Beat the Heat

Today was a hot fun-filled day in humid Houston! We started out by going to the zoo around 9:30am. We try to go as early as it opens up at 9am so it's not so hot, but today, Andrew wanted to read books after breakfast so we were running a little late. Just last week when we went we went at 10am, but it wasn't as hot as it was today! It might have been my imagination, but it was so much hotter! Humidity was in full effect!! But Andrew still enjoys the zoo; I kind of think he looks forward to seeing the animals that he knows. He asks for the elephant and lion and definitely likes looking at fish more too. I deliberately go on my own concocted path in the zoo so that we see certain animals based on how known and/or visible they are to Andrew who typically sits in his stroller when it is just the two of us.

After the zoo, Andrew asked for more ducks so we went to the pond to take a quick looksee. I then asked Andrew if he wanted to ride the train, but he didn't sign for it. So go figure, when we got to the car, he signed for train. There wasn't much reason not to go for a ride, so we headed to the depot to buy tickets. Well, as luck would have it, the train was pulling away as we were walking up to the ticket window. So, we got our tickets and proceeded to browse the gift shop with its nice air conditioning for the next fifteen minutes. It's not our first time to wait for the train in the gift shop; and Andrew takes the time to play with the toys they have there. Well, we ride the train to which Andrew has a few choice moments. He first cries a bit because the train wasn't moving and we had to wait until others got on the train. Then, Drew fusses because he wants to hold his sippy cup throughout the ride instead of letting Mommy put it back in her purse. I thought to myself that if he chunks it out of the train, I will just about have my old little fit!! But he holds onto it the entire ride thankfully.

As we are driving back home, I decide that if Andrew falls asleep on the way there, we will forego going to the grocery store. But he manages to stay awake by the time I come up to Krogers so we head in for a few items like apple juice and snacks for Andrew. After, we pick up Burger King for lunch on the way home. After eating, Andrew and I play for a bit; and then I tell him it's time for a nap. He didn't put up a fight when I took him upstairs. As we laid in our bed, he wanted to nurse then play and then play some more. So, I then tell him that it's time to go lay in his crib and take him to his room. He lays down and doesn't cry, but tries to get comfortable. I lay down on the floor and try to look like I am sleeping. Well, sure enough, I fell asleep! When I woke up what I think is several minutes later, Andrew is asleep too. :)

Next, Aunt Monica comes over for a visit. After Andrew wakes up from his nap, we all play together; and then, I show Monica into the Wii tennis game. She was hooked and caught on very quickly. Andrew was cute trying to swing his controller too. I was very fearful of the controller going into our TV. But he lost interest in it and allowed us to play while he played by himself and watched a Thomas DVD on the laptop. Then, I let Monica try some singles while Andrew and I read some books.

Well, it was time to meet Daddy at Gymboree. We just signed up for classes earlier on Tuesday so we wanted to take advantage of the open play time they had tonight. Andrew seemed to enjoy it last time we enrolled; and it's a great activity to take Andrew too to beat the heat. Andrew had a great time tonight! I am so glad we got to share it with Daddy. Last session, we weren't able to go to an open play time with Daddy so this was Daddy's first time to see Andrew at Gymboree. Andrew did very good playing and even did some good sharing and playing with other kids. The only incident was that he did grab another boy's arm and make a mean face. The little boy was a little scared and ran off to his mother. I felt very bad. But I have to say that: (1) it wasn't too hard of a grab--it was still a grab, but it could have been worse; and (2) at least Andrew didn't hit. James and I talked about his hitting as it has us quite concerned. Andrew just hits kids when he first meets them. He doesn't care whether they are boys or girls, bigger or smaller than him. I wonder if he is just scared and just uses hitting as a defense mechanism or maybe he is just setting the tone. I welcome any comments as to if you readers out there experienced hitting for no (known) reason with your kids or kids you know. We tell him "no hitting", but to no avail yet. I hope that he learns it soon because I hate facing the parents of the kids that he hits. I feel so terrible that my child hit theirs. All of them have been very gracious, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

All in all, we had another great day with a few blimps here and there. I managed to get some videos of Andrew at Gymboree...I never get to take videos when we are usually there because I am trying to keep up with Drew. Photos are hard enough to take with him as it is! So I wanted to take this opportunity to get some while Daddy was there with us. The first video is Andrew practicing his dunking skills (as he may not have much opportunity to do so later on in life!) The second video is Andrew stacking some cones; I may have to take partial blame for this. Either, our work with Andrew learning to clean up after himself is working or else Mommy's OCD is rubbing off on Andrew! We have never shown him to stack cones. The final video is Daddy playing with Andrew with Gymbo, the Gymboree mascot, who Andrew always laughs at during class. I don't know why he likes that thing so much! But I love anything that makes my boy laugh!