May 8, 2012 ~ Billy's First Field Trip

We went to the zoo.

Ok, there is only one word for a field trip involving and entire daycare. Zooey. And I'm not talking about the animals.

Before we even left the house Billy knew something was up and his entire routine was off. This devolved into two epic meltdowns, including one over Mommy's outfit. Apparently, he didn't like my shirt. I wore it anyway and the fashion police never showed, so it couldn't have been that bad.

I asked him what he wanted to see at the zoo. "Grandpop!" Well, already in for disappointment. I think Billy thinks Grandpop lives at the zoo. Grandpop usually refers to his house as the circus, not a zoo.

When we got to the zoo the keepers made up wait around a lot outside- I guess for head counts. For adults, this lined-up mass chaos is just boring. For a one-year-old it is excruciating. Bring on epic meltdown number three prior to ten a.m. The other kids in his class were melting down too. It's a little too much waiting for the Under Two Club.

But we finally made it into the zoo and walked around with his class. We did the petting zoo where a donkey tried to drink out of Billy's sippy cup. But he got to pet that same donkey while it licked his cup. No worries, Billy didn't drink after the donkey. He also got to pet some goats, and hug one very patient goat.

This pic would be the highlight. Billy got to ride a camel. He was all excited to get on it after another girl in his class went for a camel ride. But then we got on it and he was suddenly terrified. He started to whimper in fear, but I kept coaxing him to pet the nice Mr. Camel, who was letting us ride him. The funny thing was, when we got off the camel he talked on and on about it, all excited. I have no idea what he said, since most of what he says is unintelligible, but he was thrilled- after the fact.

Note to self: field trips with the Under 2 Club- pass.

April 6, 2012 ~ Gone Zooey

Well, I was going to write a really sober post about the importance of today. Good Friday, Passover, Opening Day, landmark dates in my own life...

But I'm going to skip the somber and go right for the trip to the zoo today. Who wants to talk about religion anyway? j/k

Grandpop and I took Billy to the zoo today. He hasn't been since he was a little thing and probably has no memory of it. They had a big Easter thing at the zoo today for kids, but we went after- Billy's too young for that stuff anyway.

First up... giraffes.

This one was eating so we got a nice view of his butt. So we went over to look at the other giraffe. He was standing next to the window. When Billy saw him all of the color drained from his face. The walls of the enclosures don't go to the ceiling so the giraffes can lean over. It did. Oh, the terror! But no screaming. I mean, Mommy wasn't afraid and Grandpop wasn't afraid. I had forgotten how tall they are in person. Must seem giant-sized to a pint-sized guy.

Then it was off to the elephants. They were swinging their trunks and dancing around for food. Billy pointed to each one, and again, and again. Boy, were they cool.

But, when you go to the zoo it's not to see the big animals. Oh, no. Big, scary, cool. But not why you go to the zoo. Every Billy knows the real reason you go to the zoo is to see MONKEYS!!! Before we even got up to the monkey house Billy started pointing and saying, "ee, ee!" No, there weren't any monkeys outside. And I don't think he can read yet- wait, I hope he can't read yet. There was only one monkey in the monkey house. Everybody else had gone in to dinner. But Billy pointed and said, "ee, ee!" (Recall that to Billy all things are known by what sound they make.)

Ok, one monkey is boring. So we went over to the chimpanzee exhibit next to the monkey house. I know chimps aren't monkeys, but since Billy seems to think all things round are balls and all things with wheels are Beepbeeps, let's just go with the "hey, at least it's in the same family" concept. The chimps were running and playing right in front of the window. He watched a pair scale the fenced wall. He was thrilled. THRILLED! Monkeys. That's what zoos are for.

Next to the chimp exhibit the same metal fence was enclosing some bamboo. Billy decided to try out his "monkey" skills and scale the fence like the chimps. It didn't work out. No opposable big toes. I think I'm ok with this...

And totally on theme and totally by accident, here's a video from this morning:

Crocodile Rockin' Baby