Happy Birthday, America!

Let me start by saying that the festivities outlined hereafter have led to one extremely exhausted (& cranky) toddler who is currently fighting sleep and chanting "Mommy, Mommy" from his crib. It's killing me and making me feel like a terrible parent.

But on to the festivities!

Yesterday Dan was off of work and we celebrated by heading over to the county zoo to ride the train. While James does enjoy our visits to see the animals, he's often distracted/obsessed by the train that travels around the park. Not wanting Dan to miss out on James's first train ride, I'd denied James the experience until now (we'd made a few attempts in recent weekends, but had been rained out). James was quite excited! As we waited in line, he chanted, "Train! Train!" Once aboard, he seemed a bit in shock. It was fun though.



After the ride we took a quick trip through our lil' zoo, then headed home for lunch & nap. So far, so good with our daily routine. Well, after James woke up, his grandparents arrived, and we had supper before heading to the park for our town's fireworks.


This is where the routine went out the window since we were leaving the house at bedtime. James stayed awake for the half-mile stroller ride and was all too happy to get out of said stroller and partake in the party atmosphere in the park. He met some of Grandpa's friends from town, received his own American flag, checked out some real fire trucks up close, ran wild through the field, chased other children....


The sun refused to set, and the hours past bedtime continued to pass. I eventually wrangled James onto my lap (it was getting dusky and the park was becoming more crowded) and kept him there only by singing to him. Good times.

Finally, sometime after 9:30 the fireworks began. James calmed down for the first time all night and watched the show curled up in my lap. Very nice and cuddly. It was well after 10 when we finally got home! (He somehow managed to stay awake for the stroller ride home!)

Dan settled him down and he went to sleep around 11... a mere four hours past bedtime!

James only slept in an hour (getting up around 7:20), so he started the day with a 3 hour sleep deficit (which manifested itself in some clumsiness and even less patience than usual).

We headed off to the parade after breakfast. James really enjoyed the music and the many trucks & cars (especially the fifth regiment of the parade-- LOTS of firetrucks and ambulances, sirens blaring). He was thrilled to receive another flag.


We then headed up to Grandpa & Grandma's for lunch and then put James down for a nap in their Pack & Play. Since he naps much better (and longer) at home in his own crib, this was probably a mistake on our part, what with the night he'd already had. Oops.

Suffice it to say, he pretty much refused dinner after the post nap snacking he'd done. (We tried twice-- once at the grands' and once at home.) We pretty much had to flee their house as James had turned into a bit time pumpkin. We gave him a much needed bath, then hit the bed. I'm VERY pleased to report that whilst I've been typing, Dan settled him down, and now he's sleeping peacefully.