What a Glorious Day!

I had a follow up at the oral surgeon this morning, so I decided to hit the Central Park Zoo with the kids afterward b/c it is nearby (and we are members, so it was free).

We were having a grand time in the park; Henry was skipping along and taking pictures of leaves with his kiddie camera. Cue horror music...

Well, it was 92 degrees and I had a sweaty, teething, napless baby in a carrier on my chest and a black backpack on my back. Sweltering was not the word. I also had no stroller.

Henry kicked it off by refusing to pose for the photographer at the gate and telling me he wanted to go home.

He then kvetched for snacks (snack bar still closed) but poo-poohed the snacks I had. He then ate a few while watching the sea-lions, smeared banana all over my pants and then was deliberately dropping cheerios on the steps. I "corrected" him twice before he decided mash them under his sandal. I picked up his foot and he fell to the ground crying as if I had pushed him . He then laid there crying (literally) and saying he didn't like the zoo. The lady next to me gave me a dirty look as if I had smacked him or something.

He demanded to be carried (remember I was carrying Molly and a backpack) but then loudly complained that I was "hurting his pee-nus." He complained or cried through the snow leopards, the polar bears and penguins. In that one he was also scared of the dark and was mad that he couldn't touch them through the glass.

I tried to recover by buying him an 11am ice pop. It was going fine until I tried to pose him with Molly on the bench. He took his arm off her shoulders, she tipped sideways and rolled headfirst off the back of the bench. I caught her by her feet before she hit the ground but she wasn't too happy. When he finished his ice-pop and demanded a second and then was crying for me to buy him a toy I decided to pack it in.

He refused to walk so I was carrying him out of the park. He saw the cafe was now open and of course wanted to stay. There was no way I could get them back to the subway without having a nervous breakdown. I spotted a pedi-cab at the exit of the zoo. (A man on a bike with a cart attached).

How fun I thought. A nice breezy ride through the park! Hmm, the man decided to take Central Park South and fight the traffic. We had busses and garbage trucks barrelling behind us. He had a severe case of sweaty body odor and we were down wind. Henry cried that he was scared the entire time but then perked up the last 30 seconds when he saw the Globe in front of Trump Tower. Now he can't wait to "tell Daddy what fun he had!"