So I know it has been a little while since my last post. We've been enjoying the summer weather and just having fun. :)
Last Monday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs because Ben had a field trip there. We usually go to the Denver Zoo a lot since we are members, so it was nice to go to a new zoo for a change. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo claims that you get to see the animals up close, and for the most part you do.
Alyse got to feed the giraffes, which was an interesting experience. The giraffes are within reach and are hungry for the handouts. Alyse was just in awe of the giraffes, since she has only ever gotten close to dogs and cats. She kept staring, so the first time she fed the giraffes I had to hold her hand to guide the lettuce to the giraffe's mouth. As the giraffe took the lettuce, it licked both of us, making Alyse jump back. (It was rather warm and slimy.) Due to the slimy tongue, she was timid, but she warmed up to it by the end and giggled as the giraffe ate the lettuce.
Here is the first experience Alyse had feeding the giraffe. She was a little bit creeped out by the tongue I think, so this is me guiding her to give it to the giraffe. Notice the expression on Alyse's face. :)
Alyse jumped back from the giraffe's tongue. I didn't realize they had such long tongues, but I guess it makes sense since they have to retrieve leaves from trees, I just never thought about it. Alyse looks a bit surprised too.
Alyse started to get used to the tongue (kind of).
The last giraffe that Alyse fed. She got more curious as we continued, although she would still jump back when she felt the slimy tongue. :)
Alyse and I right before we started feeding the giraffes. Clearly this giraffe wanted as much food as he could get his hands on. He would stick his neck out for anyone who passed by, whether or not they had food for him.
Another cool thing that this zoo had was a little area where wallabies were just wandering around. Of course when we got there midday, they were just resting, but it was still cool that we could get that close. There was a baby one that a trainer was letting people pet, but there were a lot of people around it, so the picture below is the only photo we got of the wallabies.
It was a good day at the zoo, although it was very hot. I think that was part of the reason that a lot of the animals we saw were sleeping. On that note, I'm going to go to bed, but I will put up another post soon about Alyse's pool time with Nonna and Aunt Kathleen.
Here are some photos of Alyse and how she finds amusement...
The two above are back when our bathroom cabinets weren't child-proofed. She would take everything (or almost everything) out and make a little seat for herself inside the cabinet.
And now some from when we were in Anaheim...
While there, Alyse decided it would be fun to try on my clothes, two tank tops to be exact. :)
Then this was when we returned home from Anaheim...
Alyse decided to climb right on in to the bag and take out her new sandals.
And finally, the curling iron business I talked about...
She really enjoyed "curling" her hair. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I will try to post more current ones soon. Her hair is a little bit longer now.
Well, my goal was to start blogging about Alyse a while ago, but I guess it really is better late than never. :) I mean, especially since now Alyse is fifteen months old, teething and walking around causing utter destruction.
I was so excited to have Alyse start walking, and like everyone said, I now miss the time when she was just crawling everywhere, or even when she was a little baby in my arms.
Don't get me wrong, I love that Alyse is walking now, it's just that she gets into EVERYTHING! And I really mean everything! She also loves to climb, which makes it even easier for her to get into anything she wants to. She loves to take dirty clothes out of laundry baskets, open up drawers and cabinets, take anything she can reach off of counters; and those are just a few of her new hobbies.
Basically, Alyse loves to go anywhere she's not supposed to be. And unfortunately for me, it is still adorable. It's hard to keep from laughing when she does something new and amusing. Like one day she got one of my curling irons (when it was sitting in the cabinet) and put it to her head like she was curling her hair. Another time she got into my makeup bag and took out the powder and the powder brush, opened the brush and started putting the brush in the powder (with a closed lid) and then put the brush on her face like she was putting powder on. Clearly she watches me a little too closely as I get ready in the morning. :)
While she does get into anything she can get her hands on, Alyse is also experimenting with words and sounds she hears. One she hears from me all the time is "uh-oh." Now she says "uh-oh" all the time, and not just when she does something by accident. She says "uh-oh" when she drops her sippy cup on purpose, when she throws a book, when she throws a ball, as well as when she accidentally does things like trip or have something slip through her fingers.
Another thing she just started saying recently is "Go Dog, Go." This is a result of her love for books. She loves reading books and any books she has near her, she wants to read. She even wanted to read an old copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Obviously she just looks through it and reads it aloud to herself, but it's cute that she'll even pick up a regular book to read, not just her toddler books. So anyway, back to "Go Dog, Go!" My mom keeps some books at her house for Alyse and "Go Dog, Go!" is one of those books. Recently my mom and sisters have been reading "Go Dog, Go!" to Alyse every time she is over there, and now when Alyse has that book she says "Go Dog, Go." Again, it is just so adorable to hear a 15 month old speak. And I know those of you with kids know what I'm talking about. :)
Although it took me a long time to write this first post, I will make sure to update this blog regularly from now on, or at least actually update it. :)
