Vacation-Pittsburgh Zoo

The fam went to Pittsburgh for a long weekend. We did lots of fun things the first place that we went was the Pittsburgh Zoo. We found animals that everyone loved and enjoyed watching. We were really looking forward to walking through the tube under the sharks and the polar bear.

It was pretty impressive to watch the polar bear push off the top ledge and then push off the bottom and go sailing past us back to the top.

The sand sharks made some pretty cool shadows on the side walls also. A couple of them swam over the tunnel so we could see their belly's. The sand shark has 94 teeth in 3 rows. It was also educational.
And Max was happy that he got to see lots of different fishes in really big tanks.

Scott's favorite was the polar bear.

Jen's favorite was the seadragon (look like seahorses with leaves all over them)

Zoe's favorite was buying the stuffed lemur (only a 3 year old could do this at the zoo), we think she like the gorillas since that was the only animal she wanted to see a second time.

Max's favorite the fishes.

More about our vacation to come later.

I grew

I was 9 months old yesterday, 8/12, and I went to the doctor today for a check-up. I didn't have to get any shots, yippee. The nurse measured me and weighed me. I even got to sit on the scale this time instead of laying down. I really am growing. I now weigh 20 pounds and 10 ounces, I'm 28.75 inches long, still not tall yet, and my head is 18.25" around. I gained 2 pounds and 6 ounces from my 6 month visit and grew 2.25". The doctor was very impressed with how much I grew. And agreed that I should be eating lots since I grew so much. I also get to add more foods to my diet. Pretty much anything that is small enough for me to eat, and mushy enough since I only have 2 teeth, still.
While I was waiting for the doctor my mommy let me sit on the exam table and look in the mirror. There was another baby on the other side who was playing with me. We bonked foreheads a few times, squished our noses and I licked the mirrow a couple of times.
My sister came with me this time as well. I liked having her there. I did cry and scream at the doctor a little bit, but not too bad. I stood really tall for him, finally tall and not long. And Zoe got a really cool sticker at the end of the appointment for being such a good big sister. I would have just eaten it so she might as well have it.
I go next just after my first birthday, and I have to get shots at that one. Yuck.

Look Mom

This past Saturday Max finally did it. He is now crawling, slowly, usually unless there is a goal. So nothing is safe anymore, especially Zoe. She will be learning that lesson all too well over the next few months I'm sure. He of course loves to go after some of his toys, but paper seems to be one of the items that really gets him going. Take a look, he'll show you his prize at the end, a receipt that I put beside me so I could get him to crawl towards me.

I'm so fast my hand is a blur.

Max is fascinated with my camera. I'm just waiting for the tink tink on the lens, is anyone there.

On Sunday Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. Max finally let Grandpa spend some time with him without looking like he was going to cry. Max was showing Grandpa his books and all of his toys. He really is just showing it because if you take it from him, he'll let you know until you give it back.

Max eats and swings

We decided that we had to get a video of how Max prepares to eat. He really does love his food and I think he would eat practically anything. There have been a few things that he isn't fond of, but he still eats it. Watch the little video clip of our octopus and make sure to watch how fluid the movements are with his feet and hands. It's just mesmerizing.

Max also had his first day swinging at the park this past weekend. He just had fun hanging out in the swing and watching everything that was going on. He especially liked watching his sister swinging beside him. I'm sure he'll be laughing and screaming while swinging soon.

New Tricks

Zoe has two new talents. The first one is that she is now tall enough to ride her bike, with training wheels of course. So we headed over to the high school so she could really open it up. Needless to say she slept well last night.

Her second talent... smelling flowers with no hands. We are so proud.

Mamama

Max finally added more words/sounds to his repetoire on the July 4th weekend. He started saying "Mamama". Needless to say this made Mommy very happy. I think he actually does know what he is saying and it isn't always just a sound. I get looked at and lots of loud Mamama's until I acknowledge him and then a big smile.

He is getting closer to crawling, but not quite there. But when he starts he will be hard to stop, and Zoe will be in trouble. She will finally find out the impact of having a little brother when he is no longer in just one place.

We've had some really good days the past week or so. Tonight we got to watch Zoe dance to Laurie Bierkner that was on Noggin. She had a lot of fun and did a really good job dancing to the different tempo's. Her imagination never stops.

Twinkle Twinkle

On sunday Zoe made her debut singing at church. She was very excited to be singing a duet with Mommy. We practiced in the car on the way to church and then we practiced with the microphone at church. She did an amazing job. She got many complements and she wants to start learning a new song so she can sing again. We are very proud of her and she is proud of herself.

Turn up the sound to listen.