Lions, Hyenas, & Wolves, Oh my!

watching the mountain lions chomp some chicken

Ben's latest animal adventure was to the Snake Farm & Exotic Animal Park up in New Braunfels today. Tina and Auden accompanied us on an exciting morning jaunt to check out all the animals. They have loads of snakes (ick), beautiful birds, a buffalo, zebra, lemurs, a camel, some very aggressive goats (in the petting zoo), and big turtles (along with many other animals). But MOST awesomely, they have some great carnivores that are only separated from visitors by two fences and about 4 feet of space.

We were lucky to be there during feeding time today and we got to watch the hyenas, wolves, and mountain lions chomp down some raw chicken legs (coated in vitamin supplements) and hunks of raw ground beef hand-fed by a zoo keeper. Ben watched the whole thing very intently, and (although he looked a little concerned during the feeding process) seemed to enjoy himself all the same.

It was pretty incredible to be so close to such huge animals at mealtime! The hyenas made some weird keening noises and inhaled the chicken legs whole, but then went and lay down happily in the sun. The wolves acted like they wanted to fight each other at first, but calmed down pretty quickly once they all got some chicken and beef. It was also really interesting to be able to talk to and ask questions of the animal keeper as he fed them.

one harnessed (not happy) boy @ the Snake Farm

The mountain lions were the most interesting to me (maybe since lions were always my favorite animal as a kid). The zoo keeper made the mountain lions lay down on their tummies before he would feed them. He told us he does it that way because when he just tried to hand it to them through the fence, they would swipe their arms and claws through the bars at him and the food. In fact, a little fledgeling hen wandered too close to the lion bars while they were being fed and one of the lions smacked it (it flew off and seemed okay though). One of the lions refused to lay down when the others did, and actually walked away during feeding time (only to return about a minute later and do his "trick".) They are apparently fed twice a day, though, so I guess he wasn't that hungry.

look closely, those are prairie dogs climbing the bars!

(I have videos off all three of these feedings down below.)

I've been trying to get Ben used to walking in his harness again (since he doesn't want to be carried much anymore, and he loves to dash off in the most dangerous direction possible), but it's definitely slow going. I'd rather it if he would just hold my hand, but he doesn't want to do that either. Nothing I can do except keep on trying, I guess!

In other news, a week from tomorrow Benben goes for his 15 month wellness check-up. I really really really really really really hope everything checks out and there are no more medical surprises this time!

enjoying a chilly, sunny morning

Speaking of medical issues, Ben's eating has vastly improved in the last few weeks. In the last few days I've only put on his food-catching pocket-bib a couple of times. For anyone who knows just how messy Ben was before, this will seem pretty unbelievable. He still needs super soft foods (I'm using the Baby Bullet blender my wonderful sister gave me to make his foods at home more edible), but almost ALL of what he eats is staying in his mouth now!!! I'm so happy about that! Hopefully we'll only need another month or so of therapy, and then that will be one less health-related expense out the window.

I've really been enjoying our cooler weather lately, but Ben is surprisingly not at all fond of long-sleeved shirts and pants. The first few cool mornings we've had, he actually cried while tugging at the pant legs and shirt sleeves. He's a bit more used to them now, luckily.

"helping" the librarian at Toddler Time yesterday

**carnivore feeding videos below)**

learning to climb our backyard playset

"bouldering" in the backyard

That's just ducky!

found a spot of sunshine this morning

Although Ben was sick last week with a troublesome stomach bug, he is much better now, and we have been enjoying the outings my friend, Tina, has suggested. Every week she, her son, Auden, and Ben and I try to go to the zoo or find another outdoor adventure. Lately we've visited a farm/petting zoo (located just outside of San Antonio), and an in-town duck pond (sadly Ben was more interested in investigating the dirty lake than watching the ducks).

Ben's new "learning station"

More than any other attraction, Ben loves anything to do with animals: I'd say 3/4th of the books he brings me to read him are animal related, and he knows the animal noise sounds for dog, cat, sheep, cow, and pig. Sadly most of the animals at the farm we visited didn't actually "say" what we've been teaching him, but he still really enjoyed it.

a very friendly, soft horse (@ Fiesta Farm)

I've also started doing a "letter of the week" with Ben. I shopped around and found some foam and wooden letters, so every week I plan on taking them out during our morning play sessions and talking about "A" or "B" things and playing with the letters. I figure since he is already savvy enough to point out a ball or a duck or a "meow-meow" in a book illustration, he can start getting introduced to these new shapes too.

Ben's favorite word is still definitely "dguwkg" (sometimes is means "duck," sometimes "dog" and sometimes it just means "that interesting object over there.")

Today we had Ben's latest speech therapy (eating/chewing) session. Unfortunately I got the time wrong and we arrived an hour early. Wandering around aimlessly at a hospital complex with an antsy and hungry toddler is not as much fun as one might think.

Anyway, his therapist said he's doing really well: chewing better than before, spitting out less, and consuming more (although usually no more than a teaspoon of food at one sitting!). Since he has improved the therapist suggested we encourage him to eat more and more by offering him real food before each time we would have offered a bottle. That makes sense, and now that I feel like he might actually eat what's offered, maybe he can start getting more of his calories from food (and less from formula). She also suggested trying more soft-cooked foods which can be squished between the fingers (because that's apparently the best his gums can do at this stage), so I'm going to try him on soft cooked carrots, fruit, canned pumpkin, and soft rice and/or pasta.

Overall, this was a very hopeful therapy session. I feel like during the others I came out discouraged and daunted. It's nice to having Ben's eating situation looking up a bit.

bunnies!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (@ Fiesta Farm)

BABY bunny!!! (@ Fiesta Farm)

ducks @ Heritage Duck Pond

no-mess paint fun

trying to fill Daddy's shoes

Moi

Who ordered the blue fried egg?

No news to report, just wanted to post some fantastic pictures Clay took this morning while I was out gardening. Oh, and a few pics from the past week too.   :)

watching Mamma in the yard

counting fingers

ahhhh, floor-rolling, how much we love you!

early morning Dada

snuggin'

our first time in "Lorry Landing" at the zoo

pinning daddy

not sure if this is a lazy stink-eye at Auden or just post-zoo sleepiness

Landa Park swiiiiiiiiiiiiinging

Weekend fun & mouthy developments

We spent the better part of this past weekend in Austin at the "Rally with No Name" (scooter rally). Sadly, we missed the Saturday morning rally activities and some of the Sunday fun because Clay had to work (& Ben had a Sunday morning meltdown), but we still had a blast. Those Austinites sure know how to throw a rally!

ready to ride (@Rally With No Name, Austin)

Also going on in Austin this weekend was my good friend from high school & college, Elaine's wedding. So while Clay and Benito did scooter rally things on Saturday night, I got all fancied up and got to see some of my best friends from high school (for the first time in like ten years!).

In other news yesterday Ben turned 14 months old! How old is THAT! He now knows the following words (most of the time): Mama, Dada, dog, duck, Moo (as in what a cow says--well actually he usually says "mo"), Meow-meow (his word for cat), baba (ball), drop (as in "wow! I just dropped it on the floor!"), shsh (shoe), and some others that I'm forgetting right now. He (ASL) signs: "milk," "eat," "more," and "all done" pretty consistently. Oh, and he also shakes his head an means "no"-- that's pretty useful!

Yesterday Ben and I went out to lunch with my friend & around-the-corner neighbor, Patty. Ben got to amuse her with his oh-so-gross-but-still-endearing eating habits at lunch and then we got to hang out with her two adorable scottie pups afterwards. Few things are as cute as a pair of scottie dogs!

I also got some Halloween decorating done on Monday during his nap (Ben napped in the crib for a total of like 2 hours!!), and got a lot of pleasure out of seeing how surprised and interested Ben was in all the decorations. I also made a Dia De Los Muertos altar for the first time ever. I found it really moving and satisfying finding photos or objects to represent loved ones. In a way I think building the altar made more of a meaningful impression on me that passing by the altar every day now.

Ben had his second visit with the speech therapist today. She said he's already doing better than during his initial evaluation; she could actually see him trying to chew a little with the sides of his mouth (although mostly food would still fall back into the front of his mouth near his tongue). She gave me some new ideas to try during snack time (working on getting him to let me put a piece of food on one side of his gums and pressing down slightly, then alternating sides of his mouth), & still trying to get him to let me feed him (maybe by giving him his own food and spoon to "play" with and trying to feed him with a spoon). 

I guess the main concern is that he's still not getting the amount of solid food he should be for a kiddo his age, oh, and he should be weaning better off the bottle. She wants me to encourage him to take more milk from a cup or through a straw each day. She also said that the more practice he gets at using his tongue to push his food to the sides of his mouth, the better he will get at it, and the more he will want to try it. I guess that makes sense; I don't like to do things I'm no good at either!

me, Brian, and Daniela @ Elaine's wedding

first taste of Ethiopian food (in Austin)

playing pinball with Dada (@Rally With No Name, Austin)

Clay & Ben in the photo booth at Pinballz in Austin

trying to figure out how to play with my friend Patty's scotties

trying to catch bubbles @ Baby Time at Landa Library this week

our Dia De Los Muertos altar

some of the living room decorations