Easter weekend Tyler's family all went to San Diego and particularly to the zoo.
This was a part of our Christmas and we had so much fun. We left Friday morning and drove into San Diego. That night we went up to the temple to see it in at night and then took a lovely detour around who knows where before we made it back to our hotel.
Saturday we went to the Zoo and had a fun yet hot and tiring day. The zoo was pretty cool. They had one section that was just for kids and included a kids petting zoo. Brooke gained an audience as everyone stood watching and laughing with her because she was standing next to and petting the goat and wasn't scared. She would touch it then look up and laugh.
Sunday we got up and went to the temple for some pictures with the beautiful flowers and then went to Coronado Island to take Brooke to the beach. She had quite a different reaction than she did 10 months ago when we were there. She wasn't so sure about the water and I don't think she liked the sand between her toes. She was such a trooper (all the babies were) and entertained us the whole way home with her jibberish. She was reading books and reading papers and talking to her dolls. It was quite amusing-I videotaped as much as I could before our memory filled up.
Her latest accomplishments include being able to stand up on her own without having to pull herself up on something. She figured this out about a week and a half ago when she fell down then realized she could get her feet underneath her and stand up. She has also discovered her belly button and, when she remembers it is there, lifts her shirt up to show it off. Her newest favorite food is pears. She now sorts through her fruit to pick out the pears. The first animal that we saw at the zoo was a monkey. I asked her about 4-5 times what a monkey says and would take her arm and act like she was tickling her armpit and making a monkey noise. Now when we ask her what the monkey says she does that same kind of action. When asked what the cow says she goes "Mmmmmmm", and for the horse she moves her head back and forth (the same way her rocking horse goes back and forth) and tries to blow out with her lips. The other morning we asked her to say "Dada" and "Mama" and she was surprisingly clear in saying it, more than ever before. She will only say it on rare occasion now though. She is also a crazy bookworm. First thing after a nap she is grabbing a book and bringing it to me to read to her. At Grandma's the first thing she does is go to the basket that her pop-up Bible story book is in and brings it to someone to read. I love that she loves books so much. As I've said before, I am constantly amazed with how bright her little mind is and how much she really does understand. A couple days ago she brought me her doll. I told her we should put her down for a nap. She immediately turned and went to her room where she found her blanket and brought the blanket and doll back to me. Amazing!
Since we were gone Easter weekend I dressed her in her Easter dress the Sunday before. She was the center of attention in her cute dress and hat.
Now that I've rambled on and on (there's just so much that's happened since I last wrote), get ready for picture overload.......
