St. Louis Zoo

We made a quick trip to St. Louis (less than 24 hours) on Saturday after I finished working my last baseball game of the season.  I had a bachelorette party to go to Saturday night so we decided to make an event out of it and all go down then go to the zoo on Sunday.  Karl and Ally enjoyed some time at the pool while I went out with friends.  Ally slept on the pull out mattress on the floor and did great.  Sunday we got moving and went to the zoo around 10:30am.  There was a race going on in the morning so we didn't want to get there too early and fight that crowd.  It was $15 to park but admission to the zoo is free. 

The zoo itself is huge! We started with Ally in her stroller and she went back and forth between the stroller and walking.  It was hot but there was a lot of shade and a few indoor things to do.  We saw a girl get soaked inside the penguin exhibit which was pretty funny.  It was feeding time and she was standing right by the edge of the tank and the penguin got its food then jumped into the water sending a huge splash onto her and her friends.  Ally loves animals of all kinds so she was just taking it all in.  Some were hard to see because of the heat, most were hiding under trees or close to the rocks.  We ate lunch, walked around with some ice cream to see the rest of the zoo then headed back to the car around 2:30.  Minimal whining from Ally and she passed out soon after we got on the highway.  We definitely would recommend the St. Louis Zoo and go back again.  Enjoy some pictures from our day:



Funny Things Ally Says- in the car

Last week when I was at work, Karl got to experience some blog-worthy car conversation with Ally.  He had to call right away to tell me about it.  What a funny kid!

Ally: Daddy, I dont want you to go to work
Karl: Why not? What should I do?
Ally: I want you to play with me and make me tacos

Happy Mother's Day

So happy to gave this girl in my life!  We were in Lafayette for the weekend to celebrate Grandpa Henry's 60th Birthday and Mother's Day.  The girls went and got nails done while the boys played some golf.  Ally chose yellow with sparkles.

No More Diapers

Ally has been diaper free since last week Thursday!  She decided that when her last package of pull ups was gone, she didn't want to wear them anymore.  Who are we to argue?  We are currently riding a 3 day dry streak and are looking forward to many more dry days.

She has been only wearing pull ups at night for several months and has been waking up dry a large majority of the time.  We have changed our bedtime routine to include books, potty and bed so as long as she goes just before climbing into bed, she has been doing great.  She is not yet to the point where she is recognizing when she does need to go while sleeping because the times she has wet the bed it hasn't even woken her up.  We thought for sure that she would wake up if she wet the bed so twice we have been caught by surprise in the mornings.  She is very proud of this accomplishment and loves hopping out of bed dry.  She also takes pride in her underwear selection and keeping them dry.  We agreed that if we can deal with the little extra laundry and baths, we should let her go diaper free and see what happens.  A very exciting milestone for her!

Recap Ally's potty training timeline:
May 2011- Ally decides to use the potty at school and we buy for home
July 2011- Transition into pull ups for every day use
November 2011- Ally only wearing pull ups at nap and travel times
May 2012- Underwear 24/7

Dinner Conversation

Me: Ally,what did you do at school today?
Ally: Eddie (her friend at school) mom called him sugar plum when she picked him up.
Me: Oh yea, that's silly. What do I call you?
Ally: I'm the princess. 
Me: That's right, you are my princess.
Ally: No, I'm grandma's princess.  And Daddy is the king and you are the mean step mother.

I didn't realize how similar Ally's life is to Cinderella's. 

Bed Time Changes

We have been having some bed time issues with Ally lately.  Not that she has issues going to bed but once she is in bed, she doesn't like to go to sleep.  She has been singing and talking to herself for hours and scooting all over the place.  She had never tried to climb out of her crib so we never really worried about converting her to a bed.  We decided it was time this last week in hopes that having the open side would limit the amount of wiggling around.  I've been hesitant to do this because having the open side means that obvious- she can get out.  We took the plunge on Friday and replaced the front of her crib with the open rail that it came with.  We did it just before we went to get her from school so she would be surprised.

Her reaction was hilarious.  We went upstairs when we came home from dinner to do something else and she went into her room for a toy and started yelling "its broken, my bed is broken."  It was pretty funny and she was very excited that she could climb in and out herself.  She thought that meant the bed was now for jumping on so we had to put a stop to that quickly.  We purposely let her stay up a little later because of the weekend but she did great and went right to bed as usual.  No falling out and no climbing out.  Even in the morning, she waited until one of us came to get her just like always.  We hoped she would continue that behavior and so far we are right. 

Now that its been a few days, we are still having the same issue of her not going to sleep but she has yet to figure out that she can get out if she wants.  She won't even reach her arms out to pick up her blankets if they fall off.  On Sunday night I did our usual routine and put her in bed around 8:45 and she finally kicked it and 10:45- 2 hours of singing and talking all about the weekend.  She isn't unhappy in her bed so we aren't worried but it is really getting annoying and makes her a crab when she doesn't get enough sleep.  I don't feel like I can go to sleep until I see on the monitor that she is out so it makes me tired too.  I don't know how long it will be before she starts getting out of bed but I guess if I have to pick one I will choose her in bed and talking over getting up to find me.