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.

CAGED!

Look at me! I'm just like Lizzy! A couple weeks ago I figured out how to get in her crate, and it has been one of my favorite games lately. (Don't worry....I still love the vacuum cleaner!)

Her bed is pretty comfy.

Ok....The party is over now. How do I get out of here?

I think I'm beginning to understand how Lizzy feels sometimes.

One morning I crawled into the crate with her. Lizzy wasn't too sure about that. She kept staring out at Daddy as if to say, "Please!!! Help me!!" It was so much fun for me, and I just couldn't understand why it wasn't that much fun for her.

Everytime we leave to go somewhere, we tell Lizzy to "go to bed." I always trot after her and close the door once she is in her crate. Then, I proceed to tell her "bye, bye" thousands of times and blow her many kisses. I think that sometimes she is happy to see us go. :)

Party At the Park

I took Mommy to the park for her birthday. We met our girlfriends there and had a picnic. Lillianna's mommy had a birthday two days before my mommy. We swang, played on the slides, and ate cookie cake.

Lillianna and her mommy Carroll Lane

Mary Bibb and her mommy Ginny

Mary Bibb and I had fun sliding down the double slide together.

The girls went down the big curly slide with their mommies.

I was too busy playing in the dirt and learning to climb the stairs. Eventually, I conquered all of the stairs up to the little slide. I was very proud of myself!

Happy Mothers' Day!

I went shopping and bought my mommy lots of flowers for Mother's Day. She was very surprised when I took them home to her, and we had lots of fun planting them together.

Of course, my favorite part was playing in the dirt and with the hose. I have promised to help her water them every single day. We plan to watch them grow big and tall - just like me! :)

After we finished planting, we were very hungry. We went inside and ate fresh strawberries that Gigi had specially picked just for us. They were extremely messy and very yummy!

Singing in the Rain

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day."

That's not the song I was singing a couple weeks ago at the beach. There was one full day of rain while we were there, and it just wasn't enough for me. I had sooo much fun playing in the rain for the first time! My Greats taught me how to catch raindrops with my hands and with my tongue. I babbled, squealed, sang, and danced.

Fortunately, it was pretty warm outside. We were on the balcony looking out on the ocean. It was one of those truly beautiful moments in life! I never will forget it. Maybe you can be with me next time it rains. I'd love to teach you how to catch raindrops!

The Little Entertainer

I am so busy these days that my mom and the camera can't even keep up with me. Each day holds new, exciting, and unexpected surprises. You may not always get a picture with my updates, but I will continue to let you know about the new joys in life that I am discovering. Tonight I went to dinner at Alfonso's. It was one of my mom's very favorite restaurants when she was little and growing up in Decatur. For the child's plate, they serve one humongous meatball covered in a bowl of marinara sauce. Normally, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the meatball, but tonight I was too busy "taking it all in." I stayed turned around in my highchair the entire time doing one of my daddy's favorite hobbies - people watching. After watching for awhile, I decided that I needed to provide a little entertainment - just like my daddy as well. Fortunately, we kind of knew the people sitting at the table next to us, and I had the best time goofing off with them. I did all of my "tricks" for them and then just laughed and laughed and laughed until I had half the restaurant looking at me and grinning. Towards the end of dinner, I turned back around in my chair, began to drink my juice, and sat with a grin and big look of satisfaction on my face. Mission Accomplished! I am so thankful for my many blessings and my happy life. It's nice to know that people I come into contact with always notice that I am a happy baby. For the rest of my life, I will continue to try and live up to one of my favorite Bible verses. "This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24