On our way out the door I told daddy I wasn't bringing my nice camera and for him to bring the point and shoot. When I saw how many pictures he was taking I thought a blog from his photographic perspective might be a good change of pace.
Almost immediately both boys wanted to walk. Carl and I always handle our boys with a man on man defense because Erik has a really bad running habit. It is hard to control this because sometimes it is ok for him to run and sometimes not and I am having a hard time teaching him when it isn't and he has a hard time listening to me when I tell him not to run. So today was a good day to work on it.
We stopped first for lunch, zoo bought, since we are out of food at home and were running late this morning. We wanted to guarantee good spirits and no meltdowns during our time there today. It worked for the most part.
One thing I have noticed about my boys at 20 months old, when they are with me they are fine with my comfort and holding them, but when daddy is around they won't let me hold them or comfort them. So the entire day anytime I tried to hold or play with Elliot he just turned to daddy and asked for his attention.
On the other hand Erik and I have been getting along great and are best buds. So it gave me an opportunity to run around with my oldest and answer all his "why" questions. Some people get annoyed with the why process or questions, but I love it. I think it is great when my 3-year-old asks me what each animals eats and listens very hard to the answer. I love when he searches for the baby in a herd of animals and asks who the mommy and daddy are. I love that he is engaging with his environment and relating to it the way a 3-year-old relates to the world. Most of all I love that daddy was there today so I had the energy and focus to answer all of his questions about the world.
I am a little disappointed because I can't tell you what Elliot's favorite part of the zoo was today. All I know is what daddy told me because I was too busy chasing Erik and answering all his question. He did say the he liked the fencing and plants more than the animals, no surprise there. I also think he liked hanging out with daddy and just being able to walk around the zoo for once.
I also wanted to point out how crowded it was at the zoo. Erik was so excited and running around that he kept almost running into other strollers and other people. How do you teach a 3-year-old to look where he is going, especially when his mom suffers from the same problem? I saved him from numerous collisions today.
Since we lived 5 minutes from the zoo and go there often we almost always run into someone we know there or make new friends. Usually it's not worth mentioning, but today we ran into our friends the Anderson's. Ella and William are some of Erik and Elliot's closest friends. We were all walking out together at the same time, go figure, it was close to naps, and I was again reminded of how challenging Erik is with his running habit. I let him out of the stroller to walk with his friend Ella when he tried to run with her. He does this often with Ella, but Ella listens to her mommy and now let's go when Erik does this. Eventually Erik took off down the ramp full speed and didn't stop at my calls and I was pushing the stroller. This is a constant battle, run with the stroller, yell at Erik, or ditch the stroller and chase after him. This is why he is not allowed out of the stroller with just me at the zoo. I think being with friends especially when he is overtired gets him over excited and he doesn't act appropriately. We definitely have to work on this running problem. Maybe some internet research is in my future. The punishment of being put in the stroller or being forced to hold my hand doesn't seem to be very affective. Thankfully his brother doesn't seem to suffer from the same habit! Small blessings!
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