The Three Musketeers at the Bronx Zoo

Long time no post! What can we say about our 19-month old? He is into Play-Doh, coloring, and running and jumping. His favorite books now are "ABC in NYC" (where we learn, for example, that C is for Cheesecake, Coffee Cart, Columbus Circle, and the Chrysler Building) and a pop-up version of "The Wheels on the Bus." He is sleeping well, eating well, and talking more: he often says phrases like "what is it?" and "oh wow!" (and, unfortunately, "Oh Sh*t!" -- we have to be more careful about watching our mouths!). He says a lot of words, but he can also identify a lot of things that he hasn't learned to say. Like if we ask about a picture "Where is the car?" "where are the grapes?" "Where is the baby's nose?", he can point those things out. He also really likes doing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and going for walks in our apartment building. He particularly enjoys walking up and down the stairs but he also loves pressing the elevator buttons. And he smiles and "chats" with anyone who greets him. The students often say "Yo man, what's up?" and Avery always grins and nods. He really likes eating kiwi fruit, mango, and pineapple. He also likes peas. His favorite food right now, though, seems to be pizza. The other day I made just a frozen Trader Joe's spinach pizza and when Avery saw it he clapped his hands and said "Yay!" and after every bite, he said "Yum!"

We are SO ready for Spring. It is rough being stuck indoors. So when we found out that it was going to be weirdly warm today (in the 50s), we decided to go to the Bronx zoo (and take advantage of our new family membership -- thanks Bubbe!). We met up with Kim and Jess who had brought Olivia and Jason. So the "Three Musketeers" got to run around and look at animals.

Avery really liked seeing some small monkeys who were being very active. He also liked seeing the sea lions, who were also being active. Probably his favorite animals, however, were the fish. He got to stand in front of the tank and watch them swim directly in front of hiim. The kids were very good and clearly happy to be able to be outdoors. By the end of our visit, Avery had fallen asleep in his stroller, so he missed the grizzly bears, and also, I think, the giraffes: