Monday at the Zoo

No, this does not refer to the crazy conditions in our house today. In fact, quite the opposite - Audrey has a bit of a cold so she's been napping a lot more than usual. But during her wake period this afternoon, we went over to our local zoo, which is located just across the street from our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day, with temperatures in the low 80's and a bit of a breeze. As a result, lots of animals were out. I think many are also fed about 2 pm, when we were there, so that helped too. Of course I did not bring my camera today (the otter picture is from an earlier zoo trip), but we saw:

• An elephant drinking (she tried the pool water, where ducks were swimming, spit it out and then went to where the water was flowing into the pool and drank from that spigot) and then giving herself a dust bath


• An ostrich complaining about something and a zebra coming over to find out what was going on


• Giraffes eating up close to the fence


• Tortoises eating and walking around


• The three gibbons right up at the front of their cage, interacting with visitors


• Two otters performing just for Audrey and I


• And finally, the lion, grooming himself around three feet from the glass, who, on seeing Audrey and I, walked around a small pool, came right up to the glass and squished his nose against it, approximately 3 inches from us!

All in all it was a great trip to the zoo, although I must admit to being a little panicked when the lion approached us. Even though I knew he couldn't get us, it seemed he was eyeing Audrey as a snack...or maybe he's just never seen a baby in a front carrier before.

Four Generations

During Audrey's first trip back East, we attended my cousin Erin's wedding. The big event for us, though (not to downplay Erin and Jamie's wedding, it was beautiful) was that Audrey got to meet her great-grandmother, Marguerite Pyles, for the first time. I was hoping Audrey would see her great-grandma and giver her one of her 1000-watt smiles, but of course, my grandma is a stranger to Audrey and she takes a while to warm up to people she doesn't know, despite being a very friendly and gregarious baby. She did get to spend a little time with her at the wedding reception, though, and was privy to some smiles, although I'm sure Audrey would have been happier in a slightly less noisy and chaotic situation. The wedding photographer took a couple of pictures of grandma holding Audrey and also one of the "four generations" (great-grandma Marguerite, grandma Mary, mom Kay and baby Audrey) with the newlyweds. We also took a few candid pictures of the four of us outside the reception location, so the best one of those is here. I'm sure Audrey won't remember her first meeting with great-grandma, but I'm sure great-grandma will remember it!

Mother (and Father) and Child Reunion

Yesterday we had our reunion for our Bradley (childbirth) classes. Having spent 10 weeks together between April and June, and watched each other grow ever-more pregnant, the reunion gave us the opportunity to meet up again and see how everyone turned out. At 4 months, Audrey was one of the oldest babies - since the classes went until early June, the first babies were born mid-June and the last ones were born in early September. Not everyone came, of course, but we had a good time eating potluck food and taking many pictures of the babies. Here is one of the best ones - that's Charlie, Audrey and Abigail!

Political Baby

So she's not political in the "election was Nov 4" sense, although I must admit I'm happy that President Obama is the first president she might remember, rather than President McCain. I did watch his concession speech, however, and came away thinking what a class act he is. Audrey's politics, however, have more to do with her decorated onesies. Before she was born, our friend Gretchen made her a onesie that says, on the front, "Eat Local Food" and on the back, "It Works for Me." I had to snap a picture because one day she was lying on her playmat, next to Sleepy Bunny (who, though he is a stuffed animal, has played many roles, from infant head support to nursing pillow in his brief tenure with us). She reached out and grabbed Sleepy Bunny's foot and was poised to take a bit out of it. Not quite the "local food" the onesie-maker intended, but funny.

Travels With Audrey

So I have not blogged in a while, partially because I was traveling for a couple of weeks, back East to VA/MD and then out West to San Diego. These were my first trips with Audrey (who was 3 1/2 months old when we left on our first trip). It was a new experience both because I was now "the woman with the baby" on the plane (fortunately, not "the woman with the screaming baby") and also because it was sort of solo parenting time. My parents met me at both ends of the country, and helped with Audrey a lot, but it wasn't quite the same as having Paul there - a little less of a tag team effect. Anyway, Audrey did very well with flying. I've been telling people that if we'd had a direct flight, it would have been no problem at all - it was when we got to Chicago (on the way East) and Dallas (on the way back to Tucson) that she looked at me with this look that said "Hey, you mean we have to do this AGAIN?" But we did. And she did great, amusing herself by smiling at our plane-mates and developing a fascination for the water bottles I was inevitably toting around with us. She even tried to drink from my water bottle in the San Diego airport, grabbed it and held it and put the top to her mouth. Unfortunately for her (but probably fortunately for me, saving a clothing change), she didn't have the wherewithal to open the top first :-) Of course, some familiar "friends" (like Froggy) helped too. The picture is her at Chicago's O'Hare airport, prior to boarding the second flight going East!