Birthdays are fun!

Hi! Mommy and Daddy are finally letting me write on my own blog...it's about time seeing as I'm 9.5 months old now! Both Mommy and Daddy had birthdays in the past couple of weeks, and I really enjoyed them. For Mommy's birthday we went out to dinner. The next day I got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Menke because Mommy & Daddy went to Mankato; they went on a bike ride and celebrated another friend's 30th birthday. I got to visit some of my Great Aunts and Uncles as well as some of my second cousins, plus Grandma and Grandpa took me to the park. I really liked the swing, slide, and playing in the rocks.

I got Mommy a Magic Bullet, really it was a gift for me though. One night, Mommy & Daddy made fajitas for dinner, and they ground it up in the Magic Bullet so I too could have fajitas and refried beans. Yum!

Daddy's birthday was even cooler. He let me help him open his gifts. I thought the paper was really cool, I can't wait for my birthday, when I get to open my open presents!

After church, we met Grandma, Grandpa & Auntie Stacy for lunch. I like going out to eat with everyone because they all give me food off their plates. I liked Auntie Stacy's garlic mashed potatoes, but I really liked the ice cream sundae. I couldn't get enough of it.

After lunch we went to Como Zoo. It had been a few months since we went, and this time was so much cooler. We visited the Butterfly Garden first. There were butterflies all over the place, and they were all different colors. One even landed on Grandpa's head. I really liked looking at all the flowers, playing in the dirt, and checking out the butterflies.

After the Butterfly Garden, we went to the Primate House. I watched all the different monkeys as they hung from limbs, climbed the rocks, and walked in front of me. The last time we went to the zoo, I hardly noticed there were even animals, but this time I watched very intently the monkeys. Some of them had long tails, kind of like Roni's, and I wanted to reach out and touch them. I even got to see a baby orangutan; I squealed when the mama orangutan picked the baby up and put him on her back. The other animals were kind of far away, and they didn't move as much, so they didn't quite captivate me like the monkeys.

I think my favorite part of the zoo was the water gardens in the entrance. Mommy & Daddy let me stand and stretch my legs, so I splashed in the water. I splashed so hard that I ended up soaked. My whole front side was drenched, but it was soooooo fun. Good thing Mommy is always prepared and had a change of clothes in the bag!

The weather has been really nice here in Minnesota lately, so we've been out in the backyard in the evenings. We don't stay out too long because the state bird (aka the mosquito) likes to bite us all, but I love being outside. I crawl around on the cement just like a monkey because I don't like to scrape up my legs. In the past few days, I've figured out that I can stand up from a squatting position without holding onto anything. I'm getting really good at standing on my own, and I'm still trying to take off walking. I can usually get 2 or 3 steps down before I reach for my destination and fall, but I keep trying. It won't be long now...