April 26

Today was gray and gloomy, with a little bit of rain, but when I saw that the morning's temperatures were supposed to be in the mid-50's, I decided we needed to get out of the house. So I asked Caleb if he wanted to go somewhere. Ever the negotiator, he replied, "Tell me my options." (I'm not kidding. The boy actually says this. Offer him a snack, offer him a drink, offer him anything at all, and he immediately demands to know what his options are.)

We could go to the gym... 

"OK!"

or the Botanical Garden...

"Yes! The 'Atanical Garden!"

or the zoo...

"The zoo! The zoo! Let's go to the zoo!"

I'm not used to the boy responding positively to every option like that. But. Despite the gloom, we headed to the zoo. Because Chris had made banana pancakes for the kids before he left for work, we were able to get out of the house in record time. We even managed to make it onto the carousel during the free hour!

The zoo was packed with school groups and obnoxiously large groups of moms with strollers, so we had to wait for our turn to ride the carousel. While we waited, Caleb decided that he wanted to ride the polar bear. But as soon as we headed to that bear, his resolve faded and he settled for his old standby:

The bench.

It doesn't move, it doesn't require balance, and it is in no way dangerous. Caleb loves it.

(He also loves that straw hat. We were heading out the door and Caleb shouted, "WAIT! I need my straw hat!" I think the boy really enjoys getting compliments on his outfits; the past two Sundays he has chosen to wear a tie to church, and he loves wearing his Superman shirt/cape combo for the reactions it elicits. The hat has the same kind of attention-getting effect, and he loves it. Funny boy.)

Daisy chose to ride a "pony", but as soon as the carousel started moving, she changed her mind and we joined Caleb on the bench.

After the carousel, we  headed over to say good morning to the flamingos. Daisy loved them - they were all she could talk about this evening!

And I just noticed that in this photo, Caleb is standing on one foot, just like the flamingos. Love it!

Sadly, I didn't take any more pictures. But we had lots of fun, and Daisy spent the whole afternoon recounting our adventures and all of the animals she saw. She also made up lots of stories at the zoo; when we saw the chimpanzees, she informed me that one of them bit her finger. They were behind glass.

When we saw the zebras, she declared that one was the Daddy zebra, one was the Mommy zebra, and one was the Caleb zebra. Unfortunately, there were no Daisy zebras.

Also, the elephant "TRUMP"ed (no, it didn't), the lions roared (they were actually sleeping), and a butterfly bit her finger.

This girl is going to be trouble some day. It's a good thing I love her so much!

And then while I was making dinner, Daisy came running into the kitchen carrying a blank index card. She shouted, "I get crayons? I get crayons to color? I color with crayons?" So I helped her get out the basket of crayons, and a few minutes later she ran back in and proclaimed, "I draw 'mingos! I draw pink fa'mingos!"

She proudly held up this masterpiece:

Can you see them? She added the green later, perhaps to indicate the trees or the green water. But at first, it was definitely two pink scribbles. I was pretty impressed that (at least in her mind) her scribbles represent something else. It's a developmental moment that Caleb only recently attained, and Daisy is already there. Yay, Daisy!