Zoo days

I read a very wise post over on one of my favourite blogs recently. It has led me to feel less as though I’m failing when I don’t post every day. This is still my aim but it’s not the end of the world when I fail. Which I think is exactly as it should be.

It’s halfterm and we’ve spent our days doing fun stuff and my evenings are engaged in will-wrestling with Ida. She’s winning. Of course. Last night she finally consented to sleep when we went to bed ourselves and she had no one left to defy. She was up at the usual daybreak and has spent the day in her usual high spirits. However, touching all near wood, she is in her cot right now. I am taking nothing for granted but maybe the novelty of bed building has worn thin?

Yesterday we went to the zoo. The sun shone and it was the most lovely day. We even got cuddling-close to a fruit bat chewing a mouthful of banana.It was very hard to resist rubbing its tummy. It blinked at us with clever teddy bear eyes and licked banana off its snout. We admired its beautiful stretchy silk umbrella wings.

We LOVE these bats I tell you. We all reminisced about the time we were in the enclosure and a bit surprised and alarmed at how they swooped very close to us – something we’d never seen before until I realised that baby Ida was covered in fruity flapjack crumbs. Oops. Nearly lost her to  a pack of ravenous fruit bats, parent fail 101. She’d of loved that, raised by a pack of bats.

I couldn’t resist the urge to put her in the patchwork dress. This is her peering across at the Gorilla island. A couple are playing chase up and over the bars and in and out of the hot air balloon basket hanging there. She was fascinated. We noticed how much more interested she was in the bigger animals on this visit. It’s as though her horizons have expanded a little. Last visit she was more fascinated with pigeons than most of the caged animals.

It’s the zoo’s 175th birthday and they’ve got loads on. They’ve also got these new photo opp models.  I’m particularly fond of the ‘tortoise’ face Zeph is pulling, successfully I think.

There was a hideous tantrum when we tried to drag Ida away from this penguin. She seems to think this is how big the “baby” ones on the pebble beach are going to get. There was also a nasty scene when another poor child wanted to post some money into his chest – I had to drag her away screeching, “Mine, mine, ‘e’s miiiiine.”

 It was  a tantrumy day. Inevitable with a tired two-year old. In between the devilment she was gorgeously, heartstoppingly, tears-to-my-eyes adorable. (Though of course the tears could have been the pain from where she’d just sunk her teeth in or kicked me in the face.)

The new meerkat environment was lovely in the sunshine. My favourite bit was Ida showing Armadillo a meerkat and the meerkat staring back – fascinated by her cuddly;

We spent a pleasant ten minutes hanging out in the underwater bit even though all the penguins were up on the beach waiting for fish. Zeph thinks we should have a front room like this, just with more fish. A bit like Nemo’s sub (à la Verne and not Disney) I love watching the light streaming down through the water – just so soothing. 

Water is generally soothing. Today we spent half an hour lying on our stomachs watching our minipond and the insects in and around it. Less as exotic but more satisfying. BT’s abounding.

I’ve just run up to check – she’s asleep IN the cot. Don’t worry, I know it’s not over and just a blip – but still – a good one.