Anyway, I'm trying to relax a little after a few activity-filled days. (Dave just took the boys out to buy Zach a stuffed cat so he will stop stealing Chairman Mao from Luke - good luck with that.) Yesterday Juana and I took the boys to the aquarium, which was a great call, because both boys love it and it is something that I can't do by myself. Zach is totally freaking me out because (unlike Mr. Caution a.k.a. Luke), he will simply dart out into a street or parking lot if he sees something within 500 yards that he wants to look at (balloon, ball, dog, rock, truck, etc.). I had never even considered getting one of those child leashes (and I know they're controversial) but I'm actually finding myself wondering if it's a good idea for Zach. Evidently they make them look like a backpack so that people won't automatically assume that you're a bad mom. Anyway, the good thing about the trip to the aquarium was that Zach didn't seem to care whether he was with me or with Juana; all he wanted to do was go wherever he could run the fastest; and Luke was having a great time telling Juana all about the fish ("Juana, do you see this bamboo shark egg sac? Let me tell you about it...") and luckily Juana is a great sport who just plays along ("Really? That's amazing! I didn't know that!").
Today Dave and I headed down in the same direction to do a harbor cruise with the boys, and it turned out to be a great idea because it was sunny and a little crisp but otherwise perfect weather. The highlight of the cruise was riding past the famous buoy where all of the cool sea lions hang out. (Zach: "Hi seals! Hi seals!")A little interlude: I know I shouldn't compare the boys, but I think it's incredibly interesting that while Luke talked earlier than Zach did, Zach pronounces words almost perfectly - no baby mistakes. For example, Luke said "sahz" instead of "outside" for several weeks, while Zach just says "outside" perfectly clearly; Luke used to say "wuh-waff" while Zach says "waffle," and so on. Also many of us remember how Luke used to say, "Wha you do-ning?" for the longest time; I can't imagine Luke letting Zach get away with that. I think he'd mock him mercilessly. That's why just about everything Zach says is pretty much spot-on.
After the cruise we went to lunch at a brewery, which could have been a bad call but wound up being fantastic, because one of the kids' menu items was a make-your-own pizza. They bring you all of the pizza ingredients, you put them together, and then they bring it back and bake it for you. Pretty good deal for them, considering you do all the work. So Luke made his pizza, and Zach ate two mini hot dogs, and the two of them traded jokes while Dave and I enjoyed an amazing hand-crafted brew. (Sample joke - Zach: "Luke! Luke!" Luke: "What do you want, Zach?" Zach: "Hi" and the two of them crack up. It's not so high-level yet.)
Then Dave decided to buy a growler of beer to take home, and he had to lug it on the shuttle bus to get back to our car. Apparently Zach was looking at the growler in such a "Dad, please" kind of way that the people sitting across from us couldn't stop laughing and wound up taking a picture. (My angle is not so good.)Not only did Zach not want to get off the bus, he didn't even want the bus to stop at a stoplight. Every time the bus stopped moving, he would panic a little bit. "More bus! More bus!" he'd say, while frantically making the sign for more. Never underestimate the power of big, red vehicles.
Well now I'm finishing up, the boys are in bed, Zach has his new cat, and we're all hot-fudged-out from dessert. I remember a couple of bummer Valentine's days we've had in the past (infant Luke being up all night; one-year-old Luke having eye surgery, two-year-old Luke having hand-foot-mouth disease) so all in all this one stacks up pretty well. A harbor cruise and a growler? Now that's romance.
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