First zoo trip of the year!

Gloria and I went to the zoo two weeks ago on Monday, March 16. It was a beautiful day out - not too cold, bright sun, and no wind. Not all of the animals are out for the winter, but we were able to see many of the ones that endure the winter and early spring weather.


Our first stop was at the petting zoo. Even though we couldn't go in to pet the animals, they came right up to us at the fence. The goats thought Gloria's shoes smelled delicious!




We stayed about an hour, walking/strolling around the zoo, looking at the animals that were out enjoying the nice weather. We saw the llamas, the chimpanzees, the lions, the tiger, the mountain lions, and the bears. Gloria got really into watching the animals run around and play. We're going to have a blast at the zoo as it gets warmer.


While we were looking at the bears, I asked Gloria if she could say "bear" and she did!

When we came home Gloria crawled through my garden and let Rob chase her around the driveway! It was such a great day!

Holy moly molars! and more

Last week Gloria's two bottom molars finally began to emerge. Nothing like waiting months for them to make their debut. She's been chewing on her fingers quite a bit, but other than that she's been just as perfect as usual. Her top molars don't appear to be close to coming out. There's not even a swollen spot yet.















On Tuesday, Gloria and I were looking at pictures of her and Grandpa at Grandpa's birthday party. I was narrating the pictures for her, telling her what we were seeing when all of a sudden she said "Grandpa." It was pretty close to the actual word too with two syllables...not baby babble. Then, not a minute later, she said it again!

"If you need someone to help you open presents, you can hire me!"

"I love my Grandpa."

Back in January when we started giving Gloria whole milk to drink she was having none of it. She didn't like it, didn't want it, no way, no how! We were able to get her to drink a little bit by mixing some chocolate milk with it and giving it to her out of a big cup.

"Milk from Daddy's cup. (This was before I really liked it.)"

Fast forward to now. Gloria drinks at least 8 ounces of milk a day with her meals, and usually more. She doesn't need any chocolate mixed in and she drinks it from a sippy cup (without a stopper) and doesn't spill. We are in no way worried about her dairy consumption because she loves cheese and yogurt too.

"You've all seen milk mustaches, but I'm the first one with a milk beard!"

"Cheese!"

I'm almost done with nursing Gloria. We are down to just one nursing session a day, right before she goes to bed at night. I will miss the closeness, but it is definitely time. April 16 is the last time I will nurse her. (Yes, I have a scheduled date. I have a bachelorette party on the 18th and then April and I are going to a Britney Spears concert on the 28th in Chicago.) It's going to be hard because she's known this since the day she was born. I've nursed her before bed every day of her life. Thus I am going to enjoy and savor each night from now until then. My sweet baby girl is growing up.

"I love playing farm!"

It's beginning to look a lot like SPRING!

"My first little red car ride of the year!"
2-27-09

We have been so glad that the weather is getting a bit warmer and the snow has finally melted. Well, all of it except for a little pile in the front yard. Gloria has a blast outside! She likes to walk around the driveway, pick up leaves and sticks to put in her bucket, push her little red car around, ride in her little red car, sit in the chair that Zach built, look at the creek, look for deer, look for dogs, and the list goes on.

"I'm queen of the rock!"
3-15-09

"Off to explore with my favorite exploring partner - Daddy!"

"I'm looking for treasures to put in my bucket."

"Here's something cool!"

"All done exploring. We're heading home for lunch."

Ouch!

On Saturday, Gloria got her first big ouchie. She and Grammy were walking to Great Grandma & Grandpa's house. Gloria did not want to ride in her stroller. She wanted to walk. Well, somewhere between Grammy's house and Great-Grandma's house, Gloria fell down on the sidewalk and scraped up her face. She didn't cry much at all and wanted to keep walking. Her nose and forehead were pretty red on Saturday, but now it's just a bit scabby and red on her nose.

Oh, the dangers of learning to walk and wanting to do things on your own.

"My scraped up nose and the bump on my forehead don't bother me one bit!"

3-14-09

"No more bump on my forehead! Just some scratches on my nose."
3-15-09

3-15-09

"Bath please."

Gloria said her second sentence last week. Rob had told her that she was going to take a bath, so she kept saying bath - sounds like "bah" - and he asked her to say "bath please." And she did! "Bah plea."

Tonight we weren't planning on giving Gloria a bath. Rob and Gloria came inside after walking up to get the mail and Gloria started doing the sign for bath. Rob asked her if she wanted to take a bath, and she nodded and kept doing the sign for bath. She loves taking baths!

"There are bubbles on my head, on my head!"