Now I personally think throwing big birthday parties for little kids that won't remember them, and have no idea that it is their birthday is ridiculous; but wanted to do something for Than's birthday. Mostly I just wanted the photos for later proof that I did something. So I decided to host a playdate at our house for the mommy's group and just tell them it was for his birthday, meaning the only difference would be that we had cake and snacks.
It was great. On Friday a few kids showed up, enough to be fun, not so many as to be overwhelming. It turned out to be a beautiful day so the kids got to play outside in the backyard while the adults sat on the back deck. Than had somehow learned the word party that day. I had never heard him say it before but when he saw the kids at the door he ran towards them yelling "Party". Ryan decided to take the day off so he could be there (and enjoy a long weekend). Personally I think having Daddy home was the real highlight for Than, but he enjoyed playing with the kids. I included a later photo of Than playing with some of the insane haul of presents he got from family and friends. It is good to be the only grandchild...
On Saturday, Than's actual birthday Ryan and I decided to take him to Roger Williams Zoo & Park up in Providence. Than and I have been a few times and I had purchased a membership, but Ryan had never been. It was a lot of fun to go as a family. It is a nice zoo and much of it is laid out with a great path for strollers. The only downside usually is that the enclosures usually block the view on the bottom so you have to do a lot of lifting the little ones up so they can see, so I was thrilled Ryan was there to do much of the lifting. It also meant we went to sections of the zoo that Than and I hadn't been to before. Places that aren't stroller friendly and require either carrying Than the whole time or letting him run...and Than is far too much of a trouble maker to just let him run most of the time.
We timed our trip perfectly. We got there just as the zoo opened at 9am (Than is very much a morning person) so it was still cool and lovely and not too crowded. By the time we were leaving it was starting to get very warm and crowded.
After we finished up at the zoo it was still early enough to do something I haven't done before, explore the park around the zoo a bit. It is a huge park with a great many things to do. What we were interested in for this trip was the old carousel and massive playground next to it. I took Than on the carousel twice. It was a strange experience, as he was an impatient pain in the behind. He would get very excited when we first got on. Then as he had to wait for other people to get on and get settled he would start to squirm and fuss. Then he would start to cry, right up until the ride started and it would switch to absolute delight...until the ride started to slow down, then he would get upset again. It boils down to he loves the ride, but taking him when he is already cranky and a bit tired is a bad plan. After the ride we took him to the playground for a bit to burn off some energy before the car ride home. It is one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen and Than had a blast running around. I will definitely take him again on a day where it wasn't quite as hot, because by the time we were at the playground it had gotten pretty uncomfortable. So we didn't stay too long.
After a nap Than spent the rest of the day playing with all his new toys. Included in a massive set of sand and beach toys were a few funnels of different sizes. He spent about half an hour putting them on my head and his as if they were hats, saying "It's a party!"or "Now it's a party". The kid cracks me up.
I had to include this video because I thought it was funny. Than loves watching the sea lions at the zoo (which is why I got the aquarium membership). He can stand on the rock at the viewing portal and they always circle around and play in front of the glass. For some reason this time he would jump backwards into you when they came up against the glass as if he was scared, but then smile delightedly and wait for them to come around again. Then jump again. He did it 4 or 5 times in a row before I decided to get a video of it.
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