LA Zoo - Summer 2007

Our first day back at the LA Zoo this summer.

Our nanny used to take Astrid to the zoo every Friday with our annual zoo membership, but we let it expire in May, when an out of state opportunity presented itself. As of now things are still up in the air, but we decided to go ahead and renew our membership (this time getting a family membership since Astrid is 2 and she now has to pay as well).

Astrid loved her blue "elephant water" (as she calls it). It was pre-filled with this syrup punch which I had the lady pour out for me and I rinsed it out and filled it with water. It kept Astrid entertained for hours (as did the animals).

Her molars are coming in something fierce (the reason she likes chewing on things so much now - like the cap of her elephant water). I just noticed yet another one came through the gums, (on the bottom right hand side) for a total of 19 teeth now. Watching the Sea lions swim.Standing in front of the Kangaroo exhibit. Here she's showing & telling me that she sees the Kangaroo cleaning/washing its hand.In front of the spider exhibit that runs through October 31, 2007. It features 25 different species of spiders.There's a hands-on interactive booth which allows kids to see and touch spiders.

Since we haven't been to the zoo in awhile, it was a first for Astrid to tell me what she was seeing (rather than me just telling her what she was looking at). For example while watching the lion Astrid said, "Lion sleeping", and when we saw the Giraffes up close she pointed out their eyes and mouth. Then we saw the Chimpanzees and Astrid pointed out the very obvious, "Monkey butt." Unfortunately we also saw one chimp going poop and that's now ingrained in Astrid's toddler memory forever. "Mommy, monkey poop! Monkey poop! Monkey go poo poo!" she exclaimed.

When we got home she kept repeating the story about her seeing the monkey poop. I have some deprogramming to do in the next few days.

Astrid has 18 teeth

I haven't posted about Astrid's teeth in awhile. Two new molars came through for a total of 18 teeth (at 2 years old). Nine on the top and nine on the bottom (with no gaps in between).It's harder to see her new teeth coming in because they're all in the back now. So I get the occasional glimpse when she's laughing, eating, or when I'm brushing her teeth.

Recently she told me her teeth hurt and I massaged her gums and jaw - and that gave her some relief for the teething. As soon as I stopped Astrid said, "Again! Again Mama!" I just have to be careful that she doesn't bite my finger.

On another note - her bottom teeth have spaces between them. It's good that they're not crowded - she has room for the other teeth that are coming in - but on the downside she gets food stuck in them all the time. "Mama, teeth..teeth!", Astrid says as she shows me her teeth. That's my cue to take the napkin and get the food out of her teeth. Most of the time that does the trick, but for whatever I can't get out - the electric toothbrush does wonders.

Astrid being her independent self

Here are some photos from our walk today. She's growing so tall.
Just chillin' on the steps.
Walking down the stairs all by herself.

Astrid's new thing now is saying, "Self Self" or "Myself" - which means "I want to do it by myself."
She didn't want to hold my hand because she wanted to walk down the stairs by herself.
"Okay, this is getting a bit scary - maybe I do need help."

She's an old pro at walking up and down stairs by herself at home. (We never put up baby gates or child proofed the stairs in our 2 story home. When Astrid was little she had to hold our hand going up and down, until we saw that she was ready to go up and down on her own. She skipped the going backwards on her belly stage. She's been walking up and down the stairs just like an adult does since she was a baby. I made sure she had grip on her socks.) But here the railing is high and it was hard for her to reach, and there are something like 6 flights of stairs.
"Hand!"

That one word signature shout is Astrid's way of asking me to hold her hand. "Hand please."

That's when teaching her to use the word "please" comes in handy.She's getting a new tooth that's coming in on top, the second one over from the incisor (on the right). So she's always got her fingers and hands in her mouth again since she's teething.

When her first 16 teeth came in (8 on the top and 8 on the bottom) she wasn't able to tell me what was going on. But now that she's a little older and can use her words - she tells me it hurts and will point to her mouth and show me. "Mouth hurt," she says. I first noticed it when I was trying to brush her teeth on that side and she kept pulling away. Now we have an electric toothbrush for her and that seems to help. I think she even likes the way it feels massaging her gums. She loves being able to brush her own teeth with it. Again the "Self Self" / "Myself" comes into play.Made it down to the next big landing successfully.Astrid reaching out and touching the weeds.

In the distance you can see the new park they recently built on San Fernando Road. Looking cute and determined.That's us!Both Astrid and I saying, "Cheese!"