i'm typing this just so, when we get older, we can read this again and remember it. or at least, i will and he'll just humor me.
and today, i ask you to humor me as i get this all out.
lisa's gone to san diego for the opening of the beachwood, leaving wyatt and i for a couple of days together. i took today off from work. truth be told, i've been planning our schedule for a week now. don't tell anyone.
first off, wyatt slept in until 7:30, which was tremendous, considering i had a very late night at work this week and the lack of sleep was gonna hit me at some point. those extra thirty minutes were very considerate. then, we tag teamed to make cheese omeletes while watching a very special episode of "thomas the train engine". ah, who am i kidding? they're all special.
then, at 9:30, we hopped in the prius and drove to the oakland zoo. we'd been to the san francisco one, but have heard great things about its easy bay cousin - especially how engaging it is and how you truly feel like you're in there amongst the animals. they weren't kidding.
just two minutes in, we see flamingoes, and the two of us are each standing on one leg. a helluva way to set a tone. then, as he did for the rest of our time at the zoo, wyatt grabbed my hand and we would walk together to the next exhibit. and, as soon as he saw the next animal, he would release from me and head off into a full-on sprint, ending with him waving at the animal and wishing it a fond hello. "hi monkey!" "hi goat!" i asked him at each stop to talk to the animal in its language, and he did. "oooh oooh oooh ahh ahh ahh" for the monkey, "oooohhrahhh!" for the elephant, and so on. he's a talented linguist. who knew?
it was so endearing.
we saw some talented monkeys that swung, chimps that waved, giraffes that stood tall, elephants that broke bark, geese that yelled, gators that waded, camels that plodded, hyenas that hid, birds that tweeted, snakes that slithered and pigs that slept. we also went into a petting zoo and wyatt got to comb a baby goat.
then we took a 15-minute train ride around the zoo for their australian excursion exhibit. wyatt had trouble saying "hi wallabee!" but then again, who doesn't? but he had no issue with an endless chorus of "choo choo" while pumping his arm. he wanted to go back on again after it ended. thankfully, the gift shop is also right there, and after a twenty minute deliberation, we resulted with a toy frog.
as we headed on back, he fell asleep on the way. and when he arrived home, he tenderly woke up, but he was too tired to fight it. he was wiped out: a surefire sign of a great time.
two hours later, wyatt returned re-energized. we went to the backyard to have a catch with his velcro glove and then our special game where i tee up a ball and we see which one of us hits it first (he always does. his bat speed is lightning). then we had a tickle fight and a giggle contest. then we watched a deer watch us. then, a very special episode of "the wiggles", which confounds me.
it was time for dinner. i asked him what he wanted to eat. he told me exactly what he craved, in no uncertain terms: pizza. so we hopped in the car and drove to lo coco's, which we've never tried out. i'm glad we did. it's a fun place, and the pizza's good enough. and they had paper on the table for us to draw on. i drew a fire truck. wyatt drew a bunch of lines that he claimed were daddy. i take his word for it. we also shared the crust on a slice. you know, simple bonding moments.
walking back to our car required us to pass the san anselmo organic farmer's market street fair. and that required me to lift wyatt onto a statue of a deer and to shell out $2 for him to get wild in a bouncy house. score. score.
then, we returned home for a bath and two books. i read him the "this is new york" book, just like i have for the past three months. tonight, he said "lady liberty" and knew that daddy, pa and uncle mike took "the ferry" to work.
he didn't put a fight for nighty night. he was done, and i was beaming.
yeah, this day might not have read as much, but that's okay.
you just had to be there.
right, wyatt?
thanks, buddy. let's do this again.
