Tyler Zoo

This past week was pretty crazy.  Monday we were heading out to go play with some friends, when the gate wouldn't open.  I got out and realized that it had been knocked off its tracks, most likely by the garbage truck.  I had to call our fence guy and he said he would head right over.  So I decided to clean the pool while we were waiting for him to arrive.  Caden insisted on coming inside the pool fence while I was scrubbing it, which is what he usually wants to do.  Every time I let him in the fence, I always tell him to be super careful because I don't want to jump in the pool to save him.  Well, of course, what does he do but fall in.  Without even thinking, I jump in to grab him.  As we're climbing out, he's crying, "I'm all wet", and I realize that my iphone is in my pocket.  Ugh!!!  It wouldn't turn on after a 36 hour rice bath, so I took it up to the Apple Store.  They opened it up, and told me it was wet all the way to the innermost layer, so it was never going to turn on again.  So I have ordered the iphone 5, and I will soon be ordering a water proof case for my new phone.  The whole situation was pretty irritating, because if it weren't for the garbage truck, we would've been at our friend Zoe's house.  Thanks a lot city of Dallas...

Brian was in NYC Wed-Fri, so we headed over to Tyler for the second half of the week.  Out of the blue, on the way to Tyler, Caden says, "Mommy, I fell in my pool".  And I said, "Yes, you did, and it cost Mommy and Daddy $500."  To which he said, "Mommy and Daddy no happy."

Thursday morning we went to the Tyler Zoo.  Caden had so much fun, since he just loves zoos and animals.   We love the Dallas Zoo, but it's always nice to see different animals.  Here's everyone checking out the Mountain Lions.

Caden had never seen a white tiger before.  The male was just hanging out in a tree.

The female had very light grayish stripes. 

Brian and I have been teaching Caden our respective cheers.  We were talking about animal sounds in the car on the way to school on Wednesday, and I asked Caden, "What does a bear say?"  To which he replied, "Sic 'em, horns!"...it's confusing for a 2yr old to have two chants to remember :)

Here's Caden and Papa with a Longhorn.

And with a bear...

A Hummingbird landed on a guys hand, and he was nice enough to come right up where Caden could see it.  The adults thought it was pretty neat; Caden was unimpressed.

We took a lunch break by the giraffes. 

I think Caden's favorite part may have been driving this tractor. 

Annabelle had fun, too. 

Poor Annabelle has had a rough week.  She's had a cold for a few weeks.  And she was uncharacteristically grumpy this week, so I took her to the doctor only to find out she had an ear infection.  Now that she's been on antibiotics for 2 days, she's back to her old, happy self.  Annabelle now enjoys standing next to her music table. 

Here's Caden at about the same age. 



"Momma"

Annabelle has started babbling "Momma".  When she first started saying it last week, she would only do it around me.  I'm not sure Brian believed me :).  And even when I tried to pull the camera out to tape it, she would stop saying it.  Yesterday though, she was saying it so much, I did get her on video...:)

 

 

I think we are going to borrow a bear costume for Annabelle for Halloween, but I did pull Caden's monkey costume out this weekend.  He was 6 months for his first halloween when he wore this.  Here are a few pictures of Annabelle.  I clipped a bow on it to make it a "girl monkey" costume.

 

And our super chunky monkey 2 years ago... 

Annabelle's 6 month pictures

As you know, we had Annabelle's 6 month pictures the week before last.  We tried to get a few family pics in, too.  Alright, here are a few of the best ones...

 

 



Caden feeding Annabelle

Annabelle has started pushing up on all fours.  She can't stay up there long, but she can definitely get her tummy completely off the ground.  She also tried a few new foods this week:  cauliflower, acorn & butternut squash, blueberries and mangos.  She liked all but the cauliflower. 

She basically gagged when she tried the cauliflower.  So of course, I had to grab the camera...

 

Caden is such a good big brother.  He loves to help out with Annabelle.  This week he asked if he could feed her.  He did a great job giving her a few bites.  He did not want me to tape him, but I did manage to get this super short video of him attempting to feed her a bite.

 

 

Yesterday we went to an open gym toddler play time at a Rec Center.  We've been there one other time, and Caden really enjoys it.  He loves hanging on bars; he likes to try to get away with hanging on the clothes rods in the closets, too. 

 



Back to School

Caden started 2 year old Preschool at our church this week.  He's going Monday mornings and Wednesdays until 2pm.  He was apprehensive Monday and Wednesday at drop off.  But when I picked him up Wednesday afternoon, he was so excited to tell me all that he had done.  And his teacher, Ms. Clarissa, said that he did great and was really starting to open up.  Unfortunately, he would not let me take his picture outside his classroom :(..."no picture, mommy!"  Maybe I can get one this week.

Annabelle has changed so much in the last two weeks.  I feel like she's just doing so much more and being so much more interactive.  I love seeing her grow and develop her sweet little personality; she's still such a good baby!  She's still loving solids.  This week we introduced mangos, peas, and spinach.  So far she's also tried avocado, sweet potatoes, prunes, and multi-grain infant cereal.  She's not a real big fan of avocado, but she's gobbled up everything else.

 

The week before last the weather was actually pretty nice for August in Texas, so we went to the park for the first time in months.  Annabelle got to swing for the first time, and she just loved it.

 

Here's a video of her swinging.  Ignore Caden's whining...he was a little upset that we weren't doing what he wanted to do.

 

Our little infant tub has sprung a leak, so I decided to move it inside the big tub. When Caden saw Annabelle getting a bath in "his tub", he decided he wanted to climb in with her.  She's a really sturdy sitter now, but the infant tub provides nice support when Caden accidentally knocks her.

 

Here's a picture of Caden sitting in the tub about a week before he turned 6 months.

 

She's getting so mobile!  She's really started log rolling all over the place.  And she'll scoot a little, but rolling is much more efficient.  Here she is last weekend backed into a chair...she started on the blanket.

 

Caden didn't log roll as much as she does, but he did scoot backwards.  Here's a picture of him at 6 1/2 months backed into a chair.

 

Annabelle sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time this week.  I can't believe what a big girl she is.

 

We went to a park Thursday morning to meet our photographer to take a few family pictures and Annabelle's 6 month pictures.  She already gave us these "sneak peek" pictures.  The rest of our pictures will be ready in about 2 weeks; I can't wait to see them.