A Trip to the Zoo!

To celebrate Scotty's five-month mark (and enjoy the wonderful 65 degree sunshine!), we went to the Phoenix Zoo! While he spent more time looking at the people and the ground than the animals, Eric and I really enjoyed getting out and had a great time watching the elephants throw rocks around...we especially liked the new monkey habitat, where you actually walk into an enclosure with trees full of squirrel monkeys--they leap from tree to tree over your head, scamper by your feet, and even walked across ropes with their babies on their backs! So adorable.

Scotty's favorite animals were the macaw and the tiger...whenever they made noise he sang right back!

Despite the recent tiger mauling that occurred in a zoo with an enclosure a lot like this one, we just couldn't stay away--and got quite a show! After lounging on a rock for awhile, he decided it was food time and started getting antsy. He scraped his claws on a trunk and strutted his stuff for a bit:

Then he sat calmly at the base of this tree, contemplating a climb. I expected him to clamor his way up to the first branch, which is at least 8 feet up...

Made it look easy--from sitting to branch in the blink of an eye--wouldn't want him to jump up at me! After climbing all the way to the top branches of the tree (which fortunately was at the center of the enclosure and nowhere near the outside fence) he decided it was time to come back down:

From there he went to the bottom ring of the enclosure, right below the fence, and started growling for dinner...

Impressive, huh?
Scotty loved it!

He was so happy and well-behaved the entire time, even if it did wear him out...


In other news, Scotty and I have been sleep-training since we got to Phoenix and he is now a champion sleeper and loves his naps! I never thought this would happen...must be brilliant parenting ;o) He only cries a little when I put him down, and it's a "please mama, just give me my pacifier and leave so i can go to sleep!" In less than five minutes he's completely crashed and I often don't hear a peep all night. What a perfect baby! And adorable--what more could I ask for?