Discovery Tot Tour

I'm a little late in writing about this, but I can't let it go unposted. About a week ago, I read about a "Discovery Tot Tour" designed for 2-3 year olds at a nearby nature center. Each week there is a theme and they take the kids (and parents) on a nature walk and teach them about the theme (plant life, rocks, etc.) This particular week was all about animals so I was all excited to take Jacob on a nature walk to see wild creatures. We signed up right away and I kept telling him about our fun adventure days before it started.

Let me start by saying that this nature walk began at 4:30 pm and lasted an hour. I knew it would be hot, but holy moses, 5 minutes after we stepped outside on the trail, I was dripping in sweat. Jacob and I were dressed in shorts and T-shirts and apparently this was not the appropriate dress code for nature walking. We were told that long pants, long sleeve shirts and closed toed shoes were preferred and I looked at the woman like she was crazy. Was she kidding? Did she want people dying of heat stroke on her watch? There was actually a 3 year old there dressed "appropriately" in jeans and a long sleeved shirt and I wanted to slap his mama. It was over 100 degrees! Poor kid.

Anyway, before we started the walk, we spent a few minutes inside talking about the animals in nature. She would hold up a dead, stuffed version of an animal and proceed to tell us a little bit about this creature (all the while Jacob was saying "pet him mommy, pet him!" I had to explain to him that that particular animal was dead...err, "not real" and that we couldn't touch the exhibits). But then she kept telling us "we won't see this animal today, but I just wanted to show it to you". She said this with each and every animal she held up -- the skunk, the raccoon, the bobcat, the armadillo, etc. She even said it about the squirrel! Um, hello, come to my neighborhood and you can see HUNDREDS of squirrels as you walk along a well paved, mostly shaded sidewalk.

So, we start on our trek down the trail and she stops us every 5 seconds to show us (please remember that she is instructing a class of 2-3 year olds) an animal footprint on the ground. "OHHHH! Look at this everyone! This is a deer print! We won't see deer today but look at how lovely the deer track is!" Jacob was not at ALL interested. It was quite clear that the animal tracks were planted there by the nature center because we were absolutely NOT to step on them. And then, every few minutes, we would see an animal skull lying on the side of the trail and we'd all have to stop and inspect it and try to guess what it was. At one point, she even picked up a mess of something that she called bat vomit. Bat VOMIT.

After about 15 minutes of this nonsense, Jacob was clearly not entertained and just kept saying "Mommy, hold you please." When this kid is bored and tired (and HOT), he wants to be in mommy's arms and in that kind of heat (5 1/2 months pregnant no less) I really thought I wasn't going to make it through that trail.

Needless to say, we did not see ONE animal. Lots of snake skins (again, obviously planted) but not one living creature. Not even a silly squirrel. So much for our animal nature walk! Jacob and I decided we'll pass on the other classes coming up and spend our time at splash parks instead. We went to one this morning with our new mom's meetup group and had a blast!!! I think this is a MUCH better way for us to be spending our time. :)

Pics from our Nature Walk:



One of the many snake skins that had been shed on the trail:



Some sort of animal remains in the guide's hands:



Jacob following the group:



We survived the trail!



Yay for splash parks!



Jacob trying to work one of the big water guns:





Snack time!

Not So Happy Father's Day :(

Last Wednesday, Jacob had a rough day at school and we couldn't understand why his attitude had changed so quickly. By 10 pm on Thursday night, we knew. He woke up vomiting and didn't stop until the wee hours of the morning. The poor guy just looked so confused and scared as to what was going on! He just kept begging for water but then couldn't keep it down. Thankfully, the bug didn't last long and by Saturday, he was bouncing off the walls again.

I wish I could say the same for Mark. Yesterday morning (Father's Day!), Mark caught that same bug and ended up in the E.R. due to severe dehydration. Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa were spending the weekend with us so they were able to stay home with Jacob while we took care of Mark. As a mommy and a wife, I felt helpless not being able to cure my boys going through this!! Miraculously, I seem to escape these bugs when they hit this house (knock on wood) and am thankful that I stayed healthy so I could help where I could. Needless to say, I feel like Mark was cheated out of his big Father's Day celebration, so we'll have to find a way to make up for it.

Happy Father's Day babe! You are the most incredible Dad in the world. When you walk in the room, Jacob's face lights up in a way that nobody else can make happen. You are there for us no matter what, all the time, mending ouchies, giving baths, reading bedtime stories, singing bedtime songs, playing dinosaur, providing, loving, and nurturing ALL the time. No wonder Jacob thinks you walk on water. We love you!!!

The Music Man

Jacob doesn't dance nearly as much as he used to. And if you've seen our previous video posts of him dancing, it's a downright shame that he's lost his love of dance. Maybe it's because he's getting older and now realizes that when he dances, people stop and watch...and giggle...and point. There really is nothing cuter.

But that doesn't mean he's lost his love of music. He now loves to sing at the top of his lungs in the backseat of the car as we're driving along the highway. I mean really. Who doesn't? Unfortunately, we're still belting out tunes like "Rockin' Robin" and "Big Red Car", but it really doesn't matter to me as long as I see his cute happy face singing right along. Here's an example: (and please don't turn this video into the Southlake police department. I realize I was driving while taking this video, but it's not nearly as dangerous as it looks.)

Holy Tornadoes Batman!

I forgot what a true Texas storm felt like until I saw the clouds rolling in at about 6:30 tonight. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty so I got online immediately and went to weather.com to find out what was going on. We were under a tornado warning and it said it would hit our area at 6:40. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the wind picked up and the lights started flickering and I got that good old "shaking in my knees" feeling. Jacob and I took shelter in the downstairs bathroom (in the middle of the house). The whole time he was asking me "Mommy, what's that noise?" I would respond "It's just the wind outside baby". Then he'd say "Scary wind" with his pretend scary voice and I'd say "no, it's not scary" (even though I was clearly lying!) We sat in there and ate cheerios and played with his McQueen car until he couldn't stand it anymore and then I gave him my iPhone so he could watch videos on it. It was the only way I could keep the poor kid in the bathroom.

Anyway, the storm passed and all was good but I really had forgotten what it felt like to be in a thunderstorm like that. We don't have those kinds of storms in California. Sure, we have to worry about the ground falling out beneath us, but that doesn't ever really happen. Right?

Jacob has officially transitioned to his big boy bed in his new room. He's been napping and sleeping at night great in there and I'm surprised at how easy the transition was. I think all of this moving around/sleeping in different places has helped him adjust to the change. He also finished his second day of school today. He cried both times when I left (which was HEART WRENCHING) but by the time I picked him up, he didn't want to leave. So, that and the fact that he keeps asking to "go back to school mommy?" are both good signs.

Here's a shot of Jacob on his first day of school:



Showing off his Thomas backpack (which all of the kids at school are apparently in awe of!):



Sleeping in his big boy bed (like a baby):

A Big Boy Day

Mark and I had been looking at new "big boy" bedroom furniture for Jacob for a while and had a hard time deciding what we would want in the new house. We were trying to decide between buying serious furniture (that he could use for a long time and grow into) or buying a playful loft bed with a tent and a slide. Right before we moved in, we found a great deal on craigslist for the tent bed and bought it. Jacob really fell in love with it but he's still been sleeping in his crib. Until today. Mark went upstairs and put him down for his nap and when he came down, he had a very worried look on his face. "He said he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed" he said. Sure enough, Jacob laid there for a while, fell asleep and slept for 2 1/2 hours!! We couldn't believe it. The true test will be how he sleeps in it tonight, but he is extremely excited to be sleeping in his new bed (and so are we!)

To top things off, after he woke up from his nap, his diaper was rather dry so I asked him if he wanted to go on the potty. He's been going on the potty consistently before bath and we've been trying to get him to tell us when he needs to go (before he goes in his diaper) without any real luck. But, he hopped right on the potty and peed without any problem! I think we just need to be more consistent about offering it to him and telling him to try and keep his diaper dry.

It's been a big boy day!

Our big boy starts his first day of preschool tomorrow which I think has brought on more anxiety for Mark and I than it has for Jacob. He cannot WAIT to start school. We've been talking about it for a while and have explained to him many, many times that mommy and daddy do not go to school with him. He seems to understand but I have no idea how tomorrow is going to go. I just can't imagine him napping on a cot with other kids around him -- without books, songs and cuddles from Mom and Dad!! I am just praying that he does okay and that he wants to go back again. He seems to be much more independent these days so I am hopeful. We'll see!!!

Here are some pics of Jacob's room and I'm posting a couple of videos of Jacob and Daddy playing "Scare Daddy with the Dinosaur" tonight. TOO FUNNY.