I am the piano man

Joe had his first piano lesson compliments of Grammie Monson. He loved all the electroncis and being able to make the sounds change as well as the songs in the system. I missed seeing it life because Larry took him over on an afternoon that I just wasn't feeling too great, but luckily for me my wonderful hubby brought me home a snippet of video he shot. Hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

Quack Quack

Joe had his first experience feeding the ducks, geese, and pigeons at McKinley Park today. To say he was enthralled would be an understatement. We started off the day feeding them and then went on to the playground for a little fun with the other kids only every time I turned around he was running back off towards the duck pond. Thank goodness they had it fenced off near the playground otherwise I might have ended up with my own wet little duckling.

We took a lot of bread and some crackers which turned out to be a good thing since the other mom's tended to hand out whole slices of bread which promptly went sailing into the pond fully intact. I'd had the forethought to tear mine into little pieces prior to leaving our house which provided more than enough for Joe and some of his pals.

It was a real joy to watch him find so much joy in such a simple thing.

Here comes the flop!

We hosted "poker night" at our place last night and boy was it a lot of fun. Perhaps I'm just saying that because I walked away with everybody's chips but it seems like everyone (by everyone I mean the LOSERS - ha ha) enjoyed themselves. What was so ironic is that I'm probably the most inept when it comes to the game and in fact took a pot when I hadn't even looked at my cards but was betting each round anyway. And I won the buy-in... a wopping six dollars!

My favorite part though was the realization that while it was just family playing the game, they are also awesome friends now, and that makes my life rich beyond compare.

PJ Water Play

Joe and I had a PJ day last week while we hung out at home. As a treat I filled up his red wagon with water and let him splash and play. Water is one of his favorite things in the whole world and since it was such a warm and beautiful day out I figured why not.


As you can see by the photo's he had a blast and mom and I got quite a bit of enjoyment watching him make a big wet mess.

Joe's 1st Day of Daycare

Well Joe attended his first day of day care at Miss JoAnna's and we both managed to survive it with very few tears. He'll be attending every Wednesday from 9:00 AM until about 2:30 PM. She has a pretty regulated structure with pre-school activities in the morning - a craft, a christian teaching, and basic 123 ABC teachings. Then it's free play followed by a healthy lunch followed by a nap. Once they're rested she does a craft project in the afternoon and then it's back to free play until pick up time.


I dropped him off this morning and Daddy picked him up when he got off work at 2:00 PM. Joe brought home two pieces of artwork; the first is a monkey face that they made utilizing paper plates and the second is based on the story of Jonah and the whale. Joe was so happy when he got home and animated so I think he really enjoyed it. She only has boys on Wednesdays all under 5 so I'm hoping he'll make some good friends through this venue and learn the social skills required to play with other munchkins his own age. To date he socializes better with adults than kids, but then again he spends more time with grown-ups too as a result of my health issues.

And me... well this was the first time since he was born that I truly had "ME" time. I went to the library and browsed the stacks for over an hour filling my basket with a lot of mysteries and ideas for kids play time. Then I went and had a solitary lunch with no interruptions (well none after I asked the staff to stop asking me if everything was to my liking - they had a laugh when I explained why) and then I went and enjoyed a Chai Tea at Starbucks, sat outside enjoying the sunshine and did some reading. It was really a relaxing day with no worries.

I think this day care thing is going to be beneficial to both Joe and I. He gets regular interraction with kids and I get a much needed break mid-week just when I need it most.