Happy Birthday!

 
Has it been another year already?   It seems like not long ago when we were writing about the first birthday, and now here we are already at number two.  It is hard to believe how much she has changed in between those two dates. 

We had the birthday party over the weekend, and it was an interesting time to say the least.  The birthday girl swung back and forth from happy...to meltdown mode...and back to happy throughout the day, but overall it was a good day.   The hit of the party, and possibly the savior, was the bounce house (thanks Tonise!).   She, along with her friends Olivia, Barrett, and Eva really had a blast bouncing and falling around. When it came time to open gifts, the task was left to us because she was far too focused on the first gift she saw...the play-kitchen.  

 

We also took her to the zoo (Dallas Zoo) for the first time.  As with most places, the main two things she was most interested in at first were the water fountain and steps.  She is obsessed with steps and always has been.  Luckily neither of those two things took up too much time though.  She got to pet the goats in the Children's Zoo, and also see a pony up-close.  The goats seemed to be much more interesting to her than the pony though.  

From there we wandered back to see the tiger (big let down as there was only one visible tiger in a very large habitat), and then back to see the kangaroos and emus...or as she called them "big chickens".   She did enjoy those, running back and forth and sliding leaves under the glass for them to eat.

The hit of the day was seeing the elephants, and especially the giraffes.   Possibly the best $5 ever spent was for a hand full of big lettuce leaves and some kind of crackers to feed the giraffes.  She (and I) loved it.  The first giraffe took all of the lettuce and then took off.   But the second one came over to eat the crackers and even nibbled her shirt.   Definitely worth the price of admission just to do that.

We are now in the final stretch until baby brother Jackson makes his debut in December.  Obviously a lot is going to change, and it will be a huge adjustment for all of us.  She will make a great, though probably very bossy, big sister and once the initial shock of the new baby wears off we think she is going to love it (or at least we hope so).   She will gain a little brother and a best friend...at least until they are old enough to fight like cats and dogs.  

Just a few odds and ends...she FINALLY ate ketchup for the first time a few days ago.  We have tried to get her to try it on fries, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks, but she would have no part of it.   So we had fries with lunch and I dipped mine in and she saw that and wanted to do it too.  Next thing we knew, she was dipping hers in and eating them.  When the fries ran out...she just dipped her finger in the ketchup and ate it.  That may seem like no big deal to some, but in this house that was almost like man walking on the moon.  OK, maybe not quite that big of a deal.   

 
To backtrack just a bit since we have not been very good at posting updates, Halloween was low-key for the most part but still fun.  We met her friend Olivia for a downtown festival.  Unfortunately the lines were far too long for her patience and it was getting chilly in a hurry, so we didn't get to stay for very long.  But one thing she did get to do was stand on one of her favorite things on the planet...a fire truck.  Not too interested in the front, but she was all about standing on the back of it and even made a new friend in the fireman who was there.  I am pretty sure she was flirting, but I can overlook that.  :)

We also took our trip to the Owens Pumpkin Patch over Halloween weekend, but it wasn't a big hit due to her not feeling too well that day.  It was still a good time, and she got to see a few goats, which is always a good thing for her.

With Thanksgiving, Jackson's arrival, and Christmas just around the corner, we are looking at quite a hectic and festive month and a half ahead.   We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with Nana and Granddaddy, and then Christmas with Nana and PaPaw.   A lot of memories made, and a lot more to come.

(Finally...after the weather naturally cools off...she decides she wants to play in the water again)