Hattiesburg Zoo Family Outing

Before we get to the pictures from today I have a short story of Phoebe being cute over the long road trip we took during the holidays. We were in Chicago and since Phoebe had enjoyed aquariums before, we set aside some time for the Shedd Aquarium. The line was so long that Phoebe fell asleep in my arms while we waited to get in. I was a little nervous she’d be kind of cranky when we got inside. Throwing caution to the wind, we woke her up inside next to the first tank along the Amazon Rain Forest hall.

She blinked her eyes open, took one look at the fish that was easily ten times as big as she is, and got the biggest look of shock, surprise, and joy on her face. It was an expression of pure wonder that she kept on through almost the entire aquarium. We knew when we got back down to Mississippi we’d have to make some time to go the Hattiesburg Zoo which is a little over an hour and a half from our house.

We’d been working on getting better at gently petting animals which she demonstrated quite well yesterday with this puppy she met in the park.

She still was pretty taken a back at first when presented with the goats in the petting zoo.

She tried meeting them through the fence first.

Once we got inside she started to warm up to them though.

Then something clicked and she happily gave one a big hug.

Then there were these strange creatures that needed serious consideration.

Phoebe tried to make friends with every cat she met over the holidays. Betsy made certain we found the tiger enclosure and Phoebe was suitably impressed.

Across from the Tiger were the reptiles and Phoebe got as close as she could to investigate the tortoise.

Finally there was a helpful zoo attendant walking around with an alligator she said was also toddler aged.

We had bought tickets to ride on the train, but at the point Phoebe was pretty pooped after a truly fantastic day at a hidden gem of a zoo in Mississippi.

First Birthday/Second Thanksgiving Photo Dump Pt 2

Yes, there will be a part three.

It’s been a while since my hand has been chewed on like this. It was amazing realizing Phoebe was that size only 8 months ago

It did take Phoebe a little while to get comfortable with all these extra people around.

Story time in the morning light.

Enjoying the morning together.

Sonje playing with his teething ring.

Phoebe insisting that Sonje play with the teething ring more.

Sonje was a little concerned about what Linus was and whether he was going to get eaten. Eventually Linus gave Sonje a good long face lick and that got a big smile and giggle.

Watching Phoebe interact with Sonje was always interesting. I have no idea how the interpret this pose.

This pose on the other hand is easy to figure out.

The birthday girl dancing away.

The birthday girl eating away.

Two new dads comparing notes about life, the universe, and everything.

I’m not certain whether Jo or Phoebe is happier in this picture.

 

 

First Birthday/Second Thanksgiving Photo Dump

There were a ton of photos taken and I’m still trying to track down a few, but here are some of the best ones. I can’t guarantee these are in any meaningful order, but I’ll try to group them by what’s going on.

Family

Two sets of Grandparents, one set of Godparents, a Godbrother, a proud Mom and Dad, and of course the star of the show.

Phoebe greeting her guests and Mom looking good in uniform.

Swinging at the park at the end of the block.

We tried the slide on our own, but it was much better when Daddy went with us.

Hanging out on Dad’s shoulders and making faces at Grandpa.

She learned the joys of grabbing people’s watches.

Taking a confident stroll down the sidewalk.

Again, note the watch in her hands.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin is one of our favorite books so we had to show Grandma.

Food Time

Why eat the cake when I can play with the frosting?

Presents

A super soft pair of pajamas from Aunt Reb

Happily reading a new book with pictures of babies from around the world.

A soft and squishy stuffed moose. We may be in Mississippi, but we can still raise her as a good Minnesotan.

A new play center that she’s actually enjoying write now as I write this post.

Phoebe’s new chariot all put together and ready to go.

 

 

Godsiblings

I swear Sonje has the cheeks of several babies. He is so cute!

Tummy time going well.

 

Enjoying a sideways view of the world.

Singing Phoebe’s First Happy Birthday

Her Mom went to all the trouble of baking her a delicious mini chocolate cake, but Phoebe was surprisingly uninterested. She loved playing with the frosting though! She would squeeze it between her fingers and rubbed it all over her outfit. While she was busy with that we all felt it was the right time to sing to her. She still loves music of all kinds and one of the most reliable ways to get her to giggle is to pick her up and bounce her to whatever music is playing. Some of the pictures from the weekend will be posted tomorrow.

 

Phoebe and Sonje Video from her Birthday

We were fortunate to have Jo, Becca, and Sonje visit for Thanksgiving/One Year Birthday. Phoebe had met Sonje before but Sonje was too young to really interact with much. There are more pictures of these two God-Siblings being cute together, but for now please enjoy these two minutes of Phoebe either trying to hug Sonje or wrestle with him.

Giggles with Mom and a Sheep

We were enjoying a casual Sunday when Phoebe got incredibly excited about Mom making sheep noises at her while waving a sheep stuffed animal. Please enjoy the adorable photo and video.

Yes, Phoebe is in her Packers onesie and they managed to pull out the victory. Coincidence?

A Day Trip to Mobile

Mom got a four day weekend! We hadn’t really gotten a chance to explore the area and had been told there were some great things to see in Mobile Alabama, so we drove the hour east to see the city.

Our first stop was a wildlife tour by boat in the Five Rivers Delta. It was Phoebe’s first time on a boat and she had a great time.

She loved the wind in her face and our knowledgeable and friendly tour guide even let her ‘drive’ the boat for a bit.

It was great to learn a little history, but unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to see any gators. After the tour we had two separate couples approach us and pay Phoebe compliments about how well behaved she was for the whole hour and a half tour.

The fresh air took a lot out of her though and she slept through most of lunch. We went to a viatnamese/southern cooking fusion restaurant that was fantastic. She did wake up in time to try some of their cheesy grits. Most of them even ended up in her mouth!

Mobile is proud to tell you they had the first Mardi Gras celebration in the country in 1703 and they are home to the Mobile Carnival Museum. In the first room they have some costumes you can try on. Phoebe didn’t understand why, if the mask was supposed to be on her face, it wasn’t supposed to be in her mouth.

There were dozens of old gowns dating back to the 1930s. Some of the most impressive pieces were these massive trains with intricate bead and feather work. I can’t even begin to guess the number of costuming hours on display there or how much one of these things must weigh.

Our last stop of the day was the Exploreum, a part science museum part children’s museum that seemed like the perfect way to ensure Phoebe would sleep for the entire ride home. They had a large ball pit which Phoebe was really hesitant about. I think not being able to see where her feet were going to land was distressing her. When we picked her up she was clinging to one ball and proceeded to drop and crawl after it all around the play area. Eventually it went over to a shelf with puzzles. She pulled one of the shelf and was enchanted by it.

She especially enjoyed discovering she could bang the pieces together to make noise and then that she could bang the pieces on other things and make more noise!

She climbed up onto the stage and crawled from one end to the other stamping the pieces on the stage and really enjoying herself.

It was a fantastic performance and afterwards she was a tuckered out baby girl. It was a great family day and we’re hoping we’ll get more chances to explore since a little over an hour west is New Orleans.

 

 

 

Random Nine Month Photos

After posting the write up of Phoebe’s nine month check up, I was promptly informed that I had inappropriately included no photos of this baby. Here are a couple pictures from the last week to make up for that.

Some babies are picky about food. Phoebe isn’t. One food we expected her to turn her nose up at, but didn’t was pickles. If you give her a pickle spear she will slowly but surely scrape all the flesh out and just leave the skin. Here she is in the process.

Since she had been chewing on everything, I decided to buy her some teething wafers from the store. Based on how excited she was by the box I thought it was a good buy, but as it turns out she couldn’t be less interested in the actual product.

As always though, a baby’s best friend is her dog. Linus continues to be a walking stuffed animal, face lick machine, and vacuum cleaner for anything dropped off the high chair.

In the next couple of photos Linus was trying to nap and Phoebe had other plans.

Recently we went to a dog park. Phoebe was amazed to find that dogs come in different shapes, sizes and colors. There was a particularly friendly and playful doberman who was also nine months old.

I assure everyone there were several adults close by and Linus was also there to ensure everyone was playing nicely.

Phoebe is definitely starting to get interested in some of the amazing toys she was given at her baby shower. This set of science blocks came from the Martensons.

I sincerely apologize for not including any pictures in the last post, and I assure everyone it won’t happen again.

Nine Month Birthday!

Today Phoebe turns nine months old. Tomorrow she’ll have a checkup, the first one she doesn’t have to get shots at, but on a birthday there must be great food. Instead of cake we went for yogurt with blueberries. She really seems to have picked blueberries as he favorite food so far which seems like a fine choice to me.

Here she is enjoying her treat.

You may be thinking to yourself that bowl seems tipped awfully far forward…

I had two choices, I go for the bowl, or I go for the camera. I stand by my choice.

Happy nine month birthday!!!!

Phoebe Plays the Piano

For the first time since driving all the way down to Mississippi, Phoebe was on the road again. This time she was off to Texas where she got to meet her newborn God-Sibling(photos coming later this week) and spend some time with her Grandma that lives just west of Houston. She has talented musicians on both sides of the family and for the first time she got her hands on an instrument. Her Grandma played some Beethoven, which enchanted Phoebe, and then it was her turn to give it a shot.

I love that you can almost identify the moment it clicks for her.

A few photos of the event:

I’m particularly a fan of this last one where you can really see the wonder in her eyes.

Afterwards Grandma pulled down some musical snow globes.

And of course anything this interesting must be chewed on.