The First Birthday

Today was wonderful. Today was the day my daughter, my precious, beloved, adored, incredible, gorgeous, gift-from-God baby, turned one year old.

She woke up about 15 minutes before 7:32, so we had time to change her diaper and bring her back to bed with us, where we snuggled and cuddled and waited until 7:32 a.m., the exact moment one short year ago when she entered our world.

The year has gone by so quickly. It's amazing. And she's changed so much. While I miss the teeny tiny little creature who was so utterly dependent and immobile, I cherish watching her grow and change and learn. I love her independent streak, although I know I will come to be aggravated by it when she's in her teens. I love how she can look exactly like me and M at the same time, and still maintain her own identity. I love her little hands and her weensy toesies (piggies, we call them), and how she tugs on her ear and pops her thumb in her mouth when she's tired. I love how she smiles when she sees me, and how her fussiness is entirely predictable and easily fixable. I love how she knows that doing motorboat during mealtime is wrong, and sometimes she does it anyway. I love how sometimes she sounds more like R2D2 from Star Wars than a baby. I love everything about her.

Today M and I both took off work and we went to the Zoo. Zozo got to see lions and tigers and bears, oh my! She got to see the Bird House and Big Cat Country, and got to smell the monkey house. She got to see the new baby elephant and ride the train. It was a big day, and we all had fun. I'm including some images from the day at the end of this post, so stay tuned and keep reading!

After the Zoo, we made a quick stop at Schiller's, where Mommy got her flash (sweeeeeet! Nikon SB-80 AF Speedlight if you care to read up on it) and then home, where Zozo took a much-needed nap.

The rest of the night was spent playing and goofing off. All in all, it was a luxurious day of Quality Family Time. Right in the middle of the work week. M and I agree that we simply need to be independently wealthy so we can do this every day. If any of you have any ideas how to do this, we're open to suggestion. Especially from you, Saara, who earned a promotion a mere nanosecond after starting your new job (congratulations!).

So, that was my day.

Happy birthday to my darling little girl. Thank you for being my daughter, and for being such a joy to me.

Daddy and Zozo check out some colorful birds in The River's Edge.

We're waving at some animals here.
I don't remember which ones, but judging by the background, I think we're still in The River's Edge. This was the first place we went, to catch a glimpse of the new baby elephant.

Love seeing the zebras. Zebras are some of my favorite animals, mainly because I invoke their name almost every day of my life when spelling my own last name: "Z...as in zebra..."

She looks really worried here, and I'm not sure why. It's not like we're going to feed her to the hyenas or anything. Oh, funny note about those: When I first saw the sign for the spotted hyenas, I misread it. The "s" had been worn off of the spotted, so it looked like "potted hyenas." All of a sudden I got this image in my head of a drunk hyena and for some stupid reason I found it funny as hell. Zozo probably looks worried in this picture because her Mommy has a very questionable sense of humor.

Another shot from inside the Bird House. Our Bird House is pretty cool, seeing as how it was built by the Smithsonian for the 1904 World's Fair. I don't remember the name of this particular bird, but he was very friendly, and when we got close (yes, he let us get close), we could see that he has the most amazing aquamarine eyes.

Waiting for the train at the Red Rocks Station, which is near Big Cat Country. It was amusing to see the big cats doing exactly what our little cats at home do: sleep.

Ahh, the end of our day at the Zoo. Thumb in mouth is a sure sign that it's time to go home.
Good-bye, animals! See you next time!