Balloons, Zoo, Wedding, Birthday Party

Whew!  We were busy this weekend!
My sister called on Wednesday and said her daughter and she were coming to town to see the Forest Park hot air balloon glow and then wanted to go to the Zoo on Saturday morning.  So we trekked to the balloon glow and luckily enough the rain held off.  Beth and Abby absolutely loved the balloons and Christian eventually liked them. As expected he wanted out of the stroller and in the balloon baskets!  He finally understood what I was saying that when the horn blows, all the balloons fire up at the same time, creating an amazing sight.  His favorite was the Wells Fargo balloon, which had a team of horses on it :)  Of course he also like the popcorn bag and the Energizer bunny balloons.

We treated ourselves to an ice cream, sat on a blanket and waited for the fireworks.  It started sprinkling rain when the fireworks started and I had to wake up Christian because he fell asleep in my lap. The fireworks were good and the hike back to the Hardee's parking lot, where I took the chance to park, didn't seem that far.  As we walked up to the Hardees, we see a tow truck with two cars on it, drive by.  I had a sick feeling that my car was going to be gone and here I was with a sleeping child in a stroller, my sister and niece.  Abby ran ahead, around the corner and gave a shout out that my car was still there!  Whew!  I don't think I'll park there again :)

Saturday morning we headed to the Zoo and it was a beautiful day.  Christian and I had been there the Sunday before but missed a few animals, which we saw this time.  We also decided to visit the stingray exhibit. I laid Christian on his belly so he could lean over and reach the water.  The stingray swam by and swam by and swam by, none of them close enough to the top for him to reach them.  I tried to get him to reach down farther but he felt like he was going to fall in so he wouldn't.  My sister spotted a group along a farther wall where it curved in making a more narrow pass for them to swim through.  This made the stingray push each other close to the surface, totally within reach. So we squeezed in between a couple of kids and within 15 seconds, we had both touched a stingray.  Christian looked up at me with a huge surprised smile on his face. Then when he was looking the other way, a stingray swam under his hands that he had dangling in the water, causing him to jump so big, and then laugh.  My sister snapped some photos of us and I can't wait to see them. I am so happy I was able to give him that experience!

Home we went for a nap and my sister and niece headed back to their house.  The babysitter arrived and I went to a friend's wedding.  He did a great job, didn't get upset when I left and the sitter said he was fine the entire night. I had a good time at the wedding but kept checking my phone, but everything went fine.   When he woke up Sunday morning, he smiled huge at me, reached for me and said, "Mommy's back!"  I always say, "Mommy will be back," whenever I leave him, whether it be at school or wherever.  I think he finally understands and believes that I will be back.  I am so happy about that!

Then we went to a 3 yr old's birthday party that is the son of one of my good friends. There were some other small kids there too and Christian had a good time.  He actually petted their little dog so I think he's getting more comfortable. At first he thought the presents were for him and I was worried we would make a scene. But I calmly whispered to him that his birthday is over and now it's this little boy's turn to have a birthday.  He said, "ok," and sat calmly in my lap and watched the present opening. I was so proud of him.

We had a very busy, but fun weekend! We go to swim lessons again on Saturday morning and I hope he likes it as much as he did the first time. Off to do laundry....
~Amy