Good behavior at the zoo

We saw Chloe and Jasmine at the zoo today – two of our China travel group’s girls. They are getting bigger – walking and doing some talking. They are twins but even I can see that they are developing quite their own personalities. They are beautiful! How nice to see some of our girls. I felt quite emotional – I remember those girls when they were new to their parents. How amazing; how wondrous that they are the beloved children of loving parents. How amazing they are a family. Like us. I really can get quite weepy at this.

Julia’s behavior at the zoo was really pretty good – listening most of the time and being pretty cooperative getting off the train and the merry-go-round at the end of the ride. We saw the usual elephants, lions, giraffes, and dolphins. I thought I’d treat her to a new toy and we stopped at the zoo store just before we were ready to leave. This is the first time Julia and I have tried shopping for a toy together. (We have been practicing going into stores for short shopping trips.) I told her that she could have one thing, and she told me she understood. She did not grab or run around the store which I expected she might do (And what she would have done a few months ago. Instead, she looked at lots of the toys pretty carefully. She considered the stuffed toys – hugging and kissing stuffed lions and dolphins – she considered refrigerator magnets. She wound up picking out a set of little zoo animals and almost patiently waiting on line to pay for it.

She played with the animals tonight and when she was finished, she put them back into the box (with a bit of help) and put the box away. Julia can put away her toys but she rarely does so without reminders. This was such interesting behavior. It seemed that she really liked and appreciated these little animals.