Pony!

We decided to go to the zoo today because, though not as warm as last weekend, it was still pretty warm. The sky was cloudy and there was some sporadic drizzle, but it turned out to be an enjoyable day. The lions were outside and the cubs were playful. Jonah was excited to see all the animals.

Even the polar bear was finally out.

Jonah even got his first pony ride. We were concerned that he wouldn't like despite saying that he wanted to ride, but he absolutely LOVED it. Michelle won the rock-paper-scissors to be with him while he rode.

After his ride, he kept saying "Pony! Pony!" and pointing back to the riding area. I'm sure he will have more opportunities in the future.

See more pics from our day at the zoo at our family photo site.

Butt Scootin' Boogie

Despite all his practice lately going down the stairs, Jonah still sometimes sits to scoot down steps on his butt. This isn't really a problem, but sometimes he likes to sit down a bit too early. He did this the other day at the park, REALLY far from the steps, and I felt it needed to be put to music. 

It isn't just steps, though. He also does it before going down the slide two. He sits down so far away, a couple other kids get to go down before he gets to the top of the slide.

We joked around at the end of this really long scoot that maybe his butt was a bit itchy...

(Music by Brooks & Dunn)

Peanut Butter!

In yesterday's post, I made mention of how much Jonah likes peanut butter and jelly. I had forgotten that a little over a week ago, I got some footage of Jonah eating a peanut butter sandwich. This one needed to be shared.

"Peada budduhr!!" Of course, he kind of played with it more than eating it in this particular video, including a little "Cut it!" with his finger, but he does enjoy his pb&j!

Hummus and Hissy Fits

I haven't seen the expression in so long, I couldn't help but grab "hissy fits" from my aunt Barb's Facebook post to use for the title of this post, particularly when Jonah is putting on a hissy fit in the background as Michelle tries to get him to take a nap. We aren't sure what happened, but in the past 10 days or so, the kid just won't go to sleep for us. If you were expecting the hissy fits to be about hummus, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

We used to be able to put him down awake in his crib and leave the room. He would take care of the rest. Now he stands up in his crib and cries if we try to leave the room. Even if we wait for him to fall asleep, his sixth sense kicks in ("Mommy's leaving!" or "Daddy moved!"), and he stands up in his crib and starts crying.

Not knowing what the problem might be, we tried a nightlight last night. I'm not convinced that is the problem, as he still cried for a while. He did finally go down on his own. Perhaps losing an hour tonight with Daylight Savings Time will help him sleep in "later" tomorrow.

He certainly has fun before bedtime, so it may be separation anxiety. 

The other night he got to try his first hot cocoa.

"Mmmm. Hot cocoa. I like to sip it from a spoon. Marshmallows are good, too!"

 He also likes to read while getting ready.

Nothing like a good book before bed.

"Hmm, what's going on here?"

"What's up with you people? I'm reading here!"

And we often have a good time playing hide and seek or just tickling and giggling.

On a more fun note, Jonah has really picked up a taste for hummus. I know, I know... Hummus? Fun? Just wait...

We seem to pull it out to have with vegetables as part of our lunch on Saturdays, and Jonah has started to ask for it. Lunch today was no different. Even with a plate full of peanut butter and jelly and banana, he asked for a carrot with hummus, and kept asking for more hummus. I had to capture a bit when he asked for more and Michelle decided to put some on his plate.

We think we are going to have to start sending hummus to daycare. What kid chooses hummus over pb&j (and he loves pb&j)?? 

A Fun Winter Day

Today truly was a day of ups and downs, but my hope is that the good memories are the ones that last. In an effort to preserve them and the reasons they were highlights over the rest of the day, I wanted to do this quick post.

We were going through a bit of cabin fever yesterday, especially after swim lessons were canceled. Michelle suggested that we go to see the butterflies at the Milwaukee Public Museum to make sure we got some time outside the house. It was a particularly good suggestion, because we've been talking about doing it for a while. Jonah loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar and this book Butterfly, Butterfly that we discovered at the library (and later picked up a copy), and he always gets excited when he sees butterflies in books and pictures.

So we headed to the museum and made our way right to the Butterfly Garden. Jonah does what he usually does when he is very excited about something: He was stunned silent. At first, anyway.

The first butterfly Jonah found when we set him free to walk.

Checking out some butterflies on the floor with Mommy.

"These butterflies are so cool!"

"Look but don't touch, Jonah!"

After our visit to the Butterfly Garden, we started to wander the museum. Jonah's favorite part wasn't any particular exhibit. He just liked the stools that they have in various places around the museum. The first ones were in the bug room next to the butterflies. He walked around them, climbed them, spun them around...

No, he isn't into planking. He's just short and climbs this way.

He had an uncanny knack for finding them, too. At one point he ran down a hallway, seemingly with purpose, and turned into a room that had a bunch of the stools, as if he knew they were there.

He also enjoyed finding any place he could practice going up and down ramps and steps. in one room, there was a ramp up and then four short steps down that he could handle pretty well on his own. He did a few passes on that loop. There was another room with a wooden floor that required you to step up to get in. He liked going around in circles there, too.

This spot was a particular favorite to walk in circles going up and down the step.

Jonah did really well handling stairs today.

Jonah fell asleep on the way home, and the transfer to his crib is not usually a problem when he falls asleep in the car, but I managed to wake him this time, and the past few days have been Go the **** to Sleep days.

Michelle had already planned to do a little shopping with a friend this afternoon, so she left and I read to Jonah to calm him. He nearly fell asleep again, but I couldn't get him into the crib without waking him. He stood right up bawling. I'd rather focus on the good stuff for the day, but he never did go back to sleep, even though he did later calm down. He just started talking and playing with the window blinds.

Later we went for a little walk outside and then the three of us went grocery shopping. Jonah seemed to have a great time. He was happy and smiling.

After dinner, we put on a Pandora station based on Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Jonah and I had it on earlier in the day and had some fun marching and dancing around to it, but it was even more fun with Mommy there, too! Jonah was having such a good time, he decided to give Mommy some "kisses." You'll see what this in quotes in the pictures below. We kept "cutting in" and switching, and Jonah would get upset each time because he didn't really want to switch, but we were all having such a good time, it didn't take him too long to get over it.

Who's leading?

Jonah's future dates beware: you can't tell if he is going to kiss you or eat you...

"You step on my toes much more than Mommy does..."

One of Jonah's favorite parts. Though, what kid doesn't like hanging upside down?

We wore him out good, because he went down for bed better than he has in the past few days.

More pictures from the day can be found on our family photo site.