Wordless Wednesday

Vacation photos

Part One: Wisconsin

em & mad watch the ducklings

our room at the b & b- looks a bit different than when it was daddy and uncle nate's bedroom!

the kids' table at great-gramma's

kitty lovers

Part Two: Louisville

sitting under an old tree with Aunt Amy at Cherokee Park

playing football with Uncle Adam by the Ohio River

Climbing the pyramid

sunset
Aunt Amy, Uncle Adam, Hannah, Mommy & Daddy

baking cookies

climbing at the playground

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.)

for more pics...

from Steph & company's visit last week, check out Caroline & Kimberly's Corner.

temperment

It amazes me how certain character traits seem to stick with our little girl. When she was a baby, loud, sudden noises bothered her. If someone talked to loudly while she was eating her bottle, she would startle and get upset.

When we made cookies today, Hannah did not want to be near the electric hand mixer. Anytime I turned it on, she would climb down from the chair she was perched on and run across the room until I turned it off. Then she would climb back onto the chair for the next step of the cookie making process.

cuteness

Good thing she doesn't seem to be allergic to clover or dandelions:

Breaking into the new play dough:

1st time helping Mommy make homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (and stealing some tastes of the dough).

Sweet smile after eating her baked cookie:

out of the mouths of babes

We were eating dinner at a local "estaurant" tonight when Hannah randomly pointed to the people at the next table.

"That's NOT my father. And that's NOT my mother."

What made her observation really interesting was the very noticeable differences between our skin colors and that of the other diners.

It's a good thing she's so cute.

visitors

last night: bathtime buddies
hannah and juliana shared a room last night! hannah slept in her twin bed, and juliana slept in the toddler bed, which will soon be our baby boy's crib

tonight:

sharing goldfish

good night hugs

making sure kimberly has her paci

caroline and her daddy

Hannah- not setting a good example for Caroline

tiffany and kimberly

bubble fun with "aunt" anna

more bubble fun

sweet dreams

Mother's Day 2008

If you read both blogs, yes this is the same pic. I am a "terrible" mother and a) did not dress my daughter warm enough today... the day grew colder as it progressed b) did not take a picture for Mother's Day with my sweet girl.

As soon as Bear's favorite CD came on in the car on the way home, she began singing along. About 2 minutes later, she was still singing, with her eyes closed. She clutched my Mother's Day rose and seemed determined to stay awake.

Sleep won. Thankfully my camera was in the car.

language acquisition...

Hannah and I were looking at the flowers around our mailbox this evening. She repeated their names as I pointed to each type. As I pointed to the struggling impatiens, apparently the pink blooms on some stood out more than the struggling-to-thrive leaves on the others.

"They're magnificent!" she exclaimed.

another memphis moment

a coffee-making lesson with Gramma
(she doesn't typically sit on the counter at home OR
experience making coffee from grinding to brewing, either)

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