Duck Pond- November 2015

When we went to the Bronx Zoo in June, the animals the kids liked the best were the ducks. So we thought they would enjoy our local duck pond. We were right- it was a huge hit! The ducks came right over and we spent about 30 minutes just throwing bread to them. They even followed us around the pond when we changed locations.

Yay!! Feeding ducks!!

Kevin keeping his eye on the kids, not the ducks

Three happy ducks

I often take a lot of pictures of something we're doing and I get accused of not living in the moment. Well, Kevin had the camera for a while and I was fully immersed in the simple joy of feeding the ducks. And I really was watching to make sure the kids didn't fall into the pond, but while I was throwing some bread Miranda moved quickly and went down the slope. Kevin caught her before she went into the pond, but he was not amused. After that, we played one-on-one defense with the kids, and left as soon as the bread was exhausted.

In the moment! Enjoying the ducks!

Miranda threw a lot of bread that didn't quite make it to the pond.

Bronx Zoo 2015

It seems crazy that it's been 3 years since we went to the Bronx Zoo. On Wednesdays it's free! (If you go another day of the week it's pretty pricey, but you can get 10% off by buying online.) You can park on the street for free if you find a space along Southern Boulevard, but I wouldn't recommend actively trying to do that because all the Bronx Zoo signs lead you to the parking lot, and it is easier to fly out of a black hole than to find a free spot after you've seen the parking lot. (Alternatively, next time, I might try the subway #2 train to Pelham Parkway then go west to the Bronx River -Gate B.)

In any case, we made it! And we saw animals!

Giraffes in the distance

Checking out the lions and learning which one is the male and which is the female

Lazy bones lions

Looking at the peacock

A gorgeous peacock

Polar bear!

Family picture with polar bear

Predictably the duck pond was their favorite thing. We could just have taken them to a duck pond.

Oh look! Ducks! Let's stay in this one spot all day then!

Oh but this IS cute.

The following conversation happened after the ducks:
Me: "The tiger exhibit was kind of disappointing."
Kevin: "You're only saying that because there were no tigers."

I don't think these fish are an exhibit, I think they're tiger food.

Seals!

James got a good view of the seals.

Miranda, Kevin, and a rhino.

• Trip to the National Zoo 2014
• Bronx Zoo with friends 2012
• Bronx Zoo 2011

James is 20-Month-Old Chatterbox 2012

James is 20 months old! We're getting so close to his second birthday!

Building a pillow fort, December 4

His vocabulary has exploded in the last month. He understands a ton of stuff in both English and Spanish. He says over 40 words now, mostly English. I'm going to lose track pretty soon, but here's a run down of the things he says regularly:

Things he loves:
1. light 2. a Mama 3. a Dada 4. tete (Spanish for pacifier)  5. a ball 6. a book

Food he loves:
7. milk (he also says this when he's hungry so this is helpful, rarely he says leche) 8. juice / jugo (He says both the English and the Spanish) 9. a coo (a cookie) 10. yogur (Spanish for yogurt)  11. apple 12. nana (banana) 13. agua (Spanish for water) 14. a cah (a cracker)

Animals:
15. a cat (also makes the cat noise meow) 16. a dog (also makes the dog noise woof) 17. a whale (there's one on his nursery wall) 18. a cow 19. sheep (also makes the sheep noise bah) 20. duck 21. chick 22. a mon (monkey) 23. pig (and pig noise oink/uck?) 

Other:
24. go! (when he wants us to play tag) 25. up (to pick him up) 26. "ow" (when he wants me to kiss his booboo)  27. hi!  28. bye!  29. eye/ojo (Spanish for eye) 30. nariz (Spanish for nose) 31. pelo (Spanish for hair) 32. choo-choo/ train 33. a door 34. a wall 35. a shoe 36. a car 37. a tree (Christmas tree) 38. a star (on Christmas tree) 39. baby  40. a T (Tigger from Winnie the Poo) 41. Oh tools! (from Mickey Mouse Club) 42. cache[te] (Spanish for cheek) 43. Santa 44. please (but he think this is the word he says to obtain yogurt bites) 45. touch (from us constantly yelling, "NO TOUCH."

James is the strangest kid. He hates car rides. He loves vegetables and routinely eats all of them at dinner before touching anything else. He also loves brushing his teeth. He'll ask for his toothbrush and refuse to relinquish it for hours sometimes. I think it's fair to say he takes after my dad in these things. Right?

Christmas jammies and Christmas tree, December 7

He seems to have gotten a little bigger because he's more comfortable in 2T pajamas now than the 18 month ones, but when I measure him I still get 34 inches. James loves the Mickey Mouse Club, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Blues Clues. He loves to nab things he's not supposed to touch. Kevin takes him to the park most days and he wanders around picking up leaves and sticks.

Bouncing on the bridge at the park

How he goes down the slide

To celebrate his 20-month birthday we took James to meet Santa for the first time. James sat there saying, "Santa. Santa. Santa." No one is surprised that Santa said he would be getting coal in his stocking.

James and Santa