Staying Busy

Isaac and I have been running around like crazy people almost every morning for the past two weeks in an effort to make the transition down to one nap less...whiney. I figure if I can keep the child busy, he will forget that he's tired and my life will be happier.

The best part is that Isaac and I have been having fun! We've been to the zoo, the library, the beach, to the moms' group at church, and on countless playdates at various parks.

At the library, Isaac was mostly excited to climb on the little him-sized stools and look at the elementary school-aged kids getting tutored. At the beach, we threw rocks in the water, chased birds ("bwee" in Izey-ese), buried our feet in the sand, ate a picnic, got a little bit sunburned, and took naps--him in the stroller, me on the sand. On our playdates, Isaac usually hugs the other children endlessly, tries to steal their snacks, and brings me trash he finds in the playground.

Our favorite field trip was when we went to Lincoln Park Zoo (which is FREE!--what a fabulous idea!) for the very first time with Isaac's godmother Liz and godsister Eva. It was one of those days when I truly appreciated being a stay at home mom. I called Zach when we got home and said, "You are going to be so jealous! We just had so much fun at the zoo!" It was sweet to be able to watch Isaac's fascination as the leopard gave himself a bath, the monkeys chased each other around, the the gorillas groomed each other. Here's a few pics and a video of our day:

Evy and a gorilla check each other out.

Isaac watches the chimps running around outside.

"Have you seen this, mom?"

(By the way, in the video, if you know what to listen for, you can hear Isaac say, "Now way?" which means, "Another one?"-- a very useful phrase for a 16 month old.)


Our fall schedule is going to keep us busy, too. We have the Moms' Group at church, a Moms and Tots Interaction class through the Chicago Park District, a weekly playdate/babysitting switch with Anne and her 2 year old girlie girl Kalea, a day at home with Daddy (which is also my cleaning day), and one day a week when I get to drop Isaac off with the Grant family and go substitute teach! I'm looking forward to a little organization to our week. It'll be full, but fun!