February so far

I am going to distract myself from the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day I had with Jack today by writing about some of the fun things we've done this month.

We recently discovered toddler bowling. This is a pretty fun activity in limited quantities. I think it's a little hard for Jack to wait his turn, and the bowling alley milieu can get a little overwhelming at times. But it's always fun to hang out with our friends.

Jack bowled a strike!

After we went the last time, we stayed and rode some of the rides in the adjacent arcade. Jack discovered this ride-on truck that had a magic spot that, if kicked or hit, made the ride turn on automatically without a token. We spent the rest of the afternoon on it. I felt like the Fonz every time I banged on the truck and made it go.

We've had lots of fun play dates with our friends. At one play date at Sea World, Jack had his first taste of cotton candy. He was not a fan (neither am I, for the record). Neither the blue nor the pink tempted his palate, though he gave it the old college try. After his first two tastes, he told me that he wanted to try it again and that this time he would eat it with "a happy face." I let him have one last bite, which he ended up spitting on the ground.

Jack's latest obsession is with trains. Everywhere we go, if there is a train table, he will set himself in front of it and stay there the entire time. It gets a little hairy when other kids want to play with the trains as well. Sharing and taking turns are still difficult concepts for Jack to master, although he's very aware of when others are not sharing with him.

The baby has given Jack a few trains early as a present to keep him excited for her arrival. When we are home, he alternates between playing with those or his number flashcards. This is one of his favorite things to do with the flashcards:


Yes, he did that all by himself. Hopefully not a sign of OCD.

We also made a recent visit to the zoo as part of a Mommy and Me outing where we got to get up close and personal with a serval cat:


This was one of the first times that Jack was really into the animal exhibits at the zoo. Usually, he just wants to ride the elevator. But this time, he was actually having fun looking at the animals and saying hi to them. We might actually have to renew our zoo membership.



Yesterday, we went to the Chinese New Year festival downtown.


So far, the good days this month have outweighed the bad, and that's what I have to keep telling myself on days like today.