New Videos

The claw... like the arcade game.

A new word! "Boo"

Boo at the Zoo

Over the weekend we headed to "Boo at the Zoo" a daytime trick or treating event at the St. Louis Zoo. We met up with our friends Matt, Linda and their daughter, Charlotte. The place was packed, the weather was cool but a perfect day to be outside. There were strollers everywhere. Everyone stands in line to "trick or treat" through half of the zoo, each stop sponsored by a radio station or local store. Charlotte was very impressed with her sucker but none of the candy was baby safe so Abbers just enjoyed the sights.

It's fun to watch Abby and Charlotte interact. They just kind of stand next to each other and size the other one up. Charlotte is 15 months old.

It was the first time we took Abby in the Penguin house, (that she remembers). She was really interested in watching the penguins under the water... the birds had just had lunch so many were sitting on the sidelines but a few kept Abby and Charlotte entertained.

Peek-a-Boo

Abby is getting very good at Peek-a-boo. For a while, she's been playing with her hands covering her face, but now she's getting good at hiding behind things and then jumping out....as seen below. Also notice how good she is getting at saying "hi!"

Fall Fun

I love this time of year. The leaves changing colors, the cooler air, its the best. Today Abbers and I went to Jefferson Barracks, a nearby park. I tried to catch some fall pictures of Abby. I ran into a couple of problems, it was muddier than I had planned on so we both got dirty and Abby walks fast! She tried to take off a couple times, she started off in a great mood had a minor meltdown when she fell in the mud. After we quickly moved to the sidewalk, she recovered. Enjoy!

This is Teddy, he's replaced blankie and gets carried around most of the day, he receives many kisses.

Trying to wave with her mittens on.

Barefoot, chubby baby ankles

happy girl

landed in the mud, oh no!

Still mad even after getting out of the mud

All better, "So Big"

"Where's Woof-Woof?"

Blowing a kiss goodbye, Mua!

11 months old

Today Abby is 11 months old. She had a good day at daycare but was exhausted from playing hard and walking all day.

At night Abby loves being outside so we hung out in the garden tonight while Dave cleaned out the garage. Being outside helps keep Abby up or else she would be happy with going to bed at 6p, not good for us because she then wakes up at 4am.

Crash landing

Showing some attitude

Zing Zang Zoom

This week we had an opportunity to go the Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Circus. We invited Robin & her 4-year-old daughter Lindsey. Robin is the head of the science department at Fox.

They had a special event before the show, where we could go on the floor, try on costumes, meet clowns and watch acrobats.

Robin & Lindsey getting autographs

Trying on costumes

Later that night, I realized I was getting sick. After a day of feeling awful, I went to urgent care, just a sinus infection no swine flu at our house, YEAH!

So Smart

We are amazed everyday with how smart Abby is. In just the last month or so she has picked up so many "tricks." It's so cool that she actually understands what we're saying to her. For so long you just talk to her and talk to her some more, and she never said anything meaningful back or did anything in response. But now she does, and it's SOOOOO amazing.

Exhibit #1 (You'll have to pardon my singing)....by the way, we never even practiced the waving while playing with Tad....itsy bitsy spider we practice occasionally, but not with Tad:


Exhibit #2: We never even tried to teach her the word "sock"....she just picked it up from every time we put her socks on I guess. This was only her 2nd time doing this. The first time was just minutes before, and we were completely blown away when we asked her to pick up her socks, and she actually knew what we were talking about!

A Very Special Trip -- Behind the Scenes at the Zoo

We got an awesome opportunity to go behind the scenes at the St. Louis Zoo on Sunday. The father of one of my friends growing up has worked at the zoo for the last 32 years. He is the curator of all of the mammals at the zoo. He still lives in the same neighborhood as my parents, so they got to talking and he offered a trip to see some stuff at the zoo you never get to see.

So, we met him there at 10:30 Sunday morning, and it was cooooold! (relatively speaking) But, that didn't matter, it was such an awesome trip. We took a golf cart around the zoo grounds. Our first stop was the bears, Bert and Ernie. Steve (our guide) had them do some cool tricks for us. Abby did sorta freak out with the bears.



Mom (my mom, not Peggy) hit the bear with one of the apples. Nice shot mom!

Abby was a bit frightened of the bears:
The next stop was the two sun bears....no video here, but they did stand up for us.


Abby was having a great time riding on the golf cart (after we were done with the bears of course).
After that we stopped by the monkeys, but didn't get any behind the scenes stuff....except the fact that one of the orangutans keeps breaking the glass of its cage....$30,000 to $40,000 a piece for a new piece of glass! I think he said the orangutan has broken at least 5 pieces of glass.

Next stop was the coolest part. Steve was the director of big cat country for a while before his current position, so he knows the cats very well. It was cool to see him call out the names of all these bears, tigers, cheetahs, etc. As cool as the zoo is, it's not like you usually get to interact with the animals. On Sunday we did just that.

He took us into the holding area for the cats. This is where they keep the animals overnight when it's cold outside and when they clean out the cages. We got to be within a foot or so of a huuuuuge tiger! He petted the tiger, but obviously we weren't allowed to. There was a jaguar who was yelling out a mating call in the cage next door to the two tigers:



How cool is this picture?!?!

After that we got to go in a fenced in area between the tiger and leopard enclosures. It was amazingly awesome! There were tigers laying right there up against the fence! On the other side there was a leopard who apparently is not very tame. They've had this leopard for 15 years or so and they've never been able to train her very well. Steve put his back up to the fence, the cat prowled up and pounced:


The tigers were on the other side of the enclosure. They were absolutely beautiful to see up close. We were soooo close to them!


After the tigers, we headed to the cheetahs. They wouldn't come up to the fence though, so no good video or pictures.

Overall, it was an amazing and unforgettable trip!

Pickin' Out a Pumpkin

On Saturday, we took a trip to Stuckmeyer's Farm. They have a pumpkin patch there along with a large amount of other stuff to keep the youngin's occupied. Abby was too young to do a lot of the stuff, but she did get to pick out a pumkin, go on a slide, and see some of the animals.

She found the perfect one! She was very proud of her find:

I found it Daddy!

Then she found one just her size!
LOOOOVE this picture....she knew she was trying to get away with something (pulling at the flowers):

The best family picture we could get:

Booty Dance

Abby loves music and dancing. Check out her silly booty dance.

Walking with Stroller

Abby's Great-Aunt Shannon mailed Abby her birthday present a couple months early. The gift, a stroller! Abby loves to push her baby around or any other stuffed animal she can find. She's really getting around on her own two feet. She does like to hold hands if she's outside walking, so cute!

A new word....

Abby woke up this morning with a new word that she wants to share with you.

The Garden

We spend a good chunk of every evening outside, the front yard or backyard. Abby loves the garden, much like her Daddy. She is always trying to weed (pulling petals off flowers) and raking (throwing mulch out of the garden.)Her smile is so contagious, getting bigger everyday. Her hair which has midnight black at birth keeps getting lighter, with some serious blonde highlights.
exploring the world around her...

Halloween Costume

So Grams is an excellent seamstress and asked if she could make Abigail's halloween costume. After discussing it Dave and I decided Abby should be a puppy. One of her first words was "woof-woof" and she loves Proton. So Grams set out to make an adorable puppy costume. Because Grams is in Minnesota and we are in Missouri she sent the costume a few weeks early just in case it needed adjustments but it fits just right.

Abby has never been big on hats, so I wasn't sure about the hood and neither was Abbers.

But she has a month to get use to the idea. But here's a sneak peak at our little "woof-woof."

This is the only happy picture, she hadn't really realized what was going on yet. And then Proton left the room and everything went down hill.