Where the Wild Things Are

As a rule I am not a fan of zoos. I find them depressing and remain skeptical of their true conservation value. However! I have a 2 1/2-year-old, and she likes animals, so off we went to the National Zoo a few weekends ago. The weather was perfect - a crisp, sunny fall day - and we were in and out before the crowds arrived. We saw zebras, orangutans, gorillas and some cute but kind of odd pygmy horses from Russia. Here's a pictureof Mabel, Dylan and the gorilla. I have helpfully highlighted the gorilla for your viewing pleasure.

Stylish, Take 2

In an important update to our previous post, Mabel is now also sporting two ponytails when the spirit so moves her.

Stylish

Mabel came home from school yesterday with her hair in a ponytail. It's crazy how different she looked! She was very proud - she referred to it as her 'ponyhair'. As in, "Mommy, I have ponyhair. You no have ponyhair."

All the News

Mabel likes to mimic everything we do - including reading the paper every day. She will sit on the couch with Dylan in the mornings now and 'read' with him. Very sweet.

Tip Her Over and Pour Her Out

Mabel wants Grandma Sandy to know that she can now sing 'I'm a Little Teapot' all by herself. Sometimes her little teapot is 'short and snout' - but she sings it likes she means it - with real conviction. And we all know that's what matters.

The Very Snazzy Ladybug

We're a little late with the Halloween post, but trust me when I tell you we all had a great time. Mabel dressed as a hot pink satin ladybug and was, needless to say, really, really stinkin' cute. Whenever I asked her what she was going to be for Halloween in the weeks leading up to the big event, she would say (very loudly), "YadyBUG HalloWEEN!" while pumping her fists up and down. She does love the yadybugs. We had a parade at her school and also had the kids + parents from her playgroup over before trick-or-treating. Here are a few snaps from the parade, which was Total Cute Overload.