Goodbye DayCare, Hello PreSchool

Jonah is now officially in preschool. He is enjoying his new school and had no trouble adapting at all. He already has made friends and enjoyed a few field trips. The school has set up Pre K - 4 year olds for school the beginning of the week and then they mix with the Pre K - 3 year olds in the middle of the week. He constantly comes home singing new songs and continues to amaze us with his increasing comprehension of language and math. As always it is not all roses. He has had his first encounters with what it is like to get in trouble and get "his card pulled". They have a system of green, yellow, and red cards for discipline. He has landed on yellow twice this year... once for getting in his locker and closing the door and once for leaving the group on a field trip to the library (and scaring his teacher half to death). I couldn't ask for a better teacher. Mrs. L* is great! Daddy has since had a few talks with him about safety issues and Mommy will hopefully attend the next field trip just to keep an eye on how he does. The picture of him with another little boy is his friend R* from his Daycare. I had hoped to get R* Mom's phone # to schedule a playdate but it hasnt' happened yet. However, his teacher from Daycare has been in touch and hopes to babysit for us sometime soon. Maybe Mommy and Daddy can get a romantic dinner in yet...

St. Louis Zoo

The before mentioned family vacation to St. Louis was a 2 day excursion. We went to the zoo the day after the city museum. In hind sight we pushed a little too much into a short time for a 4 year old (even if he is high energy). By the time we got into the zoo and had walked into the areas of interest he was already getting cranky. About half way into it we gave in and rented a stroller to give everyone a break. Even though we were tired we all still enjoyed it and it will always be a great memory. Maybe we will have to make this vacation a yearly repeat with more time for recovery in it. Mommy sure would have liked a day for lounging at the pool! By the way the tigers were awesome. I wish I would've taken video of them. We got lucky on one of the train stops and while we sat and waited for the passengers to get on the tigers decided to get playful. It was a perfect view. They acted just like very large kittens! It made me wonder how many barrels they go through. (they were batting at a barrel on a chain)

St. Louis City Museum

As some of you may know... Shawn and I had to cancel our East coast vacation for our anniversary due to some family illnesses. Instead of moping about it we decided to take Jonah with us on our first family vacation to St. Louis! It was a non stop, fun filled, exhausting, but well worth it vacation! For those who have not visited the St. Louis City Museum I highly recommend it. However, I will warn you it is not for the parent who is faint of heart. The place is 3-4 stories of the ultimate child's playground! In order to keep your child in site you may have to become a child yourself and climb, crawl, and squeeze through the different areas. It is an awesome architectural exhibit which almost overwhelms the senses. I wish I would have stopped to take more pictures but keeping up with Jonah was my first priority. There was an aquarium inside the actual museum which the majority of the pictures are of since it was at a slower pace :)

Scovill Zoo Summer 2009

Every summer we try to make a trip to Scovill Zoo in Decatur. Jonah always enjoys it and he loves the carousel. This year we went with Great Gram "Nena". After we went to McD's for a well deserved lunch and treat. We hope to get a chance to visit again in the fall before the zoo closes for winter. Hope you enjoy...