Jonny wanted to say hello to everyone … (And inform everyone that he also got his braces off today)… I didn’t even notice Jonah being …”Jonah” in the foreground. I would have kept the camera rolling.

These two I swear.

So our trip to the zoo went MUCH better than last time, thanks in part to some family friends who went with us (on late notice).

Jonny has been asking me to set up a play date with his “best” friend for a while and this turned out to be the perfect time.

Jonny just walked around the zoo with them.

Jonah no longer fits in any of his strollers so… Jonah ran everywhere. I chased him…

I could sort of “aim” him in various directions, but there was no “observing” of animals going on (with the exception of the sea life petting pool and the monkey house).

Otherwise, he was RUNNING.

He probably ran a good 2 miles before settling in to play at the kids area.

We COULD simply get him a larger “specialized” stroller but I’m hoping to be able to teach him to stay with us.

He’s showing some progress.

He IS getting better at waiting when he absolutely HAS to. I use a 1-min timer countdown and he will squat down and stare at the numbers until he sees 00:00 before trying to bolt, or laying on the ground screaming while trying to pry his hand out of mine…(that only happens to me, right?)

We stayed around 3 hours or so before heading back home.

When it was time to go, we all walked out together and held hands all the way back to the car.

This was a far cry better than the last 3 hour trip to the zoo where we stayed for half an hour and sat in the car for a meltdown for another 2.5 hours.

It shows how far Jonah has come in a short year.