E.J. and Mama Zoo Day

It has been weird to have Ellie in school this year; it's strange to have this whole part of her life that I really know very little about.

And, frankly, it's quiet, because when she's at home she almost never stops talking.

However, one positive thing about Ellie's new preschool routine is gaining some one-on-one time with E.J. I have thought a lot about how Ellie had me all to herself for her first two years (and three months), and little E.J. got a mere two weeks by chance thanks to his fever-related hospital stay, but that has really been it. Now we have two mornings a week with a few hours for just the two of us, and it's kind of nice.

I mean, mostly we don't do much. He naps, I clean. When he wakes up we eat lunch and then run errands. Pretty ho-hum.

But last week E.J. and I had a fun mother-son day out at the zoo. He and I walked around and looked at the animals, just the two of us. I wore him the whole time (well, until the end when I let him stretch his legs a bit) and it was so nice to just hold him close and watch him watching everything, talking to him about what we were seeing. We really had a very nice time!

Ready for some mother-son fun!

We checked out the jaguars, and got a good close look at one that was relaxing right by the observation window:

Hi, jaguar!

We also did the "ape loop," which we don't usually do when we go as a family, and were rewarded with an up-close view of the mama gorilla with her baby. She was sitting right by the window, but shortly after we got there she flung her baby up on her back and headed off to the trees. I wish I could get my baby on my back with such ease!

I was trying to take a selfie with mama gorilla but ended up with this shot of baby on her back as they trotted off

Mama gorilla sitting and watching her baby climb things. We're not that dissimilar, are we?

We also stopped in and fed the giraffes...

Loved it.

...and spent a good long time admiring (and making elephant noises at) the elephants. E.J. loves elephants!

Elephants!

By that time, E.J. was getting a little fidgety so I let him climb on the rocks a little bit.

Happy climber

I also let him walk back to the rhinos, which he loved. He did a little climbing on the benches, too, as is his way.

Walking with purpose

Always be climbing.

Of course, then he started to abuse his privileges: he refused to hold my hand or come near me when things got crowded, and if I tried to steer him in any direction other than where he wanted to go, he threw himself to the ground in a fit of defiance. Toddlers, man. Little tyrants.

He also cried when we left, which I assume means he had a great time. At least I'm choosing to take it that way, because I really had a nice time, too. I missed Ellie, of course, but it was really nice to do something fun with just my boy. We'll have to do more things like that together this school year!