You may recall from our last marathoning adventure in Virginia that Chad was not pleased with spending several hours in a car, OR watching marathoners marathon their way around the course. But this time he was perfect, and the very model of how you would want a newly-turned two-year-old to behave on a road trip. He chilled with his blanket and Max for the entire car ride, took a quick nap, and made his rounds at the race expo. He spun the prize wheel at the Dick's Sporting Goods exhibit, and won himself a cloth grocery bag. Next he headed over to the spectators booth, picked himself up a cowbell, and made an encouraging sign to hold up during the race. He even visited a booth advertising a kids' Fun Run, where he was told that the minimum age is 6, but they would be happy to have him race in four years.
He went to Maggiano's with us to encourage me to carb-load, thanked the waiter for bringing him his food, and when the waiter came by to see if we needed anything else, he handed him his plate and politely said, "All done."
The next morning, he woke up early and enjoyed some breakfast in bed.
Raise your hand if your mommy runs marathons!
Giving me some pre-race encouragement.
Checking out the Gideon Bible.
After some pre-race driving drama (let's not talk about it), we said good-bye about 0.75 miles from the start of the race, with just 15 minutes to spare. (Because nothing warms you up for a marathon than a mad dash through the streets of a strange city to actually get to the race on time.)
Chad and Andy drove around looking for a place to park so they could cheer on the runners. I think they drove for about two hours. And then they found a parking garage, where Chad fell asleep, leaving Andy to use up my data plan.
The two of them had planned on watching for me at miles 7, 13 and 20. Instead, Chad woke up in time for them to get to mile 26.1. They then spent some time there, watching ruff-ruffs and having the following conversation on repeat:
Andy: "Where's Mommy?"
Chad: "Mommy?"
Andy: "Watch for Mommy."
Chad: "Mommy?"
(When I heard about this part of their day, I mentioned that it must not have been at all annoying for their neighboring spectators to listen to this. Andy replied, "Maybe that's why people kept leaving."
After God only knows how many hours of running on broken knees, crampy legs and a stomach in revolt, I finally saw them! Chad got so excited and cried "Mommy! Mommy!" with a big smile on his face. Just the push I needed to hightail it to the finish. Unfortunately, after I passed, Chad became upset that I was gone without stopping to play, and the "Mommy! Mommy!" took on a more whimper-y tone, accompanied by some desperate reaching.
I made up for running past them by snagging a banana for him in the refreshment tent.
Afterward, my little cheerleader took some pictures with me:
Back at the hotel, Chad stole my medal.
And then he met Uncle Earl for dinner.
We drove back the next day, and another very important first happened!
It was two years in the making!
And had better happen again sometime before another two years pass.
We actually left Chad with a non-family member to baby-sit, and had an anniversary dinner with just the two of us.
<3
Chad was perfectly well-behaved while we were gone, (at least that's what I'm told), and didn't cry once. He ate his dinner, played veterinarian, checked Mr. Potato Head's temperature, had his teeth brushed, read the book about llama drama (this has been read five nights in a row now, which is a refreshing change from The Happy Man and his Dump Truck, a book that makes me want to stab myself in the eye), and went to sleep. Meanwhile, we got to enjoy a meal without anyone crayoning* on the tablecloth or causing milk showers by pulling their straw out of the milk cup.
* Spellcheck agrees that crayoning is a word, but not marathoning. Who makes these rules, anyway?
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