Zoo Take Two

Jim had to work out-of-town for four days last week, including Saturday. We really missed him around here (mostly me) and we couldn't wait for him to come home. His first day back was Thursday, which happens to be Zoo Boise's half price day. Since Jim had to work on Saturday, instead of spending time with us, he proclaimed that Thursday was now Saturday and we should all go to the zoo. No one hesitated, so off to the zoo we went.

We invited the other Jacobs family to come with us. It was a fun little outing.
Here are Tralee and Jovie running around the park outside the zoo. I think Tralee really tired herself out in the park before we even got to the zoo. Therefore, she wasn't too perky the rest of the afternoon.

The last time we went to the zoo Tralee was mesmerized by the carousal. We never did ride it, so this time we decided to let Tralee ride it for the first time. The outcome wasn't quite what we expected. While Jim was waiting in line with her, it dawned on Tralee that they were going to actually ride it. She started pushing Jim away from the carousal and saying, "Bye. Bye. Off." When it was time to go on the ride she was very hesitant, and when it actually started moving Tralee freaked out a bit. Audie's kids had the desired reaction you would want your child to have while experiencing a carousal. Squeals of delight, waving, smiles, joyous laughter. Nope. Not Tralee. She whined the entire time she rode, and every time we passed the carousal afterward for fear that she might have to ride it again.

Happy

Happy

Not so much

So much for letting our kids go on rides. At least the fair will be cheap for us. Our kid won't be begging to go on every ride.

Even though Tralee was bit grumpy, we still had fun at the zoo with our friends. The extra bonus of the day was we tired Tralee out so much that she took a nice LOOOOONG nap when we got home. Hooray!

Adoption

Our good friends, Josh and Necha, have started the adoption process through LDS Family Services. We're very excited for them, and will keep them in our prayers. They created a beautiful adoption blog, and if you would like to look at it, or know someone who does, go here:

http://gettingtoknowourfamily.blogspot.com/

One of my favorite quotes on their blog is "adoption is not about finding children for families, it's about finding families for children." There's is a wonderful and loving family to be in, and we're excited for their next child to be welcomed into it.

Some Tralee Info

Tralee's art work is getting so sophisticated! What used to be a page of scribbles is now a page of circles! Yes my friends, Tralee now knows how to draw a circle. I'm so proud of her! She's also starting to color in objects in a coloring book, instead of just scribbling on the page. It's amazing to see her progress.

Tralee's other favorite thing to do with crayons and paper is bring them up to us, and request for us to draw animals. She usually does this by doing the animal sound to the corresponding animal she wants drawn. Kitty is always first. I know this because as Tralee is running up to us with pen and paper in hand, she's meowing. Another frequently requested animal is a bear. "Rar! Bear!" It actually sounds more like, "Waw! Beah!" as she can't quite pronounce her R's. She likes us to draw lions, elephants, cows, monkeys, pigs, and the occasional school bus (she requests this by saying "round round" and doing the action for the song "the wheels on the bus"). Sometimes she even wants us to draw a toot. How do you draw a toot? I won't go into detail, but Jim and I have figured it out.


I swear Tralee is growing more everyday. The other day someone told me she looks more like a four-year-old than a two-year-old. I'm afraid she gets mistaken for being much older all the time. Other kids or adults will start talking to her and asking her questions. The garbled answer they get in return confuses them. I then feel the need to explain that she's only two. I usually get a surprised look and then always hear, "She's big for her age!" Yup, I guess that's what happens when both of your parents are tall. She's still my sweet, cute, and tiny little two-year-old, no matter what.

I had a dream that Tralee went potty on the big girl potty. I wonder if that's a sign, or just my subconscious wishing for it to be true. We haven't really started the whole potty training thing yet, but it's in the back of my mind. I asked Tralee the other day if she wanted to try sitting on the big girl potty. She looked at it, looked at me, and very strongly said, "NO." Oh well. It was worth a shot. I think we'll start working on it pretty soon. So if you have any potty training pointers/ideas shoot them my way.

Bye!

Avocodos? No thanks.

I always claimed to be an avocado lover. I would order sandwiches at restaurants with avocados in them, buy avocados, sprinkle a little salt on them, and eat them plain. However, as I ate, something never did sit quite right. I was never very satisfied after a meal or snack that included avocados, and I wondered why.

Well, I cracked the code today. It was surprisingly simple, and I don't know why I didn't see it before. Here it is:

I don't like avocados.

I realized this as I was eating my lunch today (a pita pocket packed with turkey, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, and yes avocados). With each bite the mushy nuttiness of the dreaded fruit invaded all other flavors and I felt nauseated. I threw in the towel, left my half eaten sandwich uneaten, and stopped denying the truth.

I don't know why I didn't see it before. I think it's because everyone around me loves avocados. Jim especially. But I'm not going to deny it any longer. No more avocados for me, unless of course they're served as guacamole. I think I still like guacamole (as long as there's enough tomatoes and spices to mask the avocado flavor).

That's it.

Hi World

Hi guys, it's me Hunter. Just thought you should know I'm four weeks old today. My mom thinks it's crazy, and she even mentioned to me that even though it's only been a month, she can't even think of what life was like without me. She's pretty cool.

This guy above, he's my dad. He's pretty cool too. He keeps saying things like someday he'll take me fishing, and hunting, and hiking, and camping. I'm not sure what any of those things are, but my dad is pretty awesome, so I'm sure all of those things will be fun to do with him. But, for now I think I'll just keep taking naps with him. He's really comfortable to snuggle with. Just ask my mom, she tells him that all the time. She thinks that's why my big sister and I always fall asleep on him.

The picture above is me and my big sister. Her name is Tralee. She's pretty nice. She always comes right up to my face and talks to me in her special baby talk. It sounds like a high pitched "eeeeeeeeeeee" sound to my parents, but what she's saying is "Hunter, I love you buddy. You're cute and small right now so I'll be nice to you, but when you're older I might have to pound on you a little bit. I AM your big sister after all." Sometimes she scares me a little with all her clomping around and noisy behavior, but like my folks, she's pretty cool too. I know she loves me, and I love her too.

My mom likes taking pictures of my hands and feet. I'm not sure why she does that when my face is so stinken' cute. I mean, come on Mom. My face is up here. HELLO!!

Yup, that's me doing tummy-time. I'm pretty good at it, but I have a five-minute limit. After that I'm ready for a meal.

After meal-time I'm usually pretty tired (as you can tell by the cleverly placed photo above of me yawning).

So yeah, that's pretty much all for now. Catch ya later gator!

Why Not!

Click on the link above for a chance to win this bike! :) Good luck!!

Toot

Tralee is fascinated with tooting a.k.a farting. When Jim and I were dating he gave me the book The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts with this inscription written on the inside cover:

"Dear Leslie,

I got this for you because I wanted you to think of me when I'm not around . . . and this is the best way I could come up with! This book might answer some questions about why my body acts the way it does!! Well, I love you!! Enjoy!!!

Love,

Jim Jacobs"

I knew right then and there that I would someday marry Jim. Okay, not really. But it did make me laugh, and I always knew I would marry someone who could make me laugh.

Anywho. . . This book is now part of Tralee's collection and she loves it. In fact, "toot" has become a very well versed word in Tralee's vocabulary. Anytime she hears a fart, or something that sounds like one she'll say, "Toot!" or "I tooting," or something to that effect.

When we were at the zoo, almost every animal we saw Tralee would point to and say, "It toot!" and then proceed to make a fart sound. At home Tralee will bring us one of her stuffed animals, point to its bum and say, "toot!" followed by the appropriate (or not so appropriate) farting noise. She's a bit obsessed.

What can I say, like father like daughter. And yes, just like Jim, Tralee makes me laugh with her crass behavior.