Angel's Ears

Angel has been asking for awhile to get her ears pierced.  She loves to accessorize her outfits, enjoys dressing up, has many friends with pierced ears, etc.  We decided that once she turned 8, she could make that decision for herself.  When the big day finally arrived, however, she had second thoughts and didn't want to do it.  So we didn't push her, obviously!  Over time, however, she brought it up again.  We left the decision to her, and she finally decided to take the plunge.  She wanted Aunt Abbie to go with her, so we waited until we were in Oregon!  (And Izzie, her doll, had to come along too, of course!)

Trying to decide which earrings to get...

The winner: Gold Stars.

Before:

One last look at her ears before:

Starting to get nervous...

Daddy's getting more nervous...

"Never mind! I don't want to do it, Mommy!"

I DID IT!!!!!

Bad, blurry picture of the poor, red ear!

No tears were shed (of Angel's....Mommy shed a few!)

Our big girl is SO excited!  And we are proud of her for doing something hard.  Where has the time gone - it seems just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital, and now she's out getting piercings! Yikes!  Slow down please!! :)  We love our sweet Angel girl!

Oregon Zoo

Of course, while we were in Oregon, we had to take advantage of their incredible zoo!  I am often saddened by zoos, as I find it sad for the animals to be in captivity, but I think the Oregon Zoo does a great job of re-creating natural habitats, housing rescued animals, and creating a safe, natural environment where the animals flourish.  So we went.

Angel was thrilled to see the flamingos. lol.

One of our favorite exhibits was the "Goat Petting Zoo"!  The goats seem to love being brushed - a couple of them were waiting at the door, seeming to beg for strokes as we walked in!  It was funny!

Who am I kidding?  The children were just as enthralled with the animal statues as with the live animals....perhaps more-so, since they could actually be climbed!

We got to see Lily, the new baby elephant! Adorable!!!

Our favorite exhibit by far was the Lorikeet Landing, where the birds will come right up to people, perch on their hands, and literally eat out of their hands.  Incredible, and the children would have stayed there all day, given the opportunity!

Poor Wiggles tried the whole time we were there, but the birds kept preferring Angel and Grins over her!

Finally, at the very end, Wiggles got one!  She was SO proud, and held SO very still - as evidenced by the stiff, careful expression on her face. :)

We sure love animals!

Goose Egg - Wiggles is entertaining, as usual!

This past week, sadly, Wiggles got bumped on the forehead (by a door opening quickly in her face), resulting in a goose egg on her cute little forehead.  She later told me, "It doesn't hurt.  Well, actually, it only hurts if I touch it."  

I have been dealing with some pain in my sternum (due to my scoliosis) and have been trying to impress upon Wiggles' mind the importance of NOT head-butting me there.  So I took this as the perfect opportunity to teach her some empathy for how touching someone's 'sore spot' can hurt.  So the following conversation ensued:

Me: "Yes - when you touch it, it hurts.  So you don't want Mommy to touch it, do you?" 

Wiggles: "No!"

Me: "Just like when you touch Mommy's chest (meaning my sternum) it hurts.  That's why I don't want you to bang your head on my chest.  It's kind of like there's a goose-egg on my chest."

Wiggles: "No - there are TWO goose-eggs on YOUR chest!"