We were given a zoo membership a few years ago from my mother-in-love. She was able to renew it for us one time and then helped us renew it a second time. This year, we were able to save $10 by renewing it through Stephen's work! It is worth the money we pay for it! We were only a month and a half past expiration on our previous membership! We have one of the greatest zoos in this part of the country! It is FANTASTIC! When Jesstine was Emmitt's age, we used to go once a week AT LEAST! Now that Emmitt is older, he is fascinated by every animal and living creature he sees! He is also so excited to just be outside in general! He loves to be a big boy and walk instead of riding. He is VERY passionate about all of these things! More on that later though! So today, because we had the membership renewed, the weather was great, and it was our little man's half birthday, we went to the zoo!! I had to go by myself with the kids since Stephen is currently recovering from some kind of bronchitis thing. It was harder than I remember it being with just Jesstine! Or even harder than it was when Emmitt was less...mobile! I think we are transitioning out of the stroller phase (for the record, Jesstine would STILL ride in one constantly if I would let her). Today I kept fighting Emmitt wanting to walk and Jesstine wanting to ride SO much that I kept looking around for possible solutions! I think I found it in the way of a wagon (with an added on trailer). I will go pick it up on Monday! In the meantime, I was stuck with a roughly 25 lb. toddler on my hip and a 38 lb. 4.5 year-old in the stroller...NOT a great plan for my back! The closest I have had to a work out in....18 months! I digress! Nevertheless, it was fun! On with the photos:
First stop, the flamingos. (Notice he is still in the stroller.)
Rhinestone Cowgirl (the rhinestones are on her sunglasses).
With her sidekick, Buckaroo!
He proudly told me these were horses and they say, "Neigh." (The second picture is actually a mule. At least he was close! He called the pig a cow!)
Watch out, they spit!
He was really tempted to touch the goat (and other animals), but still had a death grip on my finger!
Yes, we washed out hands right after he touched this fence!
After fussing that she had to share the saw horse ride with him albeit briefly, she was very disappointed when he didn't want to hold her hand for very long!
This was by FAR their favorite part of the zoo! The penguins were in rare form today! You will see what I mean a few pictures from now!
You can almost see a look of disgust on his face. Yes folks, the penguin just relieved himself in front of my kid. He was unimpressed as you can tell.
He quickly got over it though and was more disappointed that the penguin was swimming away from him.
Jesstine is trying to get the penguin to follow her goldfish pretzel. It landed her in timeout after she strayed further from me than she was supposed to!
Proof that more than just her hands were present on this leg of the zoo trip.
He REALLY wants to pet the penguin!
They must have thought he looked fun because another one came over and joined the first!
And of course no trip to see the penguins is complete without a chance to see how we measure up in comparison!
Emmitt was has not caught on to this however.
This family of geese was quite entertaining. The father kept flapping and hissing at the peacock. The peacock didn't seem to care. I guess the peacock was invading the space of the geese (who are far too quick to invade human space if snacks are visible).
Next, a trip to the reptiles and amphibians building. I wasn't able to get a picture, but after being so close to those penguins, Emmitt would go no where NEAR the aquarium glass at the front of this building. It is filled with swimming turtles and a few fish. He was terrified! He didn't seem to mind throughout the rest of it because most were in smaller cages!
QUICK! Hide your goldfish, yogurt melts and pretzels kids!
On our way to get lunch after our zoo trip, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the zoo was today. Jesstine quickly piped in with, "The JUNGLE!!!" About 2 minutes later I asked Emmitt and he replied, "Yungle!!" with a big grin on his face! What can I say, it was always my favorite as a kid too!
I have officially decided that for the time being, there is NO way I will get eye contact from both of my kids at the same time for pictures.
Case in point!
Our final part of the trip was to see the orangutans. This baby was born almost two years ago. This is the first we have seen it outside. It was almost a year old before we saw it INSIDE even!
This almost brought tears to my eyes! It is how I like to spend time with my kids too! So sweet! (That is a baby chimp although I think it is a few months older than Emmitt.)
And this is what we were all ready to do after we had lunch!
Again, it is hard to believe that Emmitt is a year and a half old! He is! He is certainly changing in many ways, but is the same in many other respects. I see little bits and pieces of him that make me think that his oldest sister would have been so much like him! Some are physical characteristics. Others are subtle things that I picked up on when she was in the womb (they both have a knack for the rhythm of music which they DIDN'T get from their music teacher Mamma). Also, she just seemed to have a much stronger personality almost announcing that she was there at times, much like Emmitt and so different from Jesstine.
Emmitt is a talking machine! He says three and four word sentences. He will repeat words almost perfectly. This last couple of months, he started to volunteer words on his own for things. It didn't take long before that became the norm. He is even easy to understand for the most part! When he isn't, Jesstine is usually quick to pick up on it and translates for us! He has shown an interest in the "Letter Factory." If you don't have this movie and you have small children, it is WELL worth the money! I think you can sometimes find it by itself for about $5 at some places. If not, it is in a 3 DVD set at Walmart and Target for like $20! My kids are ADDICTED to it! As a result, he can now tell you what sound A, B, C, P and sometimes S, L, and Z make! It is AMAZING! He can't visually identify them everytime, but I am sure that is coming!
This boy is in love with anything with wheels especially bikes/motorcycles/construction or farm vehicles! He also is obsessed with sports balls or balls of any kind! He calls them all "bee ball" or "oot ball." He won't take any paci for nap or bed at home unless it is his soccer ball paci. He loves being outdoors. He is SO passionate about being outdoors! Today at the zoo, he was so excited we were outside that he kept saying "OUTSIDE!" And of course what do we usually go do outside? Get the mail! So I even heard him emphatically exclaim, "MAIL!!!" while we were at the zoo! A boy can dream, right?! He also wants to ride his "Icle" (tricycle) every time we even go into the garage. It is unfortunately located on his side of the car, so it is EVERY time we are out in the garage! He is a good eater and has inherited his daddy's sweet tooth and especially his love of frozen, milky, creamy desserts! He will clean his plate/tray of fruit first and ask for more before bothering to touch anything else in front of him! It is AMAZING! He eats about the same amount (most of the time more) than Jesstine does. He uses a spoon sometimes (by using it, I mean holding it in his hand while the other hand shovels food into his mouth). We have even started to experiment with giving him a plate and sitting him up to the table without a booster/high chair lately. Before you get concerned, I of course just mean the little card table (children's size) and chairs we have. He has only fallen one time and that was after he had tried it already several times! For the MOST part he stays put and is surprisingly cleaner than when he eats off of his tray at his highchair!
Emmitt is in some 18 month clothes, some 24 month and some 2T. I just gave away most of his winter stuff that was 18 month size. His shorts are mostly 24 month and 2T. Shirts he can wear some 18 month, but is mostly in 24 or 2t. He is in size 5 diapers for everyday use. They fit him well. He isn't as much of a supersoaker at night so we are toying with the idea of not putting a liner in his size 6 overnight diapers any more. We will see. I am not sure how much he weighs or what his height is. I will check that and update another time. He is in a size 6 1/2 wide shoe. At this age, Jesstine crawled out of her crib and was transitioning to a toddler bed. I REALLY hope that isn't the case with Emmitt! If it was, we would have a mess on our hands! I think I will just pad his floor or something if that happens! He would NOT stay in a toddler bed right now if that were our only choice! I PRAY that he is one of those kids who just doesn't do it because they don't know they can! He likes his sleep I think. He typically goes to sleep fairly quickly after he goes down for nap or bedtime. For the record though, I think I have said this many times in the past only to jinx it! He has stayed up a few nights in a row after I said that before! He MOSTLY sleeps through the night although when he is teething or congested all bets are off on that one. He typically sleeps from about 8 or 8:30 until about 7:15-7:30 for bedtime. Naps are usually from 1 or 1:30 (some days not until 2) until 4:30 or 5!!! He will sometimes sleep for three or more hours at nap and go right to sleep at bedtime! I pretty much HAVE to wake him at 5 though! Lately he has been crying out roughly a half hour to an hour after going down for nap. I just go hug him, give him his paci and blankets (he is in LOVE with his taggie dog blanket, but has to have his blue blanket and owl, Wesley, as well) and turn on his seahorse. He usually goes right back to sleep.
His personality is blossoming! He is a cuddler and a lover, but he also is an intense little guy! He really picks up on others' feelings quickly. He likes to stay close to me or Daddy and doesn't go to strangers easily (with few exceptions). Case in point, most times he goes to Sunday school well if his main teacher is there and Daddy drops him off. If I drop him off, he gets clingy and cries (although not for too long). If his main teacher is gone and someone else is teaching, all bets are off! The nursery at church is another place where I often can't leave him without him being a hot mess in one second flat! This is especially true if any of the other babies and toddlers are having separation anxiety. When he likes something, he is intense about it (being outside, anything with wheels, balls...etc.). He also is starting to pretend a lot more! One time in the last few weeks, he had brought out his stuffed Charlie Brown doll. When he was little, Daddy got him this toy on one of his business trips. We would push the belly to play the music and then make Charlie dance for Emmitt. I looked over at him (and he didn't notice me) and he had Charlie's hands in his and was making his feet dance across a small space on the floor! He also thinks lots of things are swords. I have had to remove the pinwheel from the toybox and he has even attacked Daddy one too many times with an asparagus from the kitchen downstairs. Oyi! I guess it is safe to say he is all boy with a soft side for cuddling and loving on his mommy, daddy and grandparents. Oh and sometimes even his sister gets some of that love!
I guess that is it for now. If I think of anything more I will add to it...like his height, weight and all that good stuff!
Oh, and here are the chair pictures!
Joy Boy Junior!
SO big!
Bloopers (and there are MANY!!). If you notice to the left (your left) a cup of chips ahoy cookies appeared between the first picture above and the second. Bribery is what finally made this photo shoot a success!
(He is cuddling, not escaping.)
And now tackling!
Jesstine didn't want to be left out.
Wait a minute, this is MY photo shoot!
NEVERMIND!!!
Surounded by vehicles and a giant stuffed elephant. What more could a kid ask for???
In Him,
The Hutchins Family
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