9 Months & First Trip to the Zoo

Matt had last Monday off, and as I don't work on Mondays we decided to take advantage of it and take G to the Zoo. The Milwaukee County Zoo pass is a well known must-have for the local parenting set - unlimited visits for less than $100 - including parking! So we got our pass, packed a picnic lunch and about 20 bottles of water for the 95 degree day, and set off to see the creatures. Genevieve liked watching anything that swam...penguins, fish, turtles. We didn't make it around the whole park so her take on big mammals is yet to come.

Forget "Squishie"...her new nickname is Crested Screamer


Seeking shelter in an air conditioned exhibit


G now hates her hats. Here's our attempt to show her how fun it is to wear them.

After our wild adventure we headed off to our next appointment: G's 9 month visit to the doctor. Although there were no shots involved there was a quick finger prick for a blood test. The nurse said, "9 out of 10 babies don't even notice this". Matt and I knew that Miss Drama would surely find it a reason to shed some big fat tears, which of course she did. She measured 28.5 inches (80th percentile), and 19 lbs 4 oz, which is just the 60th percentile. Translation: she's getting taller and skinnier. Which we find hard to believe because she still looks, and feels, like a chunky monkey to us. Her hair is getting longer and much lighter, and her little bald spot from sleeping on her back has mostly filled in. Her two top teeth are juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust about to pop out, and she eats almost anything that we do. The pediatrician was surprised to learn that she's on mostly table food and gave G props for being a star eater. She's crawling like crazy now which Ralphie does not find amusing. He just gets up and leaves whenever she comes near, and he looks at us like, "what the heck do you call this?" It also takes the "easy" right out of activities like changing diapers and dressing her. Why get your rear end cleaned off when you could roll around naked instead??

Here's our big girl:

Scheming her escape

Maybe if I just keep crawling off the chair..... what mom, I wasn't doing anything! I swear!


Giving bear some loves


Loves her green ball...to the point that she's willing to dive off the chair for it.



Later Gator

Next week we're headed to the cottage for a long 4th of July weekend. Hopefully the oppressive heat wave we're experiencing is warming up the lake and we'll be able to swim. And hark...the Crested Screamer calls.