New Camera and the Zoo!

 Ryan decided to give me just about the fanciest camera ever for mother's day.  It's pretty much the most exciting gift possible but I've gotta say it's a little intimidating owning something so professional when I know absolutely nothing about photography.  Bears really wanted to go to the zoo today so we took the camera along to see what she can do.  Turns out that I've got no idea how to use it yet but it was still fun and I was at least able to catch a glimpse of the awesome pictures I might take one day if I ever figure out what I'm doing.

Here he is showing his fearsome bear face while hanging out in front of the carousel.   

Gazing at the Rhinos.  I tried to get both him and the animals he was looking at but failed every time.  So I ended up with a bunch of pictures of Bears looking transfixed a bunch of mysterious animals who's identities are doomed to be lost in the sands of time.  Ah well.

Hangin' out by some antique looking bike that apparently really sets the stage for a big cat exhibit. At least that's what the zoo people must have decided since it's bolted down right in front of the tigers. 

Riding boldly on said bike.

Pointing out the frightful tigers to daddy.

Checkin' out the drains.  A very important task which he dedicates quite a bit of time to every time we take a trip out to the zoo.

Trying to make friends with some kids passing by

Conversations with Daddy

"Scared panda" face

Trying to overcome his fear of the big orange elephant who is apparently a "big fright" by touching the less frightful tiny elephants that are painted on it's side.  He's always saying, "orange elephant.  FRIGHT!!!  Gray elephant...niiiice." All the while nodding emphatically. I guess statues of animals are much scarier than the real thing.

This cub loves fire hydrants and always wants to give them hugs whenever he gets the chance.

Contemplating the plight of the bald eagle

Peeping out of his hiding spot on the playground

Riding some sort of giant caterpillar 

His favorite zoo activity of all: sliding down the "big snake"

Playing with the giant water-covered, rotating ball.  It's always a hit.

Spiffy Bears

Between Grandma and Pop Elkins and my friend Alexis, Bears should be all set on fancy outfits for quite some time.  He decided that he really wanted to wear his "green one" a little while back and then go out and inspect our neighbor's trailer, dog bones, and basketball.  All activities that are best done while looking one's best.

He wore his purple fancy outfit to his birthday party but I foolishly didn't bring my camera.  He ended up stripping down to just his diaper in short order anyway.  No doubt because he realized that the only appropriate suit for the occasion was his birthday suit.  Very wise, Bears.

Feeding the fishes across the street.

Getting bit by those blasted fishes because he couldn't feed them fast enough.

Looking mischievous.  I'm sure that disaster ensued shortly after this was taken...fortunately, my memory only goes back about 5 minutes these days so I have no traumatic recollections of what must have happened.

Every time he sees this image, he says it's "Papa"

He does not like the idea of Papa with an arrow through his head.

Here's a video for Grandma and Pop Elkins of Bears opening his birthday present from them.

The Art of Smiling on Command and the Wonders of Play-Doh

Grandma and Pop Elkins sent Bears some play-doh for easter and it has been a huge hit.  He's spent at least an hour playing with it today alone.  His favorite seems to be the basic smilie face and really enjoys helping me make them and then pulling them apart.  I also discovered that he knows how to smile on command...well, at least attempt to smile.  He seems to have inherited my astounding abilities at contrived smiling.

Pretty impressive, right?

Good times.

Some Pictures and Videos

Bears decided that he wanted to dress himself yesterday.  He insisted on wearing "Pop's" moccasins and his teddy bear backpack.  That's all he wanted to wear but luckily I was able to convince him to add a diaper and pants to the ensemble.

 We walked around the neighborhood for a while but when I mentioned that Daddy was coming home soon, he wanted to sit in our front yard and wait to surprise him.  Here he is waiting very patiently in the pic below.

Here's Zoey giving him a nice hug...he got shy at the last instant and turned away.

He went Shopping with uncle Matt and aunt Jessica a little while back at Babies R Us and had the time of his life.  As soon as he saw the exersaucers, he insisted on hanging out on the shelf with them and sneakily climbed into one when Matt's back was turned for a moment. I don't think he could be convinced to get out for at least a half hour or so.

Riding one of the tractors at Wheeler Farm

Bears doing the slide by himself with Daddy

 Listening to dog barking and trying to say "I love you."

Here he is opening some easter presents from Grandma and Pop Elkins. This one's just for them but I'm pretty sure that the blog is the easiest place for them to see it.

Hangin With Zoey

Poopers just had her new baby boy on friday morning so it gave Bears and I a chance to have Zoey all to ourselves for a few hours.  It was some good times.  Towards the end they both started to get pretty tuckered out so we got about 5 minutes of lazy couch time in while they watched some ABC videos.

Bears Has a Cuddly New Cousin!!

Last night Bears started coming down with his third cold this month. At least it seems like it...I will admit that the time frame may be slightly exaggerated but not by too much. The combination of his snotsy nose, watery eyes, and low grade fever made him unable to sleep last night from about 3 to 6:30 in the morning. Which might explain why when my mom called at 7:00 to tell me the wonderful news that Tanya had her baby and Bears had a new cousin, I said something along the lines of "glaarbsb...what? yaay! *insert random mumbling* k bye." I don't have any recollection of anything happening after that till just before 8:00, I felt something wet and squishy pressing on my face. This happened 3 or 4 times until I finally opened my eyes to see Bears staring intently at my face before planting a final slobbery kiss on my lips. Ryan had apparently already left for work but I guess Bears woke up before he left so Ryan put him in bed with me before leaving. Who knows how long he'd been laying there with me before taking such a cute measure to wake me up. It was definitely one of those heart-melting moments.

Now that I was a bit more lucid, I was able to call Mom back to see just what the deal was with my new little nephew. They're naming him Emiliano and he's 9 lb 5 oz and only 20.5 inches long so it sounds like he's a really healthy little cuss with all his weight in his chubs. Born via c-section at 6 am this morning and both he and Tanya are doing really well. See how cute he is??

Bears and I went to celebrate the whole thing by taking his trike out to the market to get treats and cold medicine.  He was in pretty high spirits for being so sleep deprived.  I'm sure it was the thought of his cute cuddly new cousin that was the cause of his good mood.  Such a dreamy day.

Here are some random pictures that I just haven't gotten around to posting:

He loves to put my wedding gloves on and then romp around the house growling and trying to scare us with his "monster hands."

Playing the keyboard with daddy.  I've been having terrible luck at getting good pictures lately.  This was the best out of 5.

He insists on dressing up in this costume (designed to fit cats) at least a few times a week. If Daddy's home, he'll run over to him and shriek in a very dainty way because that's apparently how you scare people.

His favorite foods are raw garlic and raw onions.  Here he is showing us all just how delicious whole stalks of green onions are.  He's a smelly little cub whenever I allow him to decide the menu for his meals.

He's in love with our swing in the backyard.  The other day when I was pushing him on his swing, I told him to swing so high that he could touch the sky.  He got so excited at the prospect that he immediately started breathing heavily and squeaking intermittently while straining his arms and fingers skywards.  This effort lasted at least five minutes with him never doubting for an instant that he could do it.  It was so cute.

He loves wearing our jackets, especially this one.  I'm sure it's because he knows that he's a dead ringer for Obi Wan in this outfit.

Here he is at the McDonald's just down the street. This was taken just a few days before a truck burst into flames while in the drive thru -- apparently doing enough damage to the building that it seems to be permanently shut down.  So sad for Bears.  And I suppose it sucks pretty big time for all those people who lost their jobs too.  Pretty lame.  But we sure had some good times in that play land area while it lasted.

Allow me to formally introduce Mr. PC Jenkins

I can't believe how many months it's been since I've posted anything. Seems like the exhaustion of being pregnant combined with trying to keep up with my little cub hasn't left much time for things like blogging (or cooking, cleaning, laundry, or any other such superfluous activities). I'll sleep for a good 10+ hours a night and then dream all morning of the time I'll be able to nap. it's like I'm taking my dream vacation. Good thing Ryan is possibly the most laid back person ever or I might start to feel a bit guilty for not pulling my weight around here.

I'm 20 weeks pregnant today and we just found out that Bears is gonna have a little brother. It took me a bit off guard, as I was pretty sure it was a little girl in there. I was under the impression that psychic feelings were just about 100% accurate when it came to this sort of thing but color me foolish because upon a quick google search, I discovered that in the case of gender prediction, psychic feelings are only accurate to about 50%. Looks like you win this time, statistics. I'm so excited for Bears to get to have a little buddy though. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the very first footage of our new little cub.



Hopefully Ryan's not jealous of his suspicious resemblance to Skeletor...I'm told that the striking similarity is common at this age and not genetic. We'll see when he's born I guess. Not that I'm admitting to any sort of foul play. *cough*

I guess I should also add some videos for the grandmas since it's been so long.

These first two might need an explanation. I spent the first few months of pregnancy doing my fair share of puking so naturally, Bears came to think of the toilet's function in a new light.



take two. This one didn't go quite as smoothly...



He saw a video of Zoey pretending to be mad and kept trying out acting mad himself...he wasn't quite as convincing though. I think she might need to give him lessons.


Bears love bubble wrap




Playing on the bed with Daddy, Papa, and Diddum for a few minutes.