Mrs. E and the MD: Noelle's First Trip to the Zoo!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Noelle's First Trip to the Zoo!

You're not officially the parent of a small child until you take him/her to the zoo. Luke and I achieved that level of parenthood on Thursday when we decided on a whim to head to the Indy Zoo with Noelle. We were bored and didn't know what we could do, and the heat happened to be not as stifling that day so we decided to do it. We got her all dressed, packed all the necessities, and headed on our merry way!

It was about a year ago that Luke and I went to the zoo as part of our anniversary celebration. We had just found out that we were having a baby, so we would stare at all the young couples with children and imagine bringing our baby to the zoo someday. It was fun to see that dream come to a reality.

I have been to the Indy Zoo many many times. However, to go there for the first time with a little one allows you to see it from a whole new perspective. I was worried that she wouldn't really take it all in, but her eyes followed the animals, people, sounds, and lights. We took her to the Oceans exhibit first, and she loved all the bright colors and fast moving fish. Her face was so adorable...I can't wait to take her back next year when she is running all over the place and squealing with joy (OK, maybe the running all over the place at a crowded zoo isn't what I am most looking forward to, but the squealing should be cute).

We saw all the exhibits except for the desert. I had no need to see snakes and other reptiles that close to my precious baby girl. We did the dolphin show, ate ice cream, and Noelle even touched an elephant! We realized about an hour after she pet the elephant that we didn't wash her hand (glance down to see almost 5 month old with her whole fist in her mouth). Don't worry, we are monitoring her closely for any signs of illness...please don't call CPS...yet...

To cap off the day, we took her to the splash park. I didn't know this little treasure existed at the zoo! We were contemplating taking her to a water park here in Indy, but we got to do that at the zoo! Again, she will probably like it better in a year, but we still had her in her little pink swim suit, taking her through the sprinklers and letting her little feet get wet.

All in all...a great day. Maybe one of my favorite days of being a mommy so far. We were a real stroller pushing, diaper bag toting, child shlepping family, taking in the sights at the local zoo.

Oh..and she didn't cry all day, despite the heat, despite the lack of nap, despite the wonky feeding schedule. She is such a baby rock star.

Now...the pictures!