Dude Challenge...Week Three

Here he is...not Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark yet...but getting there :)

The Ballad of Monkey and his Arm.

On Friday, Christian and I were in the car and doing our usual babbling back and forth about the things he wants to talk about. At some point I heard him talking to Monkey and then he said "Monkey..Arm...BAD!". I look in the rear view mirror and see Christian holding Monkey's arm but I can't see the rest of him. Silly me, that's because the REST of him is still lying on the back seat DETACHED from his arm.

Hmmmm.

Christian seemed to handle the catastrophe pretty well. He kept talking about it but never got upset.I think I felt worse for Monkey. I mean, losing a limb has got to mean the beginning of the end for a stuffed animal. We had dinner at Nana and Papa's that night and Christian kept making sure that Monkey HAD his arm with him at all times. That night, Monkey slept with Christian but his arm stayed on the bureau. The next morning, after we showed Daddy what happened, I reattached the arm. Christian stood by my side as I sewed the arm back in place. Thankfully not a lot of stuffing was lost; we had Build-a-Bear's number handy just in case we needed a transplant. The sweet part of the "surgery" was that Christian stood there with his hand on Monkey the whole time, petting him and saying "Lax". (I think he must have learned it from when he is crying after/during a tantrum and I keep telling him to "relax".)
It was so sweet.

Eventually I will get pictures up of Monkey and his wounds...Rich has the camera!

My Hairy Husband.

Rich's beard is coming in nicely. It's like kissing a porcupine at this point but he looks manly anyway. :) He is looking forward to shaving it soon but he still has another couple of weeks to go. Check it out if you want....the last couple of weeks photos are up and week three should be up soon.

The Dude Challenge

Bronx Zoo.

We finally made it to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. It's been on the list for a while since this NY adventure started. After Rich put some hours in at work in the AM and we all took a much needed nap, we headed out. We got there at 215 and they had to kick us out at 530...time flies when you are looking at monkeys! I think our favorites were the Congo and the Madagascar exhibits. And the Monkey House topped off the day. So Monkeys of all sizes...although I think the thing that left the most lasting impression on Christian were the peacocks. He knows what they are from the WW1 park that we go to at home; there is a small zoo that we visit a few times a week. When we got to the zoo yesterday, we stopped to eat a late lunch before we went trekking. While we were eating we saw three free-range peacocks :)running around the tables. Well, they were running because packs of wild children were chasing them. This is were christian invented the "Peacock Dance"...just a lot of head bopping and saying "peacock...dance...." over and over. Then we saw peacocks pretty much everywhere we went. And he is still talking about the peacocks this AM.

Another big thing yesterday was that Christian started asserting his independence. He DID NOT want to sit in his stroller. He did not want to be held while in large crowds. While we were in the Congo exhibit we got to this large indoor room where you could look out this huge glass wall and you were pretty much in the middle of the gorilla habitat. A movie had just let out so there were TONS of people crowding right in front of the windows and that was RIGHT where Christian wanted to be. At one point I gave up and said fine..go where you want. He was over by one spot where there was a gorilla right next to the window and a bunch of adults pressed up against the window. I said "Excuse me, can I let my (three foot) son in so he can see(for god's sake)please?" A woman shot a look over her shoulder at him and said "Sure". At which point she shifted over for me to nudge him through and then she stepped in back of him again so she was in BETWEEN me and Christian. In my head, I am imagining ripping her arms off and clubbing her to death with them like a gorilla would be when separated from her baby...I mean; had she been paying attention AT ALL while she was in the gorilla movie????

The moment passed and everyone lived.