Yes, I know Easter was two weeks ago...

It just occurred to me that it is (suddenly) mid-April and I haven’t blogged about Easter (I know, #soslow, #bloggerfail). I am perpetually behind, so this is nothing new. Except I do feel like I should mention that this is my busiest time of the year at work. Not an excuse, really, because no part of my job description mandates that I be on top of blogging. It is just that I’m exhausted, and watching old episodes of Big Bang Theory on the couch with the hubs at night is much more preferable than trying to figure out how to construct a proper sentence about whatever happened to me lately (i.e. not much). And I’m not saying this in an effort to appease my readership. Mainly because I don’t believe that I have one. I'm saying all this to appease myself when I look back on my blog in six months or three years and chastise myself for not blogging about whatever I forgot. Because I totally do that. ALL THE TIME.

Also, I had an above average number of posts in March, but most had very little in the way of content. I tried to make up for this by posting a nauseating number of photos. But I know the truth. I was just being lazy.

But back to Easter. It was fabulous. Banner had an egg hunt at his school on Maundy Thursday. I couldn’t attend (work), but Grammy Pammy stopped by and endured the very specific kind of chaos that occurs when multiple classrooms of toddlers are released in a controlled space outdoors with buckets, baskets and plastic eggs.

Aside: we stuffed eggs with bits of gram cracker and fiddlesticks during the mock Easter egg hunts in Lampasas. Banner got the idea pretty quickly that there was FOOD inside those multicolored eggs, and would walk to one, sit down, open it and feast upon whatever goody was hidden inside. But, at the school hunt, only SOME of the eggs contained food. Most had stickers, bubbles and small toys. When he opened these, he carefully removed everything looking for something edible. He was totally disappointed. Apparently, my child is food motivated.

Also. The Easter Bunny? Yeah, Banner is not a big fan:

He just stared at the bunny like WTF the whole time.

Then, on Holy Saturday, we took Banner to Brook Hollow for a special Easter brunch for kiddos. Not only was there a LARGE egg hunt, but a petting zoo, train ride, face painting station and pony rides. It was like a kiddy nirvana. Banner was especially fascinated by the baby goats. They let me feed them, and he wanted to help. Sweet boy. He was a little terrified of the piglets, which were burrowed under a pile of hay in their pen. One of the workers tried to wake one up, and the piglet started squealing so loudly that they quickly shoved him back in the hay just to shut him up. After that, Banner kept a watchful eye on the piglet box.

The egg hunt took place over in the front lawn, and had dividers for the various age groups. This was the first hunt where Banner didn’t stop and open each egg has he “found” it. I guess he learned at his hunt at school that not all of the eggs would have yummy things inside. Instead, he cruised around and picked up about fifteen eggs before plopping down to open each individually.

And, yes.  His pants are being held up by a shoelace from Trevor's old running shoes.  We are classy that way.

After the hunt, Banner had sort of reached his “I need a nap” limit, and would cry every time we attempted to take his bucket away from him (he kept spilling the contents all over the place). He slept nearly three hours after we got home. IT WAS AWESOME.

Easter Sunday again found us back out at Brook Hollow with the family for lunch. Since our reservation was at 12:30, we skipped church (I know, gasp!) in order to get a partial nap in before heading out in public. Banner generally goes down for a nap around 11:30-12:30 and sleeps anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Since lunch coincided with this, we opted to get up early with Banner, wear his little a$$ out and then get him down for an hour around 10:30.

Of course, 10:30 AM is the same time that our church services begin, but we decided that Jesus would understand that we were only skipping in order to have some quality time with the family at lunch without an overly exhausted and cranky toddler. And, you know what? It worked like a charm! Totally worth it. Banner was all smiles for the family!

Chasing the BIG kids.

Thanks in part to the pre-lunch nap, Banner had LOADS of energy and didn't really want to stay put in the confines of the high chair while everyone else finished lunch.  So, the adults took turns taking Banner outside to run around and play.  He LOVES other children, but doesn't really understand how to initiate play.  The result is that Banner simply follows the big kids around and mimics everything they do.  We they run, he runs.  When they laugh, he laughs.  I've said it before, but Banner probably wishes he was someone's little brother (although, I'm guessing emulating the other kids is a fairly classic toddler learning behavior).  Except, said big kids at the club on Easter Sunday seemed annoyed by Banner's presence.  One little boy (about 3) came storming up to me and demanded to know why "that baby keeps following me everywhere!"  Part of me was amused (seriously, dude?  He can't possibly be bothering you!), while another part was sad that these older kids simply wouldn't let Banner be a part of their fun. 

Luckily, Banner had no idea that the other kids didn't want him around, and was happy just to be NEAR them.  Still, it kind of broke my heart to see my son rejected.  I know it is stupid.  The mama bear in me just can't help it. 

(Although, I'm counting it as a victory that I didn't tell that three year old brat to shove it.  At least not out loud.  I totally thought it, though.)

Guess who is the first - and ONLY - grandchild on both sides of the family.

Afterwards, Banner passed out in the car on the way home. Since it was cool, we let him continue to sleep in the car (parked safely in our attached garage) while we ran inside to change clothes, tend to the dogs and restock the diaper bag before heading over to Trevor’s mom’s house for Easter Sunday Part II. More good food, family and YET ANOTHER EGG HUNT later, we returned home exhausted (but happy) and just in time to catch the season premiere of Game of Thrones. It was a very good and VERY FULL day.

(Especially since Trevor's stepbrother's sons, ages 11 and 13, were more than happy to play with Banner at Gran's house.  Bless them!)

The weird thing about all the egg hunts we did with Banner this season is that – all of a sudden – Easter is over. It has got to be a little confusing for a kid. For days and days, you hunt eggs and get the hang of things, and then…well, it’s over. His Easter bucket is back in storage, the plastic eggs donated to a local charity that hosts a hunt for disadvantaged kiddos every year - even most of the candy is gone (not that Banner got to eat any of that). Part of me almost wishes that I had held on to a few eggs so we could continue to randomly have mini hunts in the backyard. Banner really seemed to enjoy the concept, and – to be honest – I’m a little sad the holiday has already come and gone. It seems like last week we were ringing in Banner’s first birthday, and – BAM! – it is almost tax day already.