To Stop or Not To Stop, That is the Question...

Today I had a work-related errand to run in the middle of the day.  Coincidentally, my destination was right across the street from Jacob's daycare.  I had a moment while I was driving where I pondered stopping in quick and saying hi, but the moment was short-lived because I'm pretty sure that would cause more harm than good.  He'd think I was coming early to pick him up and be disappointed that I wasn't, and it would probably create a whole lot of crankiness for the afternoon.  So, I thought better of it.  But in the back of my mind I wondered, if he was still a baby (or, say, when we have a baby next time around), would I have done it then?  Babies obviously have far less concept of time and much shorter attention spans, so a quick visit from Mommy could potentially be a good thing on both sides.  I'm not really sure that's the case, but I think it would be a heck of a lot easier with a baby than with a big boy...and I think seeing a baby in the middle of the day would perk me up even more than seeing a big kid.  Potential for lots of smiles and less risk for drama, I guess.  That seems unfair, or like favoritism in the case of two kids, but hear me out.

Kids are definitely big on routine.  Jacob is no exception.  He's used to going to daycare, and he's totally cool with the routine there.  He's been doing some variation of this type of life since he was seven weeks old, so he's never known any different.  Over the years I've taken comfort in that fact.  Once he's there, he's off to play, hang out with friends, eat snacks and a good lunch, and do things we'd never do if he was home alone with me.  They're more intentional about teaching (mostly because they can, as authority and peer pressure can be great things), and he's had a lot of experiences he wouldn't have otherwise had.  He's a social kid, and he fits in pretty well these days, I think.  There are still moments where I feel terribly guilty about the fact that he spends the majority of his time away from both of us, but again, he's never known any different.  Not to mention that the way he's been acting lately, I'm not sure either of us could manage much more time with him without losing our minds.  Let's just say he's been difficult.

I have noticed lately, though, that he's starting to understand that there is an alternative to being at daycare all day.  He definitely knows the difference between a weekend day and a week day, and gives an extra cheer when he asks if it's a daycare day and I say no.  He's also aware that not every kid goes to daycare.  One little girl stopped coming to daycare a while back because her mom stopped working, and some kids have been out this summer while their teacher parents are off work.  Now that he knows it's possible to not be there, he's definitely been asking to not go more often.  That's a bit of a bummer because now I know he does know better, even if he hasn't even known anything different.

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking about having another baby and doing the daycare thing all over again.  Jacob's in a pretty good spot right now, and shockingly, he's only a year away from being done with daycare life as we know it.  In a year and a few weeks, he'll be off to kindergarten, though no doubt will be bussing back to daycare for the afterschool program, which is fine with me...again, because he's been there, he knows everyone, and doesn't know any different.  We've gotten pretty comfortable with things, which is a good spot to be in.  But starting all over again with another baby will be a whole new ballgame.  It'll be another round of taking my tiny little newborn somewhere away from me, for the whole day, to spend the day with people I may not know that well.  Ugh. 

I did realize, however, that we won't be starting from scratch quite like we did last time.  Last time around, we checked out the daycare once, visited again for some paperwork, then came back one more time for a run-through kind of day...where I saw how things would work, where his bottles would go each day, and how he would spend his time.  And then, just like that, it was time to drop him off for a long day away.  Oh, and to make things even more interesting, his teacher left after his first week or so, so there was a totally different person taking care of him than I had even seen those few times.  It was probably a good thing that maternity leave had been a tough go and I was ready to go back to work (well, sort of), because otherwise I think it would have been beyond difficult to leave him.  Instead, going to work was a bit of a break, a chance to feel like a grown-up again, to have normal conversations, and get a little distance and perspective from the tough newborn phase.  The time I had with him in the evenings was more precious and I enjoyed it more. 

The good news is that next time around we'll know the people we're dealing with.  While I haven't spent a lot of time with the infant teachers, I have seen them and interacted with them a few times.  I know the directors and most of the other teachers well, and they know us.  I think that gives them a little extra investment in us (subconsciously, anyway), and it's nice to have so many invested sets of eyes looking out for our best interests.  Even better, Jacob could be down the hall for part of the day to be a familiar face if needed.  All of those elements are a bit more of a comfort than last time around.  However, something tells me that when the time comes, it's not going to feel any easier.

So, in the end, of course, I did not stop.  Only time will tell if I ever do, but it was an interesting revelation when I realized that next time, things will be considerably different from last time.  Just one of many differences, I'm sure...

Sunday with Chuck

As I mentioned a week or two ago, Jacob had a birthday party to attend this past weekend.  It was at Chuck E. Cheese for one of his daycare friends, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I've heard random rumblings from Facebook about these parties, and we've been there before for things other than parties, but it's hard to tell how each visit is going to be.  Our first time there was crazy because there was a daycare fundraiser.  There were tons of people, and so many issues with the games--tickets not coming out, games not working, crazy unsupervised kids cutting in on games--and in the end I pretty much swore I'd never want to go there again.

Craig and Jacob went once a while back when I was out of town, but I hadn't been back since.  Sunday morning at 11am we headed out and I was pleased to see that the place wasn't that busy.  That's always a good sign.  Jacob got his tokens and was off playing his favorite games--namely the basketball and baseball games.  He was disappointed to see that the football game wasn't working.  Still, he had a blast running around and picking games.

He took a ride on a truck...

I asked for a smile and this was the best I got.  Seriously.

And here he is in his favorite spot of the day, playing basketball.  He did pretty well, but the game was really stingy on tickets so he didn't get nearly the tickets most of his friends probably did.  Not a bad thing, though, since we just ended up with some candy instead of a bunch of plastic junk.

Eventually the kids sat down to lunch of pizza and fruit punch (score one for Mommy--I got stubborn fruit punch stains out of his shirt, by some miracle), and then got a visit from Chuck E. Cheese.  Here he is giving the birthday boy a crown...

Jacob is standing up closest to the camera, watching it all.

After cake and some playing in front of a "green screen" to be on TV, everyone was back off to play.  Here's Jacob and his good buddy Aaron playing one of those "shoot the stream of water into the hole" games.  They had a blast sharing tokens to play with each other, which was really cute.

Overall the experience was pretty good.  The pizza wasn't bad (I remember hearing they improved the recipe since the last time I was there), and I had a couple pleasant conversations with other parents, which is good.  Particularly since one was a mom I see all the time at pickup (one of her boys is just a bit younger than Jacob, the other just turned two), and now we know each other's name and had a nice little bonding chat about working downtown and how sucky it is to be among the last parents at pickup each day and how great it would be to work part time. 
Jacob was a good boy and seemed to play nicely with his friends.  That's a relief.  He did keep trying to climb up on the pedestal with the animatronic Chuck E., but if that's the worst thing he does at some other kid's party, that's not bad.  The one mom referred to him as outgoing, which is so ironic considering he comes from a couple introvert parents.  Craig always says that he prayed for Jacob to be more outgoing so he didn't suffer the downfalls of being a shy kid.  Sometimes I want to smack him upside the head for doing that, since we got this confident, headstrong child who is a challenge most of the time.  But on the other hand, after watching him run around yesterday, I know that it's good that he didn't need us around every second of the time we were there.  He's very independent, and later on that might not be such a bad thing.  We'll see. 

All of the kids were actually very well-behaved, which made the whole experience pretty great.  He did bring home a goodie bag today (not sure if he just missed out on getting it there or if it was meant to be an after-the-fact sort of thing), so we did end up with some plastic stuff and more candy, but overall it was a good enough experience that I actually looked on the website myself to see how much those things run.  The base package isn't that bad, actually--not cheap, of course, but the minimums are low so you could keep it pretty low key if needed--but when Jacob asked about it I told him maybe we'd do it in a couple years when he had a good group of friends to invite.  I'll know to do it early on a Sunday, if nothing else!

I'm still not sure I'm big on these fancy kid parties, but if we're going to get invited, it's nice of people to give us the opportunity to have a little fun.  Sometimes I need a little push to do stuff like that, so it's not always a bad thing.  It actually turned out to be a pretty good time.  Whew.

Playground Fun

Before the whole stomach bug debacle on Sunday, we did manage to sneak in some fun.  Actually, the best fun of the weekend was at the beach in between puke episodes, but I forgot to bring my camera down there, which is just as well since sand and cameras don't always mix well.  Jacob had fun filling pails of water with sand, and we made a couple feeble attempts at building, but mostly he was pretending to make me gross-sounding food and encouraging me to eat it. 

The night before, after the first time he told us his belly hurt (but nothing happened), we stopped at a playground near my parents' house that we'd never visited before.  The pictures aren't great because the sun was at a funny angle, but you get the idea.

Here he is on a space shuttle ride...

And I love this one with Jacob and Grandpa on a Yogi Bear teeter totter.  They were so funny to watch!


Darn shadows...

And then there was one of these...

Based on the ride on this that I took with Jacob, I'm not sure I'm cut out for spinning rides any longer. It's been a while since I've been to an amusement park (so sad!) but I may have officially lost my ability to spin! It could have been the big dinner I had just eaten, but still...boo.

He spent the rest of the time on the bigger playset you see in the background, including that tunnel slide.  He's become a master at slowing himself down on slides.  He no longer seems to have the fear he had at the top of slides, when he'd chicken out, but now he uses his feet as insurance that he won't go flying off.  He'll get into speed eventually and will be begging for waxed paper in no time.  Oh, wait...all the slides are plastic now...not sure that will still work!  He is, however, still afraid of playground bridges.  Definitely needs a lot of help to get across them.  Mommy is still scared of big drop offs on playground equipment (thanks to this experience), so I get a little concerned when Jacob ventures too close to any sort of open drop on those playsets.  He's pretty much an old pro thanks to lots of playground time at daycare, but he's still my clumsy little boy sometimes!

In other news, Jacob is good as new.  Monday when we stayed home he ate and drank just fine, so apparently it was just a 24 hour (or less) bug.  And even better, neither Craig nor I caught it.  Whew.  His car seat has been restored to functionality as well, which is good.  In the middle of the disaster I wasn't confident that would be the case....though the $150-200 price tag that goes with those bad boys was a pretty good motivator to make it work!

Now we're through another week of work/daycare, and the end of summer is drawing ever closer.  A couple weeks ago I was feeling some panic about cramming in some extra summer activities, and while I'm still hoping we can come up with some fun things to do with a couple spare vacation days I have to use, the panic has subsided a bit.  It's just been too darn hot to run out and do stuff, and Jacob is content playing in the yard or working on the massive Legoland that has cropped up in the middle of our living room.  Craig's busy weekends are slowly coming to an end, as well, so once lacrosse is done for the summer we might get a little more motivated.  We'll get there. 

Worst Appointment Ever

As I've mentioned before, Jacob's had to see far too many specialists in his young life.  The pulmonologist, the dermatologist, and today, the cardiologist.  On one hand I knew this was a long shot.  Still, even per our doctor, it was worth checking into.  I had noticed that his oxygen level seemed to be consistently lower than expected, be it at his pulmonologist appointments, when he had pneumonia in January (and no amount of breathing treatments got it where they ideally wanted), or even at his well visit in June when I first brought it up to the pediatrician.  Each time his oxygen was somewhere between 95-98%.  Not horrible, but lower than expected.  My official concern came from a blog post I read that talked about how low oxygen could indicate a heart defect--at least in newborns.  The blogger's daughter died at five days old because her pulse ox was not checked--and if it was, it would have indicated a heart problem that could have been treated.  Jacob's heart was one thing that hadn't really been scrutinized, and what if that was the cause? 

While you'd think if it was a true concern someone would have said something before now, it always seemed like the low figures were chalked up to circumstance--too much movement or that it wasn't contacting right, or something like that.  Again, if it was a huge concern I know it would have been brought up, but knowing how athletic-minded Jacob is, I didn't want to risk finding out he had a heart defect when he someday collapsed playing sports.  All things considered, his doctor admitted there was no real reason why his level should be that low, nor did she think that we should have to worry about it, so she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist.

Today was the day.  When we got there, the nurse that greeted us first was great.  She noticed the Mr. Incredible character on Jacob's shirt (he was wearing a Disney Hollywood Studios souvenir shirt), and gave him a Mr. Incredible figure right off her desk.  That was pretty legit.  She was so great, keeping things simple and fun for Jacob while she put on the electrodes and did a bunch of monitoring.  Jacob was so good and so brave.  He did awesome.  The appointment was great up to that point...so based on the title, you can only imagine how bad the second half went.

Once we got into the exam room, Jacob got a little antsy.  When the doctor finally came in, the first thing out of her mouth was, "I don't really understand why you're here."  Great.  I tried to explain my story without sounding nuts, but immediately she's like, "His levels aren't low.  Anything 95 and above is normal."  To which I said, "Well, his doctor didn't say that was normal.  She said it was worth looking into."  "Well, they're normal."  Ummm, ok.  At this point she was being so brusque that I started to lose my nerve a bit.  I mean, she's basically saying flat out that we shouldn't even be there, even though our doctor said it was fine to double check.  It's not MY fault my doctor didn't say that 95+ was normal.  Geez.  I actually got a little teary (I blame it on fluctuating hormones), because, quite frankly, I didn't know what to say. 

Later on she said, "He's asthmatic, right?" and I said, "Well, we've suspected but no one's ever told us that."  "It says it right here," she said, as she pointed to the letter Jacob's doctor wrote.  Well, it actually said he had reactive airway disease, which is another term I don't think we'd ever heard.  It's not a surprise given all of this issues--I guess it all had to have a name--but this woman was equating it with asthma and insisting that meant he had asthma, to which I kept responding that he'd never been formally diagnosed and no one ever told us that was the case.  The most instruction we've ever gotten is to give him a nebulizer albuterol treatment if he starts wheezing, which we've had to do the last couple times he's been sick.  That was always something his doctors had warned could happen, but until recently, it hadn't been an issue.  I've been thinking for a bit that I need to call the pulmonologist again because of that new development, and possibly get him formally tested for asthma.  And I will.  But it would have been helpful if someone would have mentioned that this was a reality beyond just our assumptions. 

Anyway, the rest of the visit is a blur, but suffice it to say I was miserable and feeling very stupid.  The good news is that all of Jacob's tests came back normal.  And despite the horrific experience of the appointment itself, I'm happy we did it.  It's one less question to ask down the road (and not to be grim, but if (God forbid) something ever happens to Jacob in the cardiology realm, I will have absolutely no guilt suing this doctor for malpractice...she was that rude), and I'd rather know I was an advocate for my son than to do nothing and wonder.  But the way she acted like I was crazy to ask the question just pissed me off to no end.  I could barely contain my emotions for the rest of the afternoon.  My boss has just gone through the week from hell with her critically ill mother, and she was very sympathetic in the "be an advocate", "never feel stupid" department.

Oh, and if there was any question in my mind about this doctor's mindset, I think the end of the appointment sealed it.  Admittedly, Jacob had been a handful the whole time we were in this room, and it was a little hard to control him, given my emotions and that I was trying to answer the doctor's questions at the same time.  He was playing with Mr. Incredible, trying to rip the exam table paper, fiddling with the toys in the room, opening drawers, etc.  He was a pain, no doubt.  At the end of the exam, the doctor said, "Is he always this energetic?"  I said yes, and she said something to the effect of, "Well, I'm tired...", meaning that watching him made her tired...but it wasn't said in a haha, cute but active kid-sort of way.  She legitimately seemed surprised by it all.  And I'm sitting there thinking, hello, you're a pediatric cardiologist.  If that's the worst she's ever seen, that's nothing short of amazing.  I get that a lot of her patients might be a bit more subdued, but geez, he's a four year old little boy.  It wasn't ideal behavior, but I also don't think it was abnormal.  If she thinks it is, she's crazier than I thought.

Again, I'm definitely relieved that Jacob's fine.  I'm a little annoyed if his pediatrician should have known that his levels were actually okay, or if the asthma thing is a given and no one bothered to mention it, but I'm pretty sure this doctor was just being a little extra high on her horse and annoyed with some parent who needlessly dragged her kid to the cardiologist for no apparent reason.  No doctor should ever make you feel foolish, unless perhaps there is truly zero reason to be there.  Even still...there is no denying that it was a miserable doctor experience.  That's a shame considering the fantastic nurse experience that preceded it.  But I am relieved we don't have to go back there, for more reasons than one. 

Check one more off the list...

When you become a parent, inevitably you hear stories from other parents about horrible, awful circumstances they get into with their kids that you hope you never have to experience.  Of course, odds being what they are, it's probably hard to avoid them entirely.  It's sort of the opposite of a bucket list--what experiences do I seriously want to avoid?

Early on most of the circumstances probably have to deal with pee and poop...the time someone got sprayed in the mouth with pee, the poop-up-the-back blowout and awkward, poop-everywhere diaper change that follows.  When you reach potty training, the fears become more centered around public potty problems.  In the meantime, the fears grow into other areas, like broken bones, emergency room visits, and horrible illnesses.  We've done the emergency room (twice for me, three times for Craig), his face has been glued shut, he's had a mole surgically removed from his leg, we've been through a handful of procedures that were tough to watch (mostly around the time they were diagnosing his reflux), and we've gotten through some pretty awful puking episodes and a bout of pneumonia.  We've been through a lot in four years considering we have a seemingly normal, healthy kid.  Oh, and we're going to the cardiologist tomorrow, just to check for one more thing.  Sometimes it all seems crazy, but sometimes it's clear that we're just making sure that our little boy is well cared for. 

Well, yesterday we got to cross another one of those dreaded moments off the list.  We survived an in-car puking episode.  A bad one.  Jacob came down with a cold on Friday.  Runny nose, congestion, and maybe a very low fever by the weekend.  Saturday night when Jacob and I were out to dinner with my parents, Jacob started complaining about his belly hurting.  It lasted for a while, but then it seemed to fade away without incident.  Yesterday morning we headed out to my family reunion at the beach, just about 15 minutes down the road from Craig's parents.  Jacob and I got there early, since usually there's a church service at the camp where the reunion is held.  Unfortunately, for the first time in our memory, they couldn't find a pastor, so no church, either.  We killed time just fine, with Jacob playing on the playground equipment and just hanging out.  He'd had cereal for breakfast that morning and had a little lemonade while we waited.  He was a little lower key than usual, with a low fever, but he generally seemed fine. 

All of a sudden, he told me he wanted to take a nap.  He clung to me like glue and started whining about his belly hurting again.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect after the night before, and I just felt bad that a) he felt so crappy; b) he was so far from home; and c) everyone had to listen to him cry.  I didn't mind the snuggles, but felt so bad for him.  At some point he got up from my lap, and at that point, he puked right on the floor.  We were in a picnic shelter with a concrete floor, so while it wasn't ideal it could have been worse.  Most of what came up was liquid, so that could have been worse, too.  I cleaned him up while family cleaned up the rest of the mess. 

When we came back from the bathroom, I had him drink a little water.  That stayed down, so we moved on to the next easiest thing among the picnic choices--fruit.  He had a little fruit, which stayed down, and he seemed to be doing much better.  I was hoping that it was just an isolated incident--something didn't settle so up it came.  We had a birthday party for our nephew later in the afternoon, so I was concerned about staying for that, but when he seemed to make a speedy recovery, I was less worried.  We went down to the beach and played without incident, then packed up and headed out. 

At the party, Jacob was eager to get a costume on (he loves his cousins' selection of dress-up stuff), and he played for a bit.  Later on he got a little clingier and laid near me for a bit, but for the most part he was fine, just subdued.  We encouraged him to eat more fruit and drink water, and he did.  He seemed to get a little more uncomfortable by the time we were ready to leave, and I ended up sitting in the back with him on the way home.  He was definitely unhappy, but he eventually fell asleep.  About 20 minutes later he was whimpering in his sleep and woke up...and about a minute later, he proceeded to puke all over himself and his car seat, not to mention my hands.  It was pretty horrible.  We stopped the car on the side of the Thruway to dig towels and extra clothes out of the trunk.  I did my best to clean up the car seat and Jacob, but it was pretty futile.  Pieces of partially digested fruit were everywhere!  On the bright side, Jacob felt better after that and my lack of a sense of smell made the cleanup process and the rest of the 50 minute ride home much easier. 

Since then Jacob's been fine.  We were concerned about a wheeze he had going on yesterday so we did a breathing treatment last night, too, and Craig did go in and sleep in Jacob's room in the middle of the night when Jacob started calling for him.  However, everything seems fine so far.  Two pieces of toast, some water, half a PB&J, some applesauce and juice have stayed down without incident.  I'm home with him today, a little cautious myself because wearing puke twice yesterday seems to up the risk that I might catch it.  My stomach's been a little off--fine but gurgly at times--but I don't know if it's psychological or just a small side effect of the germs, or what.  Or maybe it's just a preview of what's to come.  God forbid, but what can you do?

Anyway, the good news is that we survived an in-car puking.  I'm not going to say we handled it well--"survived" is most accurate--but at least we got through it.  One less "unknown" to fear.  I don't want to go through it again, and odds are if we do we won't have a fully packed car to use as a resource, but hey, at least we got through it once and clean-up this time around went relatively well--stains came out, car seat was hosed off and washed well.  Minimal impact on the car, too.  But oh, what a couple of days it has been...

Kiddie Birthday Parties

Oh, kid parties.  I don't quite know what to say about kid parties.  Most parents have an opinion on them.  In fact, a couple bloggers I read recently sounded off about them.  I remember parties from when I was younger.  I had a couple, which were fun, and I remember going to some.  Some were awesome, some were possibly a little disappointing if I didn't win any of the games.  I had one friend have one at the amusement park in the basement of the Skylon tower in Niagara Falls.  When I was a little older, we went to a pool party at a hotel.  Another year that same girl did laser tag.  I recall a couple of parties at houses, but I don't think parties were nearly as popular back then as they are now.  Mine were always at home and they were great, but I recall some awkwardness with having worlds collide--neighbor friends hanging out with friends from school just felt weird.  But the extra gifts were worth it, right?

Jacob's at the age now where the parties are starting to roll in.  He got invited to one a while back and we couldn't go because we had another (family) party to go to already.  That one was at a bounce house place and was one of Jacob's best friends, so I felt bad missing it.  Then we got another invite for another one of his daycare buddies...only it's on a day when we already have TWO family parties to attend!  That one was going to be at a park-like place with a splash pad.  Bummer.

Then a couple days ago, we got another one!  This time we can make it, and it's at Chuck E. Cheese.  Good news/bad news on that one.  Bad news--it's Chuck E. Cheese.  Good news--Jacob's been asking to go there, so we'll kill two birds with one stone. 

There's nothing wrong with these parties, per se.  It's more my issues.  It's the usual social anxiety stuff, I guess.  I worry about buying an appropriate gift--something the kid will like, something within a target budget.  But what should that budget be?  Parties involve being social with other parents.  That should be a good thing, because we need parent friends, but inevitably I always find it really awkward and end up feeling left out because somehow all the other parents seem to know each other better (probably because they could all make it to the other parties).  It's also a little nerve wracking being there to see your kid interact with other kids.  There's probably nothing worse than witnessing your kid treating another kid badly, particularly with that kid's parents looking on, too. 

Jacob asked a lot to have a party this year, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Maybe that's bad.  But here's the thing.  Even if it just would have been his best 2-4 best buddies, there would have been a lot to consider.  I don't feel like it's worth spending hundreds of dollars on a party that he may not remember, which is what we'd have to do at a place like Chuck E. Cheese or a bounce house place.  But not having it at a place with built-in entertainment is a little scary.  It involves a lot of planning, coordination, and luck.  You have to think of activities, kid-friendly food, and a way to keep the parents comfortable and amused, too.  Of course, there's always that issue of whether the parents are supposed to stick around or not, which I think will be more a question in a few years.  Anyway, we have the pool for built-in entertainment down the road, but it's a little weird with kids who may not know how to swim.  I also wasn't sure about the etiquette for inviting a few kids out of the class, rather than the whole class.  Add all those things together, and you've got a good excuse to not have a party.  Sorry Jacob.  Maybe another year.

I know I just need to get over it, get a few of these parties under my belt, and get used to it, but for now I'm still a little hesitant.  It's great that the other parents are willing to take it on, but I guess I'll just be a spectator for a little bit longer and see if planning way ahead might ease my concerns in time for Jacob's 5th birthday.  Let's hope!

Weekend at Home

We had a rare weekend with all three of us at home, and decided to cross a few things off our summer bucket list.  We still hadn't been mini-golfing this summer, so that was among the first things on the list.  I had a busy afternoon doing a little yardwork and an impromptu pool vacuuming, and after a little rest for me after Jacob woke up from his nap, we headed out. 

As much as Jacob enjoys mini-golf, our attempts have been a little difficult.  This time was no exception.  Jacob was constantly picking up and replacing his ball, often making his spot worse than before!  He'd run ahead to other holes and just not listen, and it all got to be very frustrating.  What's worse, is that he's really not that bad at it, and knowing he has the potential and seeing him not take advantage of it is a bit of a bummer.  He even legitimately beat both of us on one hole!  At least he didn't get a hole-in-one like one of the last times!    I took this picture, and accidentally left the camera on the vivid color setting...but I love the result!  So pretty!

Our frustrations continued a bit in the arcade--we let him play his favorite basketball game and a round of skee ball--and in particular at dinner afterward.  He just insists on being annoying--kicking off his shoes, messing around with his cup, stacking condiments, breaking crayons and throwing them on the floor--and we just don't know why he does it.  Sometimes I think food or drink (particularly sugary ones, even juice or chocolate milk) give him an extra rush of energy that he doesn't know how to handle.  It's like torture to get through most meals these days, for one reason or another.

Today we had to go to the pool store across town, so we (reluctantly) decided to grab lunch out at a cool place near there and then go to the zoo.  Coincidentally, Lori called this morning to see what we were up to today, suggesting the zoo, so she came along.  She hadn't seen the new lion exhibit, and we were eager to go back--especially since my pictures from our last trip were accidentally taken on a low-quality setting on my camera.  He was so challenging at lunch (despite the lure of a donut for dessert) that he fell asleep in the car for about 20 minutes afterward.  Ugh. 

Once we got to the zoo he woke up, and we headed through the zoo to make the lions one of our first stops.  There was a new statue at the entrance to the Step Into Africa exhibit...

The lions were pretty lazy since it was a hot day, but I did get a nice shot of the male.  He's so handsome! 

Here's Jacob giving me a wave to appease me while hanging our at the top of the double decker bus observation deck.

Too cool for Mommy apparently...

He was so cute when we were watching the baboons, banging on the glass and saying, "Come he, baboons!"  We did get a little show with a couple of them chasing each other around.  He really enjoyed the sea lions today.  We happened to get there at feeding time and he really liked watching them dive for the fish that fell in the water.  It is great to watch them swim right by the glass.  Jacob once again asked me to take his picture with the fake polar bears, but the first time he ran away before I could snap a good shot.  Then I got this one, while he was patting them on the faces...

We also got to watch the orangutans eat some sort of pasty stuff with sticks through the bars of their cage, which was interesting, too.  Jacob had a few moments at the zoo, but for the most part he was okay.  It was a relief to get home and relax a bit, but of course Jacob was ready to go and play sports.  It never ends!  One more challenging meal behind us, some Lego building, and he's down for the night.  Another weekend comes to an end.  A busy one coming up next weekend, too!