Saturday at the zoo

We went to the zoo today. It was a chilly, blustery day, so we spent the majority of our time there in the exhibit halls and other enclosed areas. Anna made a friend at the Natural Encounters area. They had a shared interest in the otters.
Then, Anna decided to stand on the rock wall and pose provocatively for pictures. Otters bring out her inner supermodel (but, be honest, don't they do that to everyone?).

So coy

Making love to camera

Whoa, whoa, whoa

Then, she almost fell off of the wall (this hurt her street cred a little). And yes, Mama kept shooting pictures, instead of trying to catch her.

For those of you who know the backstory, you might notice (or maybe not because the pictures don't really show them) that she's wearing different shoes in these pictures! You're thinking, "Wait? What? Different shoes? Surely you jest, you deranged woman!"

Backstory: A few months ago I bought some used, but never worn shoes from another mom. They're Stride Rites and just like Anna's previous beloved Stride Rites except a different color. I brought them home and she pitched a wall-eyed fit and refused to even let them be in the same room as her. I tried, on several occasions to get her to wear them (even trying to sneak them onto her feet, while she was sitting in her highchair, engrossed in a tv show). Every time, she'd immediately know what was going on and lose control of herself, trying to rip them off of her feet. I finally gave up and just put them away on the shelf in her closet. Well, yesterday we were getting dressed to go to the park, and Anna's 8 months pregnant mother was too lazy to walk down the hall to get her favorite shoes to put on her, so I reached into her closet and grabbed the "offensive shoes," thinking that I might just see what would happen and fully arming myself for a serious battle in the meantime. I put them on her, while she unknowingly looked at a book and then, once they were securely on her feet (which is a first, in and of itself) she looked down at her feet and said, "Wow! Now, these are pretty shoes!". We've been wearing them ever since with no incident. Go figure.

And finally, the best picture from our day at the zoo:

Giant Rooster Invades The Texas Medical Center!

Kevin snapped this picture today, at the petting zoo of a rooster, with the Texas Medical Center in the background. It's kind of artsy and cool. Also cool: Directly between Mr. Rooster's legs, you can see St. Luke's Hospital, which is where Anna was born and where Baby Brother will make his entrance as well. I know there are a number of double entendres and inappropriate uses of the word "cock," etc. that I could've graced you with, but I'll refrain. I have some couth people, believe it or not.