More shots from the Zoo....

Givin' you some lovin' in between animals

So pandai oh the elephants. So bodo oh the people who fed them twisties n gummies.

Seconds after daddy took this shot, all the giraffes came right up to sniff us out.

These guys were too muscular for mummy's liking

Happy Happ Joy Joy

I think this was the colorful parrot that didn't say much

Reaching out to Mr. Pony

Concentration, concentration now begins, keep the rhythm...subject

Mari kita pergi ke zoo...

Bergembira disitu...

Guess what we did over the weekend? Yup you guessed it, we were at Zoo Negara. Mummy and daddy's last trip was over 2 years ago. We were there with Aunty Otta, Aunty Pu Nie and Shannona. Boy has the state of our national zoo deteriorated since then. One example, mummy and daddy were intently looking into a glass enclosure for the captive animal/reptile. We had no idea what we were looking for because the spider web infested label holder was hanging off its hinges and there was no label in sight. After a while we realized it was empty. We were staring at nothing other than crickets. There were several other lit up boxes with only crickets as inhabitants. It's in such a sad and rundown state but we still had a great time, you, daddy, Kak Mon, Kak Yeni and I.

You love animals. All animals. It's so amazing to see you react and respond to animals. The excitement in your face and actions, the sounds you make and how you lunge toward the object of desire. When you are excited over something you tend to let out a cheeky sort of laugh. This happens especially when you see your chiu chiu or when you want nennen and you see your bottle. By the way, daddy calls it cee-yu cee-yu, Kak Mon calls it cee-cee - all code language so you are not reminded of your lovey.

Anyway, back to the animals. We started off with the monkeys. I think we might have come at the wrong time because they were lazing around, picking out ticks from each other's heads. Not much movement and very little sound. So the monkeys derived little excitement from you. We continued walking and the next animals were the hip hippos. Perfect timing! They were in the midst of lunch. Show-offs they were. Posing for the camera with the hippo's trademark grin - a wide open mouth displaying a set of yellow teeth. However, it's not too attractive during lunch time when they have half-chewed grass in their mouths.

Mummy held her breath when taking this shot

A whole different level of chubbiness

Next we went to the kiddy corner which really didn't look all that kiddy-friendly. Most of the kandangs were empty and the ones that did have animals in them were in such terrible conditions. Surprisingly the little wabbits and guinea pigs looked in the pink of health. You spotted the pony from a mile away and when mummy brought you near, your legs were flying about everywhere; you couldn't wait to get near. Mr. Pony is chubby-wubby and stumpy-tumpy. Everytime mummy brought you near to touch him, you'd back away. Poor baby scared of the little pony.

Hello Mr. Pony

You would not go any nearer than this

There were kangaroos, and snakes, squirrels and alligators. We saw colorful birds. Bright pink flamingos too. Surprisingly you were not too impressed with the birds. You go a little crazy when you see the crows fly in the sky during our evening walks at Aunty Otta's. But the colorful parrots did nothing for you. You spent a while bonding with the chickens. Mummy was a little freaked by the porcupines. Somehow, I imagined them shooting their thorns at me.

Paahck paahck paahck

Oh dear

Flamingo watching

Thorn-shooting porcupines

Your favorite were the lions. Of course because you are such a pro at roaring like a lion. Finally, you got to see one of those things in real life be it from a electric gated and moted distance. The elephants were a hit with you too. Well, they're trained to perform. And some ignorant people were feeding them, no not peanuts but Twisties and Gummies! The elephant would reach out with its trunk and vacuum the goodies right off the people's hands. Then when the feeding stopped, these pandai elephants started showing little stunts, like kneeling and lifting a leg up in the air. Trying their best to get rewarded. Pretty cute if you ask me. You showed liking to the Sun Bears as well. Especially when they stood up on twos. Maybe they reminded you of Barney. That's what Kak Mon said when she saw the bears, Barney! Mummy wanted to tell her that Barney is a dinosaur and not a bear. But I didn't.

More pix on the way....

A Tooth Story

Days after your birthday bash, you were ill. Teething did cross my mind but I brushed it away quicky because there have been so many teething false alarms. One morning a week after your party mummy noticed something white on your bottom gums. I rubbed my finger on it and whaddya know, its rock hard, a tooth! Mummy is so excited. Finally, you will be able to chew your food! Late in the evening, after work, mummy and daddy bring you to Dr. Lam for the second time because your fever would not subside. While waiting for our turn, mummy notices 3 other white spots on your gums. After some wrestling with you to get your mouth open, and my finger in, mummy felt 3 other teeth. No way! 4 teeth all at the same time? No wonder you were so ill. Mummy shows you to daddy and he confirms that we have 4 alright.

The next morning, mummy checks your mouth again to see how those pearly whites are coming along. To my shock, your mouth was back to its pure gumminess. No more pearly whites. They seemed to have disappeared in shyness. I am a little worried. Is this normal? So after a day of being toothful, you go back to being toothless.

Fortunately, a week or so later mummy spots two white caps at the center of your bottom gum. Daddy spots it too. This time we don't get all excited about it and keep silent until they broke out fully. Two days later, thank God the two decided to break through. They have been growing bigger ever since. So my dear little angel, for now you have two little caps to chew your mommom. Mummy got you a funky green and orange toothbrush to help you keep 'em clean. I know you don't quite have much to brush at this point but I read that its good to get you used to having a toothbrush in your mouth for when you actually do need a brush.

Chatterbox

Your vocabulary is astounding. Granted your words do not sound like actual adult words. But to you they sure count as real words with real meaning. We dumb adults just need to tune ourselves into babydom before being able to understand the complex language of baby. So when you open your mouth to chatter mummy gladly joins in the conversation and boy do our conversations go on and on and on. Mummy hopes in 20 years we will still be able to have our little girl talk like this. Nowadays you enjoy pointing at different objects around you and asking, "dis?" "Dis" is actually "this". And when you say this while pointing at something, you are asking mummy what that something is. So mummy is more than happy to explain and describe. One morning, (like every other morning) you greet mummy with the sweetest smile and you immediately look down at your disney print pyjamas. You point at Daisy Duck and say, "dis?". Mummy tells you it's Daisy Duck. Then you point at Minnie Mouse and ask, "dis?" "That's Minnie Mouse baby boo". You smile. This goes on with every other character on your pyjama.

Other random words that roll off your tongue:

dada - sounds like daddy but your usage can be confusing
rara - could be Shan's doll, Sara or grandma
neneh - your chiu chiu
mama - you have said this a couple of times but you don't really use it. Mummy's still waiting
papap - you tend to say this over and over again. Not too sure what you're referring to.

And all sorts of baby talk that mummy doesn't quite get at this point. You seem to be talking a whole lot more these days. Just random jabbering depending on your mood. There are times you scream out words on top of your lungs, other times you seem to talk to yourself in a silent whisper. It's so rewarding just watching you as you go about playing on your own, or watching the tele and having these small conversations with yourself. Mummy really wonders what goes through your head. Ahhh....the wonder of you.