Sunday, March 29, 2009

Zoo



Today is the last day of spring break, and it's cold, rainy/snowy/yucky outside.
John, the boys, and I went to the zoo on Friday. We went fairly early, and it turned out to be a decent day to go. Many schools were on spring break, so there were only 3 buses there, and the forecast for a "chance of rain" in the afternoon I think kept people away. It was overcast, but actually kind of comfortable...50ish when we got there, almost 60 when we left.




This is the second time that Evan has been there; he was much younger the first time. He adores his books with animals...giraffes and elephants seem to be his favorites. He also loves water and things that splash in water. One of the first animals we saw was the polar bear---huge smile on Evan's face! He was absolutely amazed by the dolphin show; when the dolphins did an out-in-the-air trick, he would sign more and say "mo." The 15 minutes of keeping him happy while waiting for it to start was quite a workout for me (a lot of hanging him upside down), but it was well worth it.



His look on his face when he saw the giraffes was one of amazement---he didn't want to leave them---same thing when he saw the elephants.


We went on the train ride that goes around the zoo. He wasn't too happy about that. About half way through, he settled down, but it wasn't worth the effort. One doesn't see animals on this ride; it goes around the "outside"---we saw many buildings, a gas station, and his favorite, a busy road which is what actually got him to settle down.

His FAVORITE part of the zoo was seeing the dog sharks! First, he got to put his hands into the water; that was a plus....then he got to touch a "fish"--definite plus. We went there twice, and when we tried to leave, I put him down, and he ran back to it--very cute. :)

trying to get in with them

We were only there for a few hours which was enough time for him. He looked exhausted when we left. He pointed to the dvd screen in the van, so I thought, sure, watching a movie will keep him awake for the almost hour ride home. Then, he can take a nice, long nap when we get home. Well, it seemed to be working; he watched Blue's Clues, but then about 15 minutes before we got home, he started to get really dozy. I tickled the legs, put on Little Einsteins for a change in movie (which worked for a minute or two), but those eyes were so heavy! He never really fell asleep, so I thought we were good when we got home. Oh how wrong I was! He needed to "unwind," and that he did! For the first hour in his room, he was fairly quiet, but I could hear that he wasn't asleep. Then he started "calling" me, and I went in and changed a dirty diaper. I thought he was good to go. Nope, for the next hour, he was a little more active in his room; I could hear a lot of jumping. I took him into our room; he likes to put all our pillows on top of himself. He's never fallen asleep in there, but I thought it was worth a try. But no, that didn't work either. So, I brought him downstairs....around 5, and within 5 minutes, he was asleep on the floor! We let him sleep for about an hour, and thankfully, it really didn't affect his bedtime.

Kyle and Matt's day at the zoo----Kyle was the official announcer of what time it was (every 10 minutes or so); Matt seemed to enjoy it.


This was taken at the end of our trip there...I guess I was the only one who had the energy to look at the camera.


When he sleeps, he keeps his blankie around his neck...has done this since, I don't know, around 5 months.

***Yes, I gave him a haircut recently, and yes, it was an awful experience.***

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Thomas the Tank Engine on YouTube

Kyle has been on Thomas fan for, well, his entire life. One activity that he enjoys is telling stories as I typed them out for him. He'll take characters from a variety of shows (trains play big roles), and combine them into his own story. For several years, he has been asking for "Bill and Ben go into the Spooky Forrest." As far as I know, there is no such video.
Another thing he likes to do on the computer is search for train videos for purchase. He was doing this the other day, and somehow, he stumbled upon YouTube. And what did he find there? Homemade Thomas videos! Some of them are quite simple...people video tape their Thomas trains going around the track in their living room. Some of them, are a bit more advanced. I've been keeping a close eye making sure everything stays appropriate.
One of the first ones I saw him watching had the freight trains pushing Thomas off a cliff, and then Harold dropped a bomb on him! Kyle thought it was hilarious. One of the ones he was watching today (8 minutes long) was a romance...it was quite cute, and it reminded me so much of the type of story Kyle would write. I will definitely have to keep a close watch on this, but so far, it's exactly what he's been hoping for; he's even asked if we could "buy the dvd" for some of them. Thanks to the people taking the time to make these new episodes!
On the subject of shows, a show he's been watching lately is Popeye. Recently, I brought home some spinach in a bag (for our salads and sandwiches). As he was helping me put away groceries, he said, "Mm, spinach, I'll take some." Okay, this boy doesn't even eat salads. I gave him one leaf and expected him to chew it and make a weird face. No, he ate it and asked for more--he ended up having a whole bowl of it! The next day, he had a bowl of chips and spinach mixed together. Funny kid.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Big Boy Bed!

We did it! This weekend, Evan's time in a crib came to an end. Even though he is no older than if he was still in a crib, he seems like such a big boy.


After his nap on Sunday, John made the transformation happen while Evan was downstairs. That evening, I told him that we had something exciting to show him in his room. He climbed up the stairs as we followed behind. I was a bit concerned that he wouldn't be too happy with what had happened. Nope. He walked into his room, looked at his "big boy bed" for a couple of seconds, and then turned to us with the biggest grin on his face! I know he was thinking, "This is sooo cool!" He then practiced getting in and out of bed several times.


It's gone well so far; really no different than it had been for the past couple of weeks with him climbing out of his crib. At least this way, he can get back in bed much easier than he could the crib. So even if he does get out to play (and he usually goes for his musical toy--not really hiding the fact that he's out of bed), he can get right back in on his own, or when I go in and say, "Get back into bed!"