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!