The themes of the last several days, in addition to birthday and food, have been animals and sports. Sis's world revolves around animals, wild and domesticated, while Buddy is obsessed with sports, moving beyond his usual baseball fanaticism to embrace football and soccer too.
As part of their birthday celebration weekend, Mama took Friday off and we went to the zoo to see the special bird show. Sis was so excited to see live scarlet macaws, owls, and especially the singing parrot, who can perfectly imitate "Old MacDonald." Now, Sis imitates the parrot singing, with a funny way of saying "ei-ei-o." If you live in CT, definitely catch the bird show at the zoo; it's worth it. But it was Bud who was brave enough to give the raven a donation. Sis just watched. And Mama and I wore the little rubber bracelets with "Fly Free" on them. We also saw our usual tour--wolves, tigers, rainforest, otters, etc.--but this time the Andean bears were actually awake! I think that's a first in three years of going! Of course, the best part, as usual, was riding the carousel, which Sis did 3 times and Bud did 1. She gets very excited about which animals she rides, choosing the zebra, gorilla, and panda this time. She noticed that the panda was holding something. "Bamboo," Mama explained. She said she thought it was holding a whistle. And it does sorta look like that.
We picked up Goo after a car nap and went straight for lunch at a Tex-Mex place that Sis has now dubbed the "chip restaurant." She loved the crispy tortilla chips and Bud actually liked the spicy salsa. Then she inhaled some chicken fingers while he ate a whole plate of rice and beans, leaving quesadillas untouched. We treated ourselves to ice cream afterwards, receiving balloons for their birthdays. She got chocolate with M&Ms and he got strawberry with mini gummies. Mama got a special Pina Colada ice and I got tamarind ice, which was wonderfully sweet and sour. No one else wanted any so I got the whole thing to myself. We spent the rest of the day playing outside in the playhouse from Gommie and Pop and in the little pool. Buddy insisted on playing pretend baseball, where we pretend to throw the ball and he pretends to bat and then runs the pretend bases in a homerun. At least there are no balls to chase!
The birthday party was all animals. And Sis loved it. Bud had a good time, but it was Sis who was really in her element (which is fine; he liked last year's outside bubble party much more than she did). They both liked having the undivided attention of Goo and our babysitter, who came to help and help celebrate. (this made it so much easier to set up and talk to the people running the birthday). They got to pet bunnies, a guinea pig, a dove, and snakes. Yay, snakes. Sis was probably the most intrigued--I'm not even sure how many of the other kids touched the animals, though I'm assured by the moms that they had a good time--she even lay on the floor face-to-face through the cage with the guinea pig. The staff of the nature center were impressed by her rapport with them. Sis loves animals. She had, coincidentally, received a play vet kit from us for her birthday. And she proceeded to examine all of her stuffies, finding "wrinkly paws," other ills, and just pets who needed checkups. Even when she played explorer with the kit she got (or was it for Buddy? Sometimes the lines get blurred after the fact), she was looking to rescue animals. No wonder she selected Diego, the Animal Rescuer, as her theme for plates and napkins. And the animal cupcakes--with these wonderful photo transfers of various woodland critters (thanks, T!)--were for her.
Buddy had chosen baseball plates and napkins and had "Yankee symbol" cupcakes. He was so excited to see them! He spent the weekend, when we weren't at the zoo or the nature center looking at animals, or eating Tex-Mex, birthday cakes (including one from Junior's from Goo!!), and ice cream, trying to corral us to play sports with him. We played real and pretend baseball. And then we added other sports because he got this Diego sports pack for his birthday complete with little football and soccer ball (plus bat, baseballs, and glove). So he donned his new Yankees shirt, played baseball, and then switched to football, which he played with Mama and Sis at church. He has even got a good spiral on his pretty accurate throws. And he's slept with that football the last three nights! Mama suggested we get him an orange and white football while we're in Texas. I don't think Uncle Soccer would quite approve. Especially because I suggested we should substitute that for the ring pillow! But hopefully, they can play sports together. Buddy has even picked up on his new uncle's favorite sport, having watched some women's soccer (USA vs Brazil) with us. We ran around the living room trying to kick it under the coffee table, shouting "Goal!" everytime we did. He likes the celebration--running around for his homeruns and dancing with his arms up when he catches a pass are an important part of his game. We'll have to look into going to some local games (though, we did record the home run derby for him tonight, too).
So, a vet and an athlete. Not a bad way to spend a third birthday. They've even decided that those are what they want to be for Halloween. It's easier than a jaguar costume!
No comments:
Post a Comment