The Story on Morning Glory

This morning the three of us headed down to ride the Forest Park Train!  I've never done it before and Jeff hasn't ridden it since he was a kid.  Jack's in love with all kinds of transportation, and we knew it would be a hit. 

Animal crackers were the star of the train for probably the first half of the ride.....

Half way through the ride, the train stopped to pick up a few more peeps and then....the engine was the star!  He loved it!  Look at that face.

What a fun way to spend the morning!  We'll be doing that again.  For sure.

But, let's do a little comparison!

First, please excuse the fact that my camera battery was dead yesterday, so all I have are iPhone pics that pale in comparison to the real deal.

And....

Pretty much adorable at all ages.  That's my conclusion.  :)

He walked into his classroom, turned around and said, "Bye Mama!  Later! I owe u!", which obviously means, "Bye Mamma!  See you later!  I love you!" And ran right over to the toys to play!  He loves it there and is so comfortable.  

On a side note, I'm really glad we decided to start him in some type of school early.  He loves it, loves his teachers, and isn't afraid for me to leave him, and is super excited to see me when it's time to go home.  Today, I started a Bible study at a church he'd never been to.  When I dropped him off at the nursery, a place he'd never been, he didn't skip a beat!  Ran right in and started playing, the same way he does at school.  "Bye Mama!  Later!  I owe u!" and ran off to play!  A few minutes later, I realized I'd left him in the wrong room, and went back to pick him up, walked him down the hall to his correct room, and he had no issue.  Ran right in and started playing.  It makes me smile.

After school we went for some fro yo for a little first day of school treat!  Of course, it was disgusting and the grossest thing he'd ever thought about tasting....until I shoved a little in his mouth as he was taking a bite of a vanilla wafer.  You're welcome, Jack.

You can tell he hates me for it.  :)

And then, because it's not 108 outside, we went to the zoo with a friend!  

I was a little uncertain about what Jack's reaction to such a place would be.  He can be timid on the playground when there are other kids around, and I was pretty sure there would be other kids there.  

This past weekend, Jeff had a work event at North Park Center, so all 3 of us jumped in the car and headed to the Big D.  We figured Jeff could do his thing, and Jack and I could do some shopping!  Win, win, right?  We walked in the mall and Jeff and I immediately spotted the Disney store....and knew that would HAVE to be the last stop on our mall trip!  

Jack is completely, totally, with out a doubt, in love with a few Disney things.  What kid isn't?  We wake up each morning and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he eats breakfast.  He LOVES Mickey!  When you ask him about Mickey, he says, "And Donald?  And Daisy?  And A-Pluto?  And Minnie?  And Goofy?"  He rattles off the clubhouse gang like it's his job.  

When we went to Florida this summer, Jeff and I decided we should pick out a tollerable kids movie that we could watch 9,000 times with out dieing, and that Jack would love.  We picked Toy Story.  I'm not a big fan of kids movies because I feel like there's always one character that's scary and evil in it, and I don't necessarily like that.  I don't think my almost 2 year old needs to be scared of someone on TV!  Call me crazy.  Toy Story does have a crazy kid who tries to blow up toys, but that's about it, and he's not a big part of the plot.  It's mostly about a relationship growing and changing between Woody and Buzz.  Did I just write that?  Yes.  So anyways, Jack loves Toy Story.  Wakes up from his nap saying, "Cowboy?  Cowboy?" wanting to watch the movie!  This summer, I'm sad to say, we've spent more than a few late afternoons watching part of the Cowboy movie.  Eh, it is what it is, I'm pregnant and it's 107 outside.  

So, Jack and I shopped at all the kids clothing stores (one of which was actually playing Toy Story on their if-you-have-a-TV-to-distract-the-kids-the-moms-will-shop-longer TV's!  Jeff did his thing, we at at Chick Fil A in the food court, and were heading to the car before we stopped at the Disney Story.  It was like heaven came down.  We walked in and their front display is for Toy Story 3.  I wish you could have seen Jack's face!  It's the same look he gets when someone starts singing a song he knows....how in the world do you know that song???  How in the world did Cowboy and Buzz get here??  He would grab a Woody doll and drop it to grab a Buzz doll, and drop it to grab a Woody hat....hilarious.  He couldn't get enough!  They also had a Jessie doll.  Jessie's not in the first Toy Story, but we have a Toy Story 3 tent that we pop up in the living room and Jessie's picture is front and center.  Seeing the Jessie doll was like finding a long lost friend!  He was soooooooooo excited to see her.  He wanted to open the packs of the Toy Story action figures, wear the Buzz costume...it was so great.  I couldn't even get a good picture because he would NOT look at the camera!  Too many fun things to look at! But you can see the excitement in his adorable little face!

Next we headed to the back of the store where they had the classic Disney characters.  He basically cleared the table, grabbing one of each of his favorites.  Donald, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy....they were all there and he was loving it.  Once again, couldn't believe it!!  

Jeff and I decided we could EASILY spend hundreds of dollars in a mere 10 minute walk through the store....but we felt like we were very rational toddler parents, letting him take home a small Woody doll and a small Donald doll, and then two Mickey cups.