Little Drummer Boy...

Not much of a story here, just a picture I really like. We visited some friends last weekend, and our friend Chris plays drums. Myles was getting a little restless and on the edge of a tantrum after dinner and announced repeatedly, "Home! Gabba!," meaning he wanted to go home and watch "Yo Gabba Gabba!" Chris saved the day by letting Myles play the drums. Myles really enjoyed it. Much like Myles's action on the piano at home, he's surprisingly gentle, not pounding away but carefully testing the various sounds, tapping each drum head and each of the cymbals in succession. He sat there for about 20 minutes, which is a tremendous attention grab for a 19-month old.

Fun at Daycare...

A couple of days per week, Myles spends a few hours at an in-home daycare with a nice woman named Angie, her youngest boy, and just one or two other kids, depending upon the day. Judging by his reaction when we drop him off and by his smiles when he hears certain names, we can tell that he really enjoys his friends there and all of the activities that come with it. In addition to little field trips to the zoo or just the store, they also have a nice, big, fenced-in yard where the kids can play, and Myles really enjoys getting outside. They sent us a few photos of Myles in action. It's fun and funny to see a glimpse of what he's up to when Mommy and Daddy aren't around. It's also very comforting to know that he's enjoying himself.

First, it was very important that Myles have boots and snowpants for the winter, because the boys that live in the daycare home love to be outside. It turns out that Myles does too, and it is often a struggle to get him to come back inside.
Myles is very fond of the newest addition to Angie's family, a baby girl. She is just a few months old, and Myles always makes sure to point her out to Mommy or Daddy when we pick him up, pointing and smiling, "Baby! Baby!" He also likes to make sure the baby has plenty of blankets. Here they are together on a recent field trip to a local horticultural conservatory.

It looks like Myles really enjoyed the sights to be seen there.

Is it Spring yet?

Well, not quite. However, 53 degrees and pleasant is about as good as it gets for early March here, and that's what we had yesterday. Daddy was sick on Friday and Saturday, which forced us to cancel dinner plans with friends on Friday and also a visit from Uncle Dan, Aunt Tiff and Cousin Cole on Saturday, not wanting to get everybody sick. Major disappointment. Sunday was a new day, and we decided to take advantage of the decent weather with a trip to the zoo.

Myles really enjoys the chance to get outside and run around. It's a great place for that, as the walking paths are pretty well hemmed in by rails and fences, and Myles is allowed to go pretty much anywhere he can. The weather was nice enough outside to enjoy some long walks around the paths through the zoo. Myles, throwing out shrieks of delight, started chasing one of the free-roaming peacocks and was very frustrated when we had to stop him from doing that. We put him back in the stroller so he could get a controlled look at it, which he enjoyed. Myles also really enjoys many of the indoor exhibits, and this time he especially enjoyed the aquariums, spending approximately 20 minutes running around and pointing out the various "seesh." Before heading home for lunch, Myles took one last long walk outside, stopping to climb on whatever railing, bench or snow heap caught his attention. It was great to be outside, and we're really looking forward to Spring.