle Day 2013

Yesterday was Brielle Day.  We go every year and meet up with my family.  Check out last year's post: Brielle Day.  This year, we stopped at my parent's house to drop off the kids bikes and then headed over to Brielle.  Brielle Day has a 5k run, lots of craft vendors and food vendors and fire truck rides for the kids.  We met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Betty and Justin.  John and Justin walked together and discussed what kind of toys they were looking to buy.  We walked through all the vendors.  John and Justin decided they wanted bow and arrows, and Justin also wanted a shark tooth necklace.  We told the boys that we would go back for their purchases.  After the vendors, we stopped so the kids could play on the playground.  Gillian spent most of the time on the swings.



waiting in line for the fire truck

Our next stop was the fire truck ride.  Aunt Betty and I waited in line with the kids.  We got all the way to the front of the line and just missed the last truck.  So that gave John and Justin time to talk to the fireman that was collecting the money.  John asked him all kinds of questions about being a fireman.  The fireman was awesome, and very patient as he answered all of John's questions and explained some of the equipment on the truck.  Finally it was our turn to go on the fire truck.  John was the first one on and he basically ran up the stairs.  The other fireman commented "He's ready to be a firefighter.  Did you see how fast he went up those stairs?"  The boys were super excited to get moving.  Gillian was a little unsure, but she sat in between Aunt Betty and I like a big girl. 

 

The fire truck went around the block and past the fire station where we got sprayed with water.  We all got soaked, but Gillian was awesome.  She didn't cry at all.  As the fire engine went around the corner, we looked for Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy.  Gillian waved and waved.  When the fire engine stopped, Gillian said "We go again?" We didn't go again, but I'm so happy that she wasn't afraid.

 

We took the boys back to get their toys.  John and Justin both got a bow and arrow set and Justin got a rubber band gun too.  We had two happy boys and it was time for us to head to Grandma's house.  The kids played outside and rode bikes while we got lunch.  Another fabulous Brielle Day!   

Whistle Not Nice

One silver lining to being stuck at home for Hurricane Sandy, was that Gillian has finally come to terms with the fire whistle.  I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but we have a fire station behind our house.  The fire whistle goes off occasionally and Gillian has been afraid of it for awhile now.  When the whistle would go off, Daddy and I would go running to find Gillian paralyzed and crying.  She would shake and cry until the whistle stopped.  During Hurricane Sandy, the whistle went off every couple of hours.  She progressively got better with the whistle every time it went off.  We are now at the point where she covers her ears and says "Whistle Not Nice!"  Even though she is really cool with the whistle now, it went off during her nap today.  Daddy went running to find her very upset.  That I can totally understand why she was upset, I would be crying too if a whistle woke me up from a nap. 

Fire Truck

A fire truck visited the kids school today. When I picked them up both of them were so excited to show me their new firefighter hats. And Gillian was so proud of her "necklace." It was a firefighter badge hung on a piece of yarn. She told me "I made it myself!" John told me "We got to talk to the firefighter and sit inside the truck too!" Gillian didn't tell me much, just that she made her badge. But both of them wore their hats all the way home and even posed for a couple of pictures too!