Trip to the Zoo!

On Saturday we went on a family outing to the National Zoo in DC. We had clear, sunny weather but it was also very, very cold.

Note how cold I look.

We had a blast despite the temperature. It was fun to see all the exhibits, and I'm amazed that having spent three hours there we only saw about half of what they have to offer. JR was an exceptional trouper. He barely fussed, and that was only just right before conking out. Our camera died halfway through our excursion, so the last three were captured by my not-so-fancy cell phone. I hope you enjoy another one of my pictorial blog posts! 

 Red panda. I liked these critters a lot. Very playful, and look like raccoons.

 I never saw a giant panda up close before. This was really cool.

 The elephants were the first animals at the zoo JR took a liking to. Him pointing at the fascinating world around him never gets old. 

 A close-up shot of one of the elephants. I had to carefully crop this picture due to the excessive doo-doo. :)

 I love this age!

 An indoor shot of the giant panda. They sure like bamboo!

 An indoor shot of the red panda.

 Lunch was...

 ...chilly.

The small mammals exhibit was great.

 A lemur's crazy stare.

 Primates have such striking features.

The monkey is grooming Glen the Sloth. This was pretty funny to watch. Not all sloths are as laid back. The female sloth (whom I could not spot) wants nothing to do with these little monkeys.

I shall call these two primates John and Ted.

 The gorillas exhibit was really neat . Here is a baby and a male. The male was pretty cranky. He flipped out when the baby approached him.

 So the lady gorillas don't feel left out, here is one of about five females.

JR admiring the gorillas.

Dad being goofy.

This tortoise was brought to the zoo as an adult in 1956. They can live up to 150 years. Like whoa...

This is a picture of JR's favorite creatures at the zoo: long-necked sea turtles. He lit up so much when we put him close to the aquarium glass. What was crazy was when he started waving and playing they swarmed around where he was. It was so neat. That was a memory both Joey and I will take with us for a long time. 

 We tired him out, ladies and gentlemen. He slept from the zoo, through the walk to the metro station, the ride on the metro, and the stroll to the car. Good job, JR. Thank you for being such a great lil' guy.

Cuteness Abounds: A Reason to Love Toddlerhood

Ever since JR started eating solids, my husband and I keep the little guy undressed at the dining table. We do this for the sake of maintaining our low laundry budget (we live in an apartment building with a coin operated laundry facility). Plus, who can resist a half-naked tubby baby?

I rest my case.

Usually what happens after mealtime is we get JR all cleaned up, take him down from his booster, and out of pure, lazy habit leave the little guy arrayed in only his diaper. If it is breakfast or lunch we'll eventually redress him, but when it is dinnertime we usually skip it until we put him in his pajamas for bed.

For the past few days, however, my son has been doing the cutest thing imaginable to counteract our laziness. After the meal is done and the instant I sit down after cleaning up he brings his clothes over to me and asks me in his cute toddler way ("Da?") to put his clothes back on. It is beyond words adorable. 

The most precious moments are indeed the ones you least expect.

Playgrounds Are a Serious Matter

JR is an incredibly observant child. Whether he is playing with kids his age or going to the grocery store he sits back and absorbs all that he sees. There are exceptions to this, however. When he is with his Dad and me or with his older cousins we see him interacting, laughing and smiling all the time. Other than this he is usually serious, passive, and introverted. This boy didn't crack a smile once during our excursion to the playground. 

In this picture he is pointing to the playground in the distance.

 Here is where the staring starts. This stare didn't stop for nothing.

 Not even smooches.

 These stools were great for him to keep his balance while he stared.

 His shoes were too heavy for him. You can see him tripping in this picture.

 Going from stool-to-stool.

 Mulch is such funny stuff to this guy.

See how hard he's laughing at it?

 The culprits to JR's missteps.

 He had the courage to walk on his own for about a minute...

 ..just enough time for me to take three pictures.

 Will he smile after going on the slide?

 No.

 Still staring.

 Riding on the dog was the closest I got him to showing outward happiness.

 Whenever I stopped rocking him he let me know he wanted me to continue by moving back and forth. It was very cute.

 Bye-bye park!

We'll stare play again here real soon!

Five Things About Me

1.  I was home-schooled for the first 12 years of my education. If you ever talk to a home-schooler about the subject you'll probably get the impression that his or her education was more challenging than a public schooler's. I'd say that's the rule more than the exception. Mine certainly was not easy. Just for fun I have a picture down below of me writing a paper. I was probably in 11th or 12th grade. As you can see, I didn't think the challenging education I received was so great at that exact moment.

2. I'm from Northern Minnesota. Yes, it's cold there. Yes, there are lots and lots of lakes. We call casseroles "hot dishes" and when we say "bag" or "tag" the "a" is pronounced "ay." It's also a great place to be. It has good people, all kinds of outdoor activities for all four seasons, and most every place has character and heart.
My hometown is Duluth. Here's a great skyline view of the city. Love the rainbow!

3. I am the youngest of seven: five girls and two boys. My parents are Kathy and Dennis, and the seven of us, in order, are: Christine, David, Mary Matthew, Sarah, Ann & me. Here was then --

This is now. I can't believe it's been almost 25 years between these two pictures. I feel like it was forever ago, yet only yesterday when we were all living under one roof. Coming from a big family has taught me so much. I am so glad my parents chose to have a big family. I'd better, because being on the tale-end of the siblings I wouldn't be here if they didn't!

4. I really, really, really like to make delicious food. Whether it is grilling, baking, roasting, or toasting, cooking scrumptious morsels is my ultimate favorite "me" activity. I think I got the fever from my mother. Growing up (and even now) she was always making something yummy from scratch. Even with seven kids she baked dozens of loaves of bread every month without batting an eye. I call her at least twice a week (in addition to to my calls to chit-chat) with questions about her old recipes, how she would make such-and-such, how much of this, do I add milk to that, etc. I've discovered I'm not the only sibling to do this! We all call her up frequently with food questions. She should open a 1-800 hotline for cooking emergencies and make a few bucks on the side. I hope you're reading this and taking notes, Mom! In keeping with my picture-posting habit the following is my first batch of homemade bread. I now make homemade bread for my family every other week. Here's to keeping traditions alive!

5. I guess it's about time to talk about the four-legged member of our family. Her name is Sunshine.

She's been a part of my life since August 2006. She is a well-traveled soul. Sunshine and I lived in Minnesota until February 2008 when we moved to Maryland. She's been back-and-forth from these two states by car five times. That's pretty impressive for a little long-haired chihuahua (I know, her ears are floppy. She's not a perfect specimen of the breed by any stretch of the imagination)!

Sunshine's a nervous dog. She only loves me and at most tolerates others. I was worried about how she would be with JR. I do have to supervise when they're together and would never trust her to react well to him cornering her. Other than that though, she's very good about his treatment of her. JR loves the dog. He loves it when she licks his forehead or starts running around the house like a maniac (doesn't every dog do that at least once and a while?). He also loves feeding her, which can get annoying as he doesn't know when to stop. Oh, well. You have pick your battles.

There you have it, folks. I hope you learned a bit about me from this post. JR is presently beginning to feel abandoned by his blog-addicted mother. Until next time. Hosta la vista, baby.