Grrrr... Animals!

Last Sunday, my kids and I had a chance to go to the zoo. It was incredibly hot, but I had a great time. Heck, a baby was involved, so it had to be fun! We went with my big sis, my niece, my niece-in-law, and my great-niece. (That's a lot of nieces, especially for someone who has so many nephews!) Care is 18 months and is quite the independent handful. She's beyond confident; she's fearless!

Usually when we hang out with the babies, I'm the one behind the camera, so I don't really spend all that much time interacting with them. Care loves my daughter though, and on this trip she even asked my son to hold her. He didn't quite know what to do,but when she looks at you and says, "Up, pees?" how can you say no?

I was quite excited when she spontaneously held my hand, but I was beside myself when she asked me to hold her. Apparently, even my wide-brimmed hat wasn't enough to scare her off. (I know the photo isn't all that flattering, but it's the only one I got.)

We looked at the lions, the giraffes, monkeys and elephants together. When I asked her if she wanted to see the lions, she growled. When asked what the monkeys say, she said, "Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

Since she's obviously learning her animal sounds, I made sure to teach her a new one. Elephant. Yep, I can trumpet like a heffalump! The first time I did it, Care looked surprised, but after that she watched me intently to see how I did it. Sure enough, within a few minutes she was at it herself - much to her mother's joy. (I didn't want to take on giraffes. Even I'm stumped by that one!)

My kids say I'm baby crazy - mostly because I change the tone of my voice (it gets more high-pitched), speak excitedly, and smile non-stop when interacting with them. If that makes me baby crazy, well, I guess I am. They're just so darn cute! And to me, nothing can beat the sense of trust a little one has when they grasp as many of your fingers as they can wrap their hand around. Wait, I take that back. They can trump that by snuggling their head onto your shoulder as you hold them. It's pure bliss!

Here's Care (with a very dirty face encrusted with sand and blackberries) giving me a hug of her own volition a few weeks ago when we went to the beach. She just melted my heart!