Quinn and the Lion
My little two year old has always been fascinated with animals. She loves to mimic their sounds and look at pictures of them, so of course one of her favorite outings is going to the zoo. What a wonderful way for her to learn and even develop her vocabulary by telling me what she sees and for me to engage her even further by asking questions and telling her what I see too. Since the weather has been nice, we’ve been able to take advantage of our membership to the Philadelphia Zoo and visit once and sometimes twice a week for the past few months. While one may think going to the zoo this frequently would become boring, it does not because it just one more way for me to not only bond with my little girl but to observe how much she has learned and grown. I am amazed at how she is able to retain the names of the animals and some of the little facts we have learned along the way. For instance, initially she said, “I see turtle,” but when I explained that he was a tortoise, the next time we went to the zoo, she said, “I see tortoise.” She knows the difference between a lion and a tiger, but thought a cheetah was a tiger until I gave her the name of the animal and discussed how one has stripes and the other has spots. Now she gets excited and points out the cheetah. I just love how she greets each animal bellowing out, “Hello Lion!” or “Hello Sheep!” Sometimes it’s as though they have been waiting for her because the lion or polar bear will be resting or sleep, but after she says hello, they will come closer to where she is standing. If you haven’t taken your child to the zoo as yet, I highly recommend it. A wonderful adventure awaits!
All the best,
Tanya
There are so many associations with the number 100. It is the basis of percentages, the boiling point on the Celsius scale and the perfect score on an assignment. It also represents how many weeks my daughter has been on this earth. Being her mother has been a wonderful journey and experience, and I only hope that her 100 weeks has been a wonderful journey for her as well. What intrigues me is that in 100 weeks she has grown, learned and mastered a series of skills that some people may not grasp in a lifetime, and for this I am grateful. Though I do occasionally find myself reaching a “boiling point” as Quinn pushes the envelope, tests the limits to see what she is capable of doing (she loves jumping off the last step on the stair case) or can get away with by saying, sometimes yelling, “no” or throwing a tantrum now and then, which have become more frequent in the past month, I love how passionate she is and admire her ability to give 100 percent at whatever she is doing, even when she’s crying and refusing to let me do her hair or refusing to eat her vegetables. Of course, my little girl is not perfect, but she is perfect for me. Within these past 100 weeks, I have grown immensely through my experiences with Quinn and thank her for helping me keep it 100!
Mommy's Baby Steps 