The Jacksonville Zoo - April 20, 2008

On Sunday, April 20 we decided we needed a family day and went to the zoo. We were treated to the zoo trip by Margo and Art who have a membership! So, on Sunday afternoon off we went, Henry, me, the kids and Margo. It was a beautiful day for a stroll around the zoo. Seth had so much fun. He got to see so many animals. Fortunately for him, Margo (a.k.a. Mama) was there to show him everything there was to see. She pointed everything out and told him a bit about each animal. It was really so sweet! My favorite moment was just a few minutes in to our walk. Seth noticed that all of the animals he was seeing (at first) were laying down. I guess this frustrated him because he then began shouting at all of them to "GET UP!!!" Of course he shouted even more if we laughed at him...which we did! He was so insistant that they all get up! A relativeley new attraction at the zoo is the "Stingray Bay" ("All barb have been trimmed, much like a dogs toenails, for your safety"...no joke, that was an actual disclaimer!). Basically, you pay a couple of dollars to go under this big tent with a very large, shallow pool and "pet", or attempt to pet, the stingrays, much like you would find at Seaworld. Of course this fascinated Seth. We, Margo and I, took our turns trying to pet the rays but to no avail! The rays stayed closer to the middle of the pool, so unleass you were Michael Jordan there was no way you could really pet them! It was fun trying! After Stingray bay we went and visited the Giraffes. At this site you can actually feed the Giraffes, if they are interested! At first we didn't think we would get the chance, but then a "teenage" giraffes walked over to us and let us feed him/her. Seth was not too sure about it at first and let me hold the branch of leaves. Just as the giraffe had almost finished eating, Seth grabbed the branch and the giraffe promptly stole it away from him! It was really cute and Seth was pretty thrilled with that. We then visited all of the other exhibits. Seth liked watching the monkeys (Bonobos) play. He also was fascinated with the snakes. The only thing that probably topped his list of fun sightings wasn't a sighting at all, it was the train! There is a train that circles the zoo. Seth had a blast riding on it with us!

A visit to "Mama Rose"

***A Note*** This post will be followed by a post from the zoo 2 weekends ago. The only reason the zoo isn't coming first is that I took TOO many pictures and haven't finished editing them yet!*** On Thursday we packed the kids and Uncle Gabe up in the car and drove down to see Grandma Rose...or as Seth calls her, "Mama Rose". The car was packed almost full. (I never realized how much stuff you need when traveling with two small children!) Fortunately, our first trip in our AWESOME new van went very smoothly. Well, it went smoothly as long as you don't consider the fact that Uncle Gabe nearly got his head kicked in by Seth! (Seriously! Gabe sat in front of Seth and tried to lean his chair back and take a nap and Seth kept kicking him in the head. Seth was kind enough for a "Sorry Uncle Gate!, though!) Once we got to Hallandale we checked in to our hotel and went over to Grandma Roses condo. She lives in a very nice complex on the beach! After saying hello and after Aunt Nancy arrived we decided to take Seth and Hannah down to the beach. This is a sad fact but, this was the first time Seth has actually walked on the beach. I know, I know! "You live in St. Augustine, ten minutes from the beach and his first time only came now?!?!?!" Yes, but it mas a wonderful first time. Not having our swim suits with us we thought we'd just walk along the shore. RIGHT! After letting the water splash over Seth's toes once or twice that was it! He laughed and was so enamored with it that he let go of my hand and just sat down! It was so funny! All we could do was laugh...oh, and the camera...yeah, it was up in the condo! So, sadly, I only have mental pictures of it, but they are the best...wish I could share them with you! Anyhow, we had a very nice and somewhat relaxing weekend visiting with Grandma Rose. (Relaxing with two kids under two is a bit of an oxymoron!) Seth loved visiting with Mama Rose, Uncle Gate and Mama Margo and Aunt Nancy. He and Hannah did their best at making Grandma and all of her friends fall in love with them. Unfortunately the weekend ended all too soon, but a good time was definitely had by all! A note about the pictures...Hannah was all ready for the beach/swimming pool and opted for a photo shoot with Mama Rose first. Seth was waiting for me and Henry to get our sunscreen on and decided to lounge in the lounge chair on the pool deck. On Sunday morning Seth decided to jump into the pack n play with Hannah. We told him to sit with her for a picture...he sat ON her! The last two are of Seth and Grandma Rose and one of Me, Henry, Seth and Grandma Rose...Hannah was sound asleep in her carseat!

Hannah and the rest of us!

Since I just posted the long post all about Seth, I thought I should also update you all on Hannah as well. Life with Hannah has certainly been an adventure. If you ask my Mom or Margo you'll find that I am always telling them how surprised I am that my children are SOOOOO different. Yes, they are 17 months apart so they are going to be different, but I am talking about comparing them at the same age. Seth was a very easy going baby, very low maintenance. Hannah...is not. Don't get me wrong, she is easy going but she is not low maintenance, at least not any more! She is showing us more and more that she is a girl, not a boy. She hates to have a wet or poopy diaper (who would love it?) and lets it be known how much she hates it. (Seth would whine a little but never got as upset as she does.) She is FINALLY eating applesauce! (Seth took a couple of days and loved cereal...Hannah hated it!) We tried to start her on cereal with fruit in it and she gagged every time I tried to give it to her. Finally, my Mom suggested we try plain baby applesauce. I wish I had tried it earlier! She LOVES it! Today she ate half a small jar in one sitting. She acted like she wanted more but I didn't want to over do it with her. Hannah is a very happy baby. We've decided that her most recent "Fussy Few Days" was probably due to a growth spurt. We thought it might be her teeth but she calmed down and no teeth came in...not to mention she looks very long all of a sudden. Hannah loves her Mommy, in a way that even Seth does not outwardly show. She is already showing signs of being very attached to me. She throws a fit if I leave her with anyone now. I'm not sure why this is starting early but, I cannot lie...I love it! Seth was not this way with me and is still the way with Henry so it is nice for me, in a way. Hannah is very active now. She has mastered rolling over from both sides. She now rolls her way around the floor to get where she wants to. She is also reaching and grasping at everything! If it has color and is near her, Hannah wants it and at almost 5 months old I must say she is pretty good at getting it! Hannah has found her feet now. She loves to lay on her back and play "Catch my Foot" with herself. She just grins and coos and laughs the whole time. Hannah has also already begun to push up on her feet when she is laying on her belly so that her butt is in the air and she perched on her elbows. I'll have to try to get a picture so you can really understand what I am talking about. It is really cute and has us convinced that she will be walking well before she is a year old. When she looks at Seth you can just see how much she wants to be able to play with him. Overall, Hannah is a really good girl. We are still working on getting her to sleep through the night and once she does that we'll work on moving her to her crib. For now, she is still in her co-sleeper next to my side of the bed, right where I like her. Since she does nurse once in the night it is nice to have her by my side. I will miss laying in bed listening to her breath and waking up to see her little face just smiling up at mine when we do move her. So, for now I will enjoy having her by my side. (Could that be why she is so attached to me?!?!?) A quick update on me and Henry. I recently joined Weight Watchers again. Henry is "following" plan with me as best he can. He really is doing a fantastic job, as am I if I do say so myself! In the past two weeks I have lost a total of 9 pounds! We're not sure of the number of pounds he has lost but we know Henry is losing because his duty belt is fitting very loosely now! So, yay for us! Otherwise, it is still same old, same old...just the way we like it!

Short stories and Seth-isms

The Evolution of "I love you!" When Seth first began to talk Henry worked very hard to teach him how to say "I love you!" When he finally said it, it came out something like "I-eee." As his speech has improved his pronunciation of words has improved, therefore changing the way he says "I love you." As he was learning how to pronounce words it changed to "I Yuv You!" Now, it has changed again and sounds more like "I lu loo." What will it be next?!? "No more night, night!" About a week and a half ago after Henry left for work I was laying in bed waiting for one of my children to wake up...it's always uncertain who will wake up first. This particular day it was Seth. He is usually pretty happy when he wakes up and this day was really no different, or so I thought. I went in to his room and he greeted my with a big smile. He was sitting nicely in his crib rubbing his eyes and clutching one of the many items he sleeps with. As I walked over to him, he looked up at me and said very sweetly, "No more night, night!" I asked him if he was ready to wake up and get out of bed and he said it again, a little more emphatically, "No more night, night!" Of course I then picked him up and hugged him close as we walked out of his room. "Seth, what do you want to eat?" I have recently begun giving Seth a choice of what he would like to eat whenever meal time rolls around. Our conversation usually goes a little like this... Mommy: "Seth, what would you like to eat for breakfast?" Seth: "Buh-bus?" Mommy: "Yes Seth, breakfast." (This is used to be a rhetorical question because he has never had an answer for me, until the other day. I used to give him a choice and still never really received a response.) Seth: "Ce-eal." or "Tah-tarts." or "Wah-wise." a now common responses (Cereal, pop tarts,waffles) Mommy: "Would you like a banana or grapes with your cereal." Seth: (This changes day to day) "Nana", "Gates" or "No" are the common responses. Mommy: "Would you like milk with breakfast?" Seth: "Nolp" or "Coffee" are his answers. (Milk and chocolate milk. He saw me drinking coffee one day and then wanted some. I told him no it was Mommy's coffee. The next day I had chocolate milk and he said "Mommy's coffee?" I said, "No, Mommy's chocolate milk." Then the fatal error, I let him taste it. Since that day he like to have coffee a couple of times a week.) "I yike the cake!" Last night we were at my parents house celebrating my grandparents 61st Wedding Anniversary. My mom made a fantastic dinner and then when we had all finished dinner she brought out a sinful Publix Strawberry Delight cake. It is chocolate cake with a custard filling between the layers, covered in a light chocolate cool-whip like icing and topped with candied strawberries and 3 chocolate covered strawberries. (It is so good!) Well, Seth is like his Mommy and has quite the sweet tooth. He saw the cake and said, "My cake!" We all told him that he could have some so he jumped up into his Daddy's lap to share his piece. While we were all sitting there eating we asked him if he liked the cake. Seth looked up and thought very hard and said, "I yike," "I yike the cake." He was so serious and said it so clearly I actually started to cry. My sweet little boy is just that, a little boy. He is not my tiny baby boy anymore! Seth is such a character. He keeps me on my toes and keeps me in stitches every day. He is absolutely all boy. He is climbing on everything and as he is climbing he is always looking at one of us and saying, "I kime!" He talks all the time now and is very entertaining. His favorite thing to do with my Dad is to sit and watch "Ax Men" on the History Channel with him. He talks to my Dad the whole time about the "tac-tehs" and "dump tucks" and "big tucks" (translation: tractors, dump trucks and big trucks). All of these stories are just a minute representation of our day to day life with Seth...a life we would not trade for anything in the world! Oh, and last but not least, Seth now sleeps in a "Big Boy Bed." When Henry and I went upstairs to get him from his nap yesterday afternoon we found a very active climber. He wanted out of his crib and tried many times to get out. It has been two months (I think) since his first and only somewhat successful attempt at getting out of the crib. (He landed on his back on the floor and freaked himself out by knocking the wind out of his lungs. He cried for a while once he finally breathed in again!) Seeing how hard he was trying to get out we decided we did not want to relive the first experience and took the crib apart. I was a little upset and a little excited and a lot afraid at first. He did ok last night, though. He did wake up once and come and sleep with us for a while, but he really did better than I had expected...once he was asleep. (Getting him to go to sleep was a challenge, but we figured out it was a challenge because we tried to change too much at one time.) I was really afraid for nap time today and was pleasantly surprised when it went very well!

I couldn't resist!

Following are two slide shows; one of the last few days in March and another of our visit with Grandma and Grandpa Crafton today.

Pictures In Summary... I found Seth laying on the floor one day looking at his sticker/coloring book, Mickey Mouse theme, of course. I thought he looked to cute just laying there and wanted to capture a few pictures of it. Then, a couple of days later we went with Henry while he was out fixing some of the soccer goal nets in the neighborhood. We brought a soccer ball for Seth to play with and he happily ran around after it for about...5 seconds until he realized that I couldn't play (I was "wearing" Hannah)and that Daddy was busy. After that all he wanted to do was help Henry. When Henry was done, we took Seth to the playground for a few minutes. He loves slides and for some reason became a bit scared to go down the slide! Finally, there are pictures of my first time giving Hannah cereal. I never got a great shot of her true dislike for the cereal. I need to see if we can get a pic of it when Henry is around so I'll have his help with the camera. She literally gagged on it a few times, she hated it so much!

Pictures in Summary... Mama and Papa Crafton came down to visit with us today. After Margo and I took the kids for a walk we went out on the back porch and played with Seth's new bubble gun. It only took a couple of test runs for Seth to get the idea of how to use it. Once he figured it out, he was off and making bubbles! Hannah had fun sitting with Mama and watching Seth. (I did see a twinkle in her eye as if she was thinking, "I blow better bubbles than that!" I'll have to try and get a picture to show you how good she is at blowing bubbles one day.) After a while, Seth did get bored with the bubbles and wanted to slide down his slide. Then, it was time for Mama and Papa to leave. When Seth heard it was time for them to go he ran over to Papa and said, "Big hugs Papa!" It was so sweet, and though it is a good picture, the picture doesn't really do the scene justice. Seth Loves spending time with all of his Mama's and Papa's!!!!