This summer, Benjamin's mom, Rose, visited us, especially to spend time with her grandson. It's the second time she's been out to Texas since his birth. The first time, he was just six weeks old. Suffice to say that he has changed a lot since then! We also visited Benjamin's family this Christmas, so almost everyone on his side got to meet Jax.
If I had been deciding on a husband without ever meeting him, making my decision solely on how fabulous his mother was, I couldn't have it better than I do with Rose as my mother-in-law. She loves Jesus, she bubbles with joy, she adores me and Jax (well, who wouldn't hehe), and we have great conversations about everything from cooking to natural health to faith.
I have been thrilled each time she has come out to spend a week with us. We're still getting along splendidly by the end of the week and are eager to have her back anytime (as anyone who has relatives can attest, the same cannot be said for many family members when you live in the same home with them for a few days, wither immediate family or extended!).
She taught Jax the sweetest little ditty, "Thank you Jesus for _____ and ______, Thank you Jesus for Jax!" The fill-in-the-blanks might be any random thing we were enjoying at the moment, like the sun, Mommy, food, etc. He would laugh EVERY time when she finished singing it. Perhaps it was hearing his name in song, perhaps it was her joyful giggle when she would sing, but he loved it. Periodically I remember to sing it to him, and he still loves it.
The San Antonio Zoo has this hysterical underwater aquarium exhibit where you walk in admiring this massive wall of colorful fish against a rocky background. Then after a few minutes, your brain says, Hey those rocks have tails! Hey! I'm looking at hippo butts! And chuckles erupt around the room.
I'm unsure why Jax likes alligator/crocodiles so much. Perhaps it is the little game I've played with him making a chomping sound with my mouth while opening and closing my hands like a crocodile mouth, tickling parts of his body when my hand "chomps" down on him. He calls it "a-gih-day-dor."
Just a really wacky looking bird. God is so creative, and clearly has a sense of humor.
These giant birds (cranes perhaps?) were standing up high and one held his wings over everything like he was supervising or preparing to pass a judgement.
One of Jax's words that sounds French, "eh-too-want." The other is trampoline, "eh-too-een."
I didn't get a photo, but there was a tiny baby monkey hanging onto a mama monkey in one of the monkey exhibits. The next time we went to the zoo, it was a bit bigger, but the daddy monkey was break dancing for about fifteen minutes. I wish I had taken a video, but I was afraid my phone might frighten him away. He was leaping and rolling and seriously looked like he was break dancing. It was unbelievably hysterical.
On a subsequent trip to the zoo, the mama tiger spent fifteen minutes ROARING at her baby tigers. It seemed that she was trying to get one of them to obey her and follow her to a small landing area, but it was busy playing with a pumpkin, and clearly ignoring her cries. Once again, comical. Parent-child troubles occur in nature too. Ah, such is life.
The zoo has a wonderful little play area for kids with lawn mowers on a grassy slope, and a shallow "river" type area where they can wade or splash in the water. I could see coming during the summer just to play here with a toddler. We may get season passes to the zoo this year; Jax loves all the animals so much.
