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Last week Felix went out to dinner with his parents, and Aunties Alayna and Caitlin, Uncle Adam, and Alayna's sweetie, Robby. Felix had a great time eating ice cream, running up and down the street, and being the center of attention. At some point, Felix got a hold of his mama's camera and started taking pictures. Before we knew it, he had taken quite a few...meaning, ahem, 97 to be exact. Here are a few highlights from Felix's extensive documentation of our evening.

Felix's view of mama driving


motorcycles!!!


the DQ parking lot


Alayna and Robby


mama and Adam

artsy shot

Alayna and Felix on the drive home

hand

Adam's head

tree

Felix on the John Deere

Felix and his mama just got back from a fun trip to SE Michigan, where we visited relatives and friends, and did all sorts of fun things (more later on that). But the highlight of the trip for Felix was getting a drive a car, as seen below. Really, no more needs to be said. The video says it all.

Teddy Bear

Felix just finished his first week at Seward Child Care Center (SCCC) or "school". What started out as a kind of a sad transition, at least for his mama, who was not quite ready to let go of his previous daycare, has turned into an amazingly positive experience, with unexpected discoveries.

Each day we have biked to SCCC, which has been great. Felix really enjoys looking out of the bike trailer at the trucks, other bikes, the lightrail train, and other landmarks (some of which are a little hard to explain while huffing and puffing on a bike pulling a trailer, like "smokestacks"). We get on the midtown greenway, and talk about how "only bikes ride there". Then we sing the "Midtown Greenway" song from the Bunny Clogs CD.

On the first day at SCCC I stayed for a couple hours and hung out with the Teddy Bears - the toddler room. At first Felix was clingy and shy. But after a bit, he started exploring on his own and I just sat and watched him. They had a snack, and then when they prepared to go outside, I said goodbye. Felix gave me a big hug and said "love you", and then ran outside with the other kids. I was tearing up and he, on the other hand, was super excited about his new experience!

At the end of the day, Susan and I picked Felix up and got to read an incredibly detailed account of his first day by his new teacher, Becky. We were astonished to find out in detail what his day was like, something we have only gotten small glimpses of in the past two years at his previous daycare. Each day since then, we have continued to get these descriptive accounts, which has been so awesome! We feel like it has opened a window into our child, and has helped us get to know him better.

Here are a few snatches from his first three days at SCCC:

"Felix is having a great first day! He was really busy outside - climbing and sliding, digging in the sandbox, watering plants, and saying "hi" to the neighbor kitty - he told the other kids about his kitty, Bone"

"Felix was really excited to play with Oscar - they did lots of pretend play with stuffed animals. They put all of the animals in the baby bed, then Felix covered them up with his blanket and told us the babies were sleeping."

"Reading lots of books - Felix asked for "Sugarpie Honeybunch" several times and told us, 'mama is my sugarpie.'"

"Using books for phones: Felix called Mom LOTS of times!"

"We went for a toddler cart ride this am and went on the greenway briefly; Felix told us he goes that way with mama on the bike!"

Felix has been pretty tired each evening when we have gotten home, so we know this has been a challenging experience for him. But, as always, he is taking things in stride, and seems really excited to make friends with the other Teddy Bears. We are excited for all the new adventures to come!