I took my first trip to the Birmingham Zoo yesterday! It was the perfect ending to a weekend of celebrating Father's Day, my parents' anniversary, and Gigi's birthday. We almost didn't think we were going to stay, because the weather got bad as soon as we got there. Many of the animals were being put away, because they thought a big thunderstorm was coming. After waiting awhile, we decided to cruise on through and see whatever animals were still out. It never did rain, and we got to see several different animals.

This was the look on my face most of the day.....taking it all in.

I loved watching the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus.

What a cool experience this was! The tiger kept looking right at us and pacing back and forth against the glass. At one point my head was pressed to the glass even with his head. Wow! It was very big! I never cried or got scared. However, after seeing him up close and personal I kept my distance with much uncertainty.

I thought it was wierd that the ostriches only had feathers on their bodies. They would be prettier if they had some on their heads too. I offered to loan one of them my hat, but he wasn't interested. hmph....go figure!

The zebras were cool to look at. I kept making the elephant sound to them - as I did many of the animals. It is the newest animal sound I've learned. I also had fun mooing and barking at many of the other animals - even though we didn't see any cows or dogs.

The giraffe came right up next to us. This was the look of amazement on my face.

We also watched a baby giraffe chase several of the ostriches. It was very exciting!

Daddy and I thought the anteater was incredibly wierd looking.

Check out this joyful look of satisfaction on our faces.

We all had a great time on my first trip to the zoo!

I can't wait to go back when we can see more animals!

Eating

I have been learning to feed myself. These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, and I am even better now. I like to hold the spoon in my left hand and use my right hand to ever so carefully place the food in the spoon. Then, I try very hard to get the full spoon into my mouth without spilling the food everywhere. Sometimes I will try to switch the full spoon from my left to my right hand. It usually goes all over my clothes or on the floor, because I can easily make it pass the tray. Lizzy loves this new game - of course. And it must be the reason she continues to put up with my constant pulling and squeezing on her.

I am also recognizing pictures of food everywhere we go. When I see the pictures, I immediately do the "eat" sign and decide quite quickly that I am incredibly hungry.

Stylish Swimmer

Am I ready to hit the waves or what?! This is my cool surfer suit! I was dressed, all lotioned up, and watching Mickey Mouse while I waited on my friends to come over and swim. I knew it had been a while since I gave the camera one of my charming smiles, so I decided to cooperate this time. My friends came over, and we had a great time playing in the pool and with my new sand table. I went to another one of my little friend's birthday party on Sunday, and then I went to "play group" today. We've been very busy, and I'm having such a good time. An interesting little tidbit - I'm scared to death of the lifejacket my grandparents bought me, and I'm also scared of my crab float that I played in all summer last year. hmmmm.... Maybe I'll warm up to them sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm floating in a new little yellow boat float. Everyone says it isn't nearly as cool as the crab, but it's working for me right now. :)

Digging in the Dirt

I've been working in the yard a lot lately. Playing in the dirt is my new favorite activity. Even when I have other great options like playgrounds, swimming pools, and sand tables, I still choose to dig in the dirt.