an unwelcome guest

Hannah was playing in our room when she let out a small shriek and exclaimed, "Mommy, there's a lizard in there!" First she said it ran behind the bookshelf. Then she said it went under the dresser. She also said it was very tiny and then changed her story to very long. She also thought it was beautiful rainbow colored. I looked and did not see anything, jostled the shelf and the dresser, to no avail. I told her to tell Daddy about it when we got home, but was beginning to doubt her story. She has really gotten into imaginative play, and she likes watching dinosaur train on pbs, so could she have imagined it. "It ran away because it was scared that I am so much bigger," she said.

Daddy came home. After the cuddle fest in the living room, the kids climbing all over him in sheer joy, he went to our room. I had Hannah tell him what she saw, and sure enough, peeking out from the doorway to the bathroom, was an ugly lizard, 4-6 inch lizard with creepy eyes.


I had caught a lizard OUTSIDE for Bear last Spring, but the thought of having one in my own bedroom FREAKED me out. It HAD to be caught. I retrieved the canning jar that once held homemade canned tomatoes from a dear friend (thankfully we were able to used them up before the lizard came and it was clean). Sensing the jar alone would not do the trick, J went and got the broom and dustpan. The goal, to sweep the lizard into the jar. We got Bear to go to the other room in case we had to kill it, but I really did not want lizard innards in my bathroom or bedroom, or to explain to our tenderhearted girl why it had to die. I pushed a box into the doorframe to try to block it in the bathroom. J tried to sweep it into the jar. It escaped onto the carpet. Thankfully, he stopped it by catching it by the tail with one of his tools, scraped/swept it into the jar, and I got the lid on. Whew. Crisis averted.

Bear named it Alexa, after one of the Barbie Princesses. I hardly think the name fits. I did not want it anywhere near our apartment, so I do hope it was just a common salamander/lizard and not another tenant's exotic escapee, because Daddy and Bear set it free among the landscaping outside. I hope a cat or some other animal finds it for a snack.

Blast from the past

Steph's question about when Hannah 1st enjoyed to the zoo got me thinking... so I searched the archives on Em & Mad's blog, and look what I found:

Indy Zoo: July 2006

em, hannah & mad looking at the chickens

petting a goat- hannah has longer hair now, mommy's is shorter :)

Hannah was about 9 months old, I think, and she got into the things that she could see up close.... the petting zoo and the dolphin show were the things I remember her enjoying the most.

Nashville Zoo

We used our new zoo membership for the first time today. Cousin Juliana, Aunt Becca and some of their friends drove all the way over to see the animals, and since the zoo is so close, we met them. Somehow we managed to be the last to arrive, though.

The Nashville Zoo definitely has a little more of an undeveloped/natural feel than the Memphis Zoo. At the Memphis Zoo, the main exhibits all seem to have big entrances with gift shops specializing in those featured animals. For example. the entrance to the Panda bears and other Asian animals is a big Pagoda section. The Northwest Territory exhibit which holds the Polar Bears and Sea Lions has Totem Poles. The Nashville exhibits have nice signs welcoming you to them. Both zoos are very nice and worth visiting in their own right.

Anyway, the kids seemed to have fun, and we Moms survived! (I enjoyed it, but I know why we got the membership... so we can see a little at a time without getting too exhausted.)

favorites at the zoo

The water "mountains" were an instant favorite just after we entered the zoo... and she was equally excited to watch them before we left for the day.

Only one of the pandas was outside today, but he or she seemed content.

This mona monkey scurried down from its tree to visit with us.

Amazed by the gorilla.

First bite ever of Hawaiian Shaved ice... "Tiger's Blood" flavor.. (strawberry coconut... YUM!)

Hannah was amazed by the totem poles, even though she could not say their name very well.

Getting closer to the sea lions...

The sea lion thought the cup was a toy, and Hannah loved its attention.

Hannah, Gramma Debbie & Mommy spent a good portion of the day at the zoo while Daddy worked. Hannah loved all the animals, but she and one of the sea lions ended up playing a game of chase. After Gramma prompted her to offer her sippy cup to the sea lion (with the glass in between), the sea lion must have thought the cup was a toy and really seemed to want to take it from Hannah. At one point, it even followed Hannah the length of the under-water window.


Video of playing with the sea lion

playing with animals of all kinds

No pics to share, but Hannah met her first tarantula on Sunday night. Our neighbors have one in a terrarium. She thought it was a pretty spider. She was also fascinated by the live crickets which they have to buy to feed it.


She also enjoyed playing with their jack russell terrier, which in the pattern of jack-russelhood is a hyper dog. very hyper. No wonder she slept until almost 10 yesterday morning.

i'm not sure who to feel more sorry for...

Hannah, whose affections are hissed at, or Princess, Gramma's cat who does not appreciate the extra lovin'.

adventures at gramma & "ba-ba"'s

i threw that good, didn't i?

i love gramma's flowers!

why is it dark here?

i'm smelling a flower petal, not picking my nose (for once)

wee!!!

grass is fun!

i love you, kitty!

at least this kitty lets me cuddle!

nap time!

i have a new vacuum!

daddy is working in memphis, so mommy and i came, too!

i'm having a lot of fun. i especially like picking "fow-fuh" (flowers) and

giving kitty lots of hugs & kisses.

sitting in the swing and vacuuming are pretty cool,

and gramma is impressed by how much i like to play with my "kuh-wers" (crayons).

new firsts

Baby Bear and I were outside picking dandelions when someone jogged by with their rather large puppy. I could tell it was a mixed breed, and suspected part of the mix. My suspicions were correct.... it was half black lab an half pitt-bull. Anyway, it was a beautiful dog. The owner said that the shelter had told them it was half german shepherd, and as a young pup it looked more like a lab. The vet could tell the difference and revealed the truth. Now, at 6 months old and 35 lbs., it's starting to show its' other bloodlines. Anyway, we chatted for a moment, and I let Baby Bear pet the dog. It was no more hyper than the jack russell that lives across the street and its master assured me it had never been aggressive toward any people, children or even dogs. She also shared that because of the pitt-bull bloodline, they are not allowed to take it to the dog parks. Besides, she held it tightly leashed. baby bear LOVES animals. She giggled with glee as the dog licked her.

we went out for mexican tonight. the new restaurant literally within walking distance (1.5 miles) is just too tempting. i ordered consome de pollo (chicken and rice soup) for myself, which was only $3.25. so i also ordered a chicken burrito and rice off the reasonably priced children's menu for baby bear. she ate about half of each, and some chips. this was her first "children's menu" meal. oh, yeah, she also had a peppermint patty.