Day 5 with Dylan

Sunday morning started out a bit lazy, we took our time getting ready to head for the pool.  We decided it was time to break out the play-doh set.  We made crocodiles, giraffes, squeezed it through a tube, made hairy hedgehogs, and even rabbits with carrots using many colors.  Dylan's favorite thing to do with the play-doh, was to cut it with the scissors that came with it.  We also played with the canal and truck set again, he got so good at loading the barges with the crane.

When we finally got to the pool our laziness was all gone.  Dylan was shooting baskets like Michael Jordan, went down the whale slide without any help, even at the catch, we just made sure he landed on his feet.  Dylan  braved the mighty sea turtle.  He went down the big slide with Grandpa several times before braving the big slide alone!  He went very fast, but had a big smile on his face.  Dylan actually did things that were much closer to swimming laying on his belly in the pool and blowing bubbles like a motorboat.

Back at home Dylan took a long nap, exhausted from the pool.  We prepared for another water balloon battle, but Dylan was content to stay inside, we had truly tired him out.  We played with trucks, horsey rides, read stories and while waiting for Grandma upstairs with Henry in hand.  Dylan declared that Grandpa had pushed him.  Grandma decisively sentenced grandpa to a timeout for "pushing" Dylan, funny how Grandpa's protests of innocence had no bearing on the case.  Just a moment after Grandpa had served his time with the time out, Dylan asked Grandpa to push him again.  Of course Dylan told Grandma and once again Grandpa was in the corner serving his timeout.  This happened many more times, some criminals never learn :-)

The terrifying Tickle-monster then emerged from his hidden lair, Dylan and Grandma quickly took shelter in the bedroom.  They seemed safe, but the wise tickle-monster found them and tickled them without mercy.  The tickle-monster left the room, but soon was back.  However there was no one to tickle, so he sat down on the lumpy bed.  The wise tickle-monster soon found his prey under the covers and began his relentless tickling, when suddenly the fierce Henry the lion let out a roar that sent the tickle monster running for his life.  This scene played over and over until Grandma, suffering from heat exhaustion from hiding under the covers thought we should play trucks instead.

Dylan has really adapted to the new bedtime routine, his bath time went well and he seems to really enjoy watching the Cars DVD and it really helps him calm down.  He went to sleep pretty quickly.  Joy and I started to pack up Dylan's things so we would be ready for when JJ and Derek arrived.

When we finished, we began to think about all the fun we had with Dylan, how he makes us laugh, how he comprehends new things, how athletic he is becoming, and how grown up he is.  We wonder how he will be with a brother or sister.  He talked about Mommy having a baby a few times during the week.  We agreed he will be a great big brother!

Day 4 with Dylan

After a good night sleep, Dylan decide he wanted to go back to the zoo and see all his favorite animals.  We played at home for awhile before the zoo opened.  We played with trucks, we played in the tent so we didn't get rained on, and we introduced Dylan to a new play set, a canal and truck set.  The set has places to put both water and sand, though we had neither as we were playing in the playroom and not outside.  The set has gates to lift and a crane to load up the barges with.  It also has trucks that can dump the cargo and speed boats to zoom in the canal.

We started with the Lions, the 2 males lying on top of the big rock watching over the kingdom.  Dylan loves to see them.  Next we went to watch the orangutans, who were locked in a wrestling match.  They showed varsity level skills and entertained us for at least 10 minutes.  The chimpanzees were outside and were mostly hiding away from the people.

We stopped by to say hi to the lion again on the way over to see Sammy and Sally seal, to our delight we saw the baby seal playing in the water.  Nearby we could see crowds of kids, all in Packers' gear and yes for the 2nd year in a row we stumbled on Donald Driver's annual GO! Green and Gold Training Camp for kids.  Of course Grandpa, being unaware of the zoo event was dressed in his Brewer gear, not his Packer gear!  We watch for a little while before going to see the Bison.  On the way over we saw Henry the friendly lion, and checked out the giraffes.  Dylan is fascinated with the big animals and really likes the Bison, he loves their hairy heads.  We go right by some cute prairie dogs that draws large crowds, but Dylan had no interest in them, he only wanted to get closer to the big Bison.

We headed for the Children's Zoo area, and to our pleasant surprise there was no line at the train ride, obviously the Donald Driver event had kids occupied elsewhere.  Grandpa got to ride in the Blue train car with Dylan, quite cozy.  Grandma and Dylan rode the carousel, and Dylan chose the elephant again.  We played in the tree of life play area, going up to the bridge, going down the little slide, and hiding in the tubes.  The surface is perfect for kids to play on.

No zoo trip would be complete without spending time playing on the red tractor.  Dylan is now an expert tractor driver and can climb and crawl all over the tractor with ease.  He is courteous to other kids who want to play on it.  They only last a minute or so and then he is back on his favorite red tractor cruising across imaginary fields and climbing into the engine to fix it.

We stopped in the store to find a souvenir of our 2 trips to the zoo.  Grandma and Grandpa saw a Bison and thought that would be the one, but after checking out 4 of Dylan's "favorite" animals and "favorite" cars, he picked a fierce Lion named Henry and a zoo truck that carried an elephant and tiger.

We stopped at Qudoba on the way home for  a burrito bowl for Dylan.  He took a long nap, giving grandpa time to fill up 35 water balloons!   We thought we would try a similar approach and fill up the Pirate water table in a shady spot.  The water balloons throwing was quite fun, mostly because Grandma was much more of the target than grandpa :-)  When the 35 water balloons were all gone we sprinted over to the Pirate water table.  We really got into the water table this time around and towards the end, the water table playing escalated into much more splashing, and then throwing of water with the scoops and little buckets!  The water table emptied and we needed more water to continue the fun.

Once inside we began to wind down with a good bath.  We continued the bedtime wind down by watching the Cars DVD versus using the iPad to get to a nice bedtime calm.  We may have found something, gone was the frenzy of finding videos, rejecting videos and finding new videos.

Day 3 with Dylan

Dylan had a bit of trouble sleeping last night,  losing his "baba" several times.   Grandpa put a couple extras in to make the baba search easier.  He woke up wanting to see mommy and daddy, I said we could go upstairs and read stories.  Next he wanted Grandma, I told him she was sleeping, and we could sit on the sofa and wait for her.   After a few minutes I got smart and set up the cot.  He finally let me change him and even let me lay him on the cot.  I read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear? until he was sound asleep again.  He stayed sleeping until about 7:30.

We ate a great breakfast, Rice Chex, Banana, Sausages, Milk and of course yogurt!  Dylan and Grandma played "stuff the tent" with as much of his toys as possible, plus Grandma and him.  Dylan explained the need to get everything in the tent, it was always raining in the playroom (what used to be the living room) and on the carpet, and he didn't want his favorite things to get wet.  Quite logical, afterall that is what tents are for, to keep things dry :-)    He rode his bike a bit, now he can navigate the dining room as well as the regular circuit.

We decided to go to the Madison Children's Museum.  Again, we started a bit slow with the water table with cups.  Next we rode the vegetable cart with the toy Yak.  He loved that the cart had a braking mechanism and reins for instructing the yak to whoaaaa.   He took the plants from the cart and planted the garden.  What a fun place.

Dylan became more brave and was ready to try the bridges and even the stairs to the huge bridge.  He must of walked the stairs to the bridge and over, a dozen times, during this first round of bridging.  The stairs to the bridge is one-way and only wide enough for on person, the bridge is near the ceiling and if you are over 4' tall you have to duck to avoid a bonk to the head.  Grandpa and Grandma had both ends of the bridge covered, just in case he made a dash for it.  To our pleasant surprise he listened well when we said he had to walk versus run.  He checked out the cottage a few times.  He likes the double door, especially closing the bottom half.

We finally were able to persuade him to try some new stuff, we went up stairs and checked out the mechanical car, the space ship cabin and of course the wood table that held the wooden cars, trucks, forklifts, semis, tankers, etc....  The table is laid out like the city of Madison, complete with a Capital building,  It's cool because he can go beneath the table and pop up in the middle of the table to play.  He spent a lot of time there.

 



Dylan had a brief pause at the crazy mechanical miniature menagerie with all kinds of colorful buttons to push.  He hopped in the wooden jeep for a couple of seconds before spotting the art room where he can paint, squeegee, and most importantly spray water on the glass windows!  He had the cleanest windows in the whole room.

We went up to the roof where we crossed a creek, went under a tree tunnel, saw an ambulance all before going inside pet a mouse, see baby chicks, turtles, and talk to mommy on the phone.  It was definitely time for lunch.  We had Veggie packs, pepperoni pizza, chocolate chip gold fish.  Then it was back to the bridge and the quiet cabin with the 2 doors.  We played there for another 30 minutes, and started to think he would never want to leave. We had to tell him baba was in the car.  It was time to go.
Dylan slept well during the car ride home and we successfully transferred him to the cot without waking him for a nice afternoon nap.  After nap time, we went outside in the shade for some water fun.    First we took a dozen water balloons outside.  Dylan threw water balloons at Grandmas feet and in the grass.  Dylan bounced a few water balloons off of Grandpa, he seemed to really enjoy Grandma and Grandpa's reactions when he threw the balloons at them!

   

Next, we thought we would water "the plants".  It's funny how a 2 year old interprets the importance of watering live things.  Yes, Dylan watered the trees, the azaleas, and the hostas.   However, after discovering new settings on the nozzele, he expanded the watering to the siding on the house.  Dylan figured that because it was so hot that the sun also needed to be watered.  The sun felt the affects and soon hid behind the roof.  So he decided to turn the hose on Grandma and Grandpa, because obviously they needed the positiive benefits of watering just as much as the plants.  Dylan seemed very happy to watch Grandpa try to sprint away from the stream of water.   Grandma did not escape the water attack and we soon we were all soaked, laughing, and loving it! The expression on Dylan's face says more than any words could!

Back inside, it was time for arts and crafts.  Grandma gave a scissor instructional and Dylan learned to cut out paper objects from a project book and then they pasted them on to another page.  He did pretty well, it took a bit of work to have him hold the scissors up straight, but he got it.  Dinner of McDonald's Nuggets, Apples and Milk seemed to hit the spot.

Day 2 with Dylan

I was pleasantly awaken this morning to lullaby music.  Dylan had turned on his crib music machine and was quietly listening to the music and watching the animals.  A great start to the day. During the day, twice during changings, he mentioned having to go potty and then actually went pee in the potty!

Grandma was awake too and came downstairs to begin early morning reading time.   We had Bucky pancakes and sausage for breakfast.  Played trucks and a bit of tennis before Grandpa and Dylan went the long way to the park with Dylan riding his trike the whole way!  Joy had a chance to water the plants, still so hot and dry.  Next, we thought it would be a good time to go feed the goats.  We took a bag of carrots for the goats, and water for us.  We had to deploy several distraction tactics to feed the little ones.  The bigger more aggressive goats try to hog all the carrots and will smash their heads and horns into those in their way!  We swung on the wooden swing, checked out all the bridges and even the front sign and employee entrance at Endres Manufacturing.

We played soccer with a Dylan-sized goal and soft soccer ball.   Dylan can kick very well, however he wasn't understanding that the goal didn't need to be knocked over each time he picked up the ball, I blame his exposure to hockey on that :-)   Inside we played more tennis, trucks, and Dylan rode his trike throughout the in-house circuit (the circle that includes the kitchen entry, "play room", dining room, and then out to the Family room for a sharp u-turn and then back again).

Lunch went pretty good, he seemed to love the Mac and Cheese!  Then of course came naptime, being at home is better than being stuck in the car.  Dylan slept well in his cot near his tent with Grandpa on the sofa and Grandma laying close by.  We, Dylan and I were out pretty quickly!   Joy just had to capture the moment!  I was able to run a couple of quick errands while Dylan was napping and even managed to assume our napping position so when Dylan woke up we were all in our pre-nap locations.

 After our 2 hour nap we started to get ready to tryout the pool at Prairie Athletic.  We had a blast, jumping off the sides of the pool, playing with the water spouts, playing water basketball with a punchball balloon, trying out the big water slide with Grandpa a couple of times, and the best of the best the whale slide!  Dylan must have went through that slide at least 40 times.  He started out slow, adjusting to the situation, the water temperature, the people, etc...  but came on strong and had a wonderful time.  Dylan was starving poolside and had a bowl of Rice Chex devoured in a few minutes and sucked up his veggie pack in a few short minutes.   What a great time, we'll be back to try that again!

Back from the pool we made Tacos. Dylan got interested in the Cars DVD,  that allowed us both  a chance to take turns for a  shower.  We play a chase game that ended up with tickling Dylan and Grandma in the tent.  Dylan peed for the second time today in the potty.  We took a bath, and went downstairs to read stories and watch Little Mermaid in preparation for bedtime.  Bedtime went well with stories and massage.  Night, night!

Dylan's First Day

We woke up before Dylan,  JJ and Derek were getting ready for their trip to San Francisco.  Derek had earned the Amfam All- American trip to San Francisco.  This is the 2nd year we were the lucky grandparents to babysit during the trip.  Then we heard Dylan waking up, his mom and dad escorted up the steps, his bright blue shirt had the words "Most Amazing Brother Ever" as he was waving 2 sonogram pictures!  Big news!  Dylan was going to be a brother, Joy and I grandparents again, and JJ and Derek parents again!  After hugs all around we found out the due date is to be in mid February, possibly 2/13/13.  What a way to start the day!

JJ and Derek got ready to leave and Dylan really didn't like that he wasn't going.  He wanted his Daddy and Mommy.  We quickly avoided a meltdown by showing him his new Pirate Ship Water Table.  He really seem to like it.  We then blew up a red punch ball and played tennis, his new favorite game.  He and Grandma had little badminton rackets and Grandpa used a real tennis racket.  This proved to be his favorite new game all day.  We went out side and Dylan rode his tricycle.  He is very good at pedaling now.  He also tried mowing the lawn, it was a bit long, plus the month long draught has made the grass less then healthy green.  Dylan mowed the sidewalk instead.  He ate some scrambled eggs and Turkey sausage.  Dylan also ate a veggie pack, best baby food product in the last several years!

We packed up for our Zoo trip at Henry Vilas Zoo!   We started with the lions.  The lions were playful, the big male and teenaged male were playful.  Next we checked out the monkeys.  We could have stayed watching the Orangutans all day, Dylan seemed fascinated.  We checked out the Lemurs, and the Chimpanzees and headed back to the Orangutans for another 5 minutes.

Next we had a quick stop back at the lions before checking out the seals.  We named them Sammy and Sally.  Then we watched the giraffes eat breakfast.  Not scrambled eggs and sausage, they preferred grass, no accounting for taste.  Then we headed over to the rhinoceros, he was literally rolling in the mud and again Dylan could have watched the rhino roll in the mud for hours.

No tigers were out that we could see, we checked on the penguins, but they were sleeping so we checked out the birds.  Dylan always enjoys the Fish and the Macaws, today was no exception.  Next the polar bear was out, but not real active, Dylan took notice all the same.  He really enjoyed the Bison, and had to see them twice.  We had a decent lunch, his chicken and cheese burrito in his lunchable went pretty well, not quite as well as the oreos and the koolaid.

In the children's zoo, the first animals we saw, were the painted wooden ones on the carousel.  As we found out in France Dylan loves carousels!  He rode a caterpillar on his first ride, and as he was waiting for the train, he rode the carousel again, this time he rode the elephant and checked himself out in the mirror, as Grandma saved a place in line.  After the train ride we thought we were in trouble as he wanted a third carousel ride, but we mentioned the tractor and he was headed there in a flash!

After the tractor ride we checked back at the penguins and sure enough, they were there.  Dylan called them a highlight on his zoo trip.  Not sure about that since we spent so much time at the Orangutans and the Rhino!  From the zoo, Dylan napped in the car, as we ran errands, picked up salads and drove to Lodi, to keep his nap time as normal as possible.

He woke up wanting mommy and daddy, but we are smart grandparents and took the pirate ship out side to fill with water.  He watered the pirate ship, then we move to a new location, where our brilliant grandson found the other nozzle settings, other than mist.  He found a long range stream that flew at least 25'.  Dylan discovered a new game, squirting grandma and grandpa, mostly Grandpa!  He was laughing and having great fun watching Grandpa run.

We went inside, played more tennis, read books, rode the bike and tried to eat.  Eating wasn't a strength today.  He did go pee in his potty chair!  A celebration, including a call to mom and a potty dance, ensued.  We watched some sesame street videos and a bit of the Cars movie.  We had chicken pizza from Doughboys.  We managed another yogurt, read books and then it was time for a bath.  Dylan loved having the Pirate Ship people in the bath.  He put on Cars themed PJs.  A few more stories, and then took him down to read a book while he went in his crib.  He protested at first.  Joy massaged his back, while I read a couple of new stories in a very subdued voice.  Time for bed!