Apparently the last Wednesday of every winter month Hogle Zoo has a free admission day. So in February we thought we would take advantage of it with our dear friends Megan and Alena. It was a perfect weather and so much fun! (And of course, very crowded.)
Tessa decked out in her giraffe gear.
We were able to see the elephants do tricks
The seals and sea lions were really active and swimming all around.
Alena and Cooper
The drinking fountains were not turned on but the kids still thought it was really cool that they were in a lion's mouth.
Bennett and Alena held hands and ran ahead of us giggling for a while. It was adorable.
The boys rode on the animals on the carousel for the first time because the bench was already taken. Once they warmed up to the idea they really liked it.
Cooper
Bennett
Tessa LOVED every minute of it. (Megan took Tessa so I could have a hand on each boy.)
Jenny and Josh invited us to a Chinese New Year celebration at Lehi High School.
Bennett (left) and Cooper (right) got balloon swords that they started poking everyone with. Until they popped.
Cooper trying on a Chinese hat for a picture.
Jason showing off his strength
They had performances at the end of the night. This was a traditional lion dance.
Tessa LOVED it. She was smiling and clapping the whole time. I tried to capture her joy but this was the best I got. Bennett was also enthralled the whole time.
Cooper was playing with Jason in the hall because there wasn't any room in the gym.
Tessa is 11 months today! I cannot believe that in one more month she will be a year old. How did this happen?!
[Side note for me to remember later: I stopped pumping milk for her last week when I went on a trip to Texas. I didn't want to lug around the pump. I still have some frozen breast milk I am feeding her as well as formula. She doesn't seem phased by it at all.]
Being silly with her morning milk.
Tessa recently discovered Peek-a-Boo. She loves to play it with a blanket or really any material she can cover her head with.
It's adorable.
She loves books just like her brothers.
Can't get enough of this face.
So far Tessa can say "Mama", "Cheese" (to smile for the camera), "nonononono" (if she doesn't want to do something), and "hi" (but she usually prefers to just wave).
If she goes missing in the house, the first place to look is under our kitchen table. More specifically, under one of the boys' chairs. She knows they are good at dropping food on the floor. She mostly samples food droppings now though, instead of just random things she finds on the floor and she doesn't have an obsession with power cords anymore. Thank goodness!
She likes to show off how flexible she is.
She still hasn't decided to walk yet. She walks great holding onto one finger and I know that she could walk independently right now, but I don't think she has realized this yet.
She does, however, do a great bear crawl. If she wants to get somewhere fast, this is how she crawls now. If she isn't in a hurry she does finally crawl normal. (Remember how she used to have her right leg up in a sort of zombie crawl?) The bear crawl is my favorite.
