stroller-free

friday morning i took the kids to the library and decided to try it stroller-free. and i don't carry mason, he either walks or rides. it was like he had never been to the library before. he was wildly pointing and 'talking' about everything as we made our way over to the elevator.

once up in the children's area he did much, much better than i had expected. looking back, i was really taking a chance here. one of mason's favorite activities at home is to pull books off of their shelves and now i was giving him freedom at the library! i am happy to report that he only took two board books off the shelves and we checked one of them out. he took them down to look at instead of just to make a mess.

he stayed right with me and was an excellent listener. we did have a little problem leaving the library because he didn't want to walk toward the exit. i just did to him what i did to madelyn - if you can't listen and walk, then you are just carried under my arm in an uncomfortable way so that you don't want to make this choice again. and mason is strong! i was sweating by the time i got him into the car.

it was a hot (for here) and muggy (for here) day - even early in the day. and i don't know what i was thinking suggesting that we go to the zoo after the library. not only was it hot, but i had forgotten that it was "zoo a la carte". this is sort of a 'taste of the town' event at the zoo and it is extremely popular (aka crowded). while we had a fun time, the animals were hot too and not very active or visible, and madelyn actually asked to go home because she thought that it was too hot. now before any of you think it was torture to be outside, i think that it was around 91 when we left around noon and there was an occasional breeze. i have just become a wimp after living here for so long.

sorry about not having any pictures. i did want to mention that mason had a rough night thursday night. i really have no idea how long he was crying. it was one of those cries that wasn't enough to pull me from my sleep (not a pain cry, not a scared cry, etc.) and i dreamt about it for what seemed like a long time before finally waking up and going to check on him around 4:30am. he had gotten on the floor between his crib and closet but wasn't awake. it seemed like he just couldn't get comfortable and was crying in his sleep. as soon as i picked him up he fell sound asleep and slept until 8am (very, very late for our house). i felt so bad for him but he wasn't bothered by it in the slightest. love.