We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

Daddy stayed home from work yesterday so we could take advantage of the zoo's new free day, and we had a terrific time! Rachel was especially excited to see elephants and giraffes. And we were there early enough that the animals were still pretty active--we enjoyed seeing the polar bear toss its ball into the water, then jump in after it! Here are Rachel and I doing our best giraffe impersonations. (I think Rachel was trying to stretch out her neck, but her jaw got in the way.)

And later, Rachel and Daddy got to brush a goat! The goat really enjoyed its new coiffure and gave Rachel some nuzzles to say thank you.

In other news, it has suddenly turned into fall here (80 last week, 60 this week!), but we got a photo of Rachel with the sunflowers she planted way back last spring (at the "orange house") just in time. They were amazingly tall, and it was loads of fun to watch them grow.

As the weather has undergone its rapid changes, so has Rachel's speech development. She speaks in full sentences, with articles and everything. She has come a long way toward using the correct pronouns--the other day she said, "Daddy, you have a button on your jacket," and meant exactly what it sounds like she meant. She enunciates words very carefully and em-PHA-siz-ES every syllable, which makes for some amusing sounds. And she's begun to communicate what she imagines. We were getting ready to go to the store last week, and I asked her to hold the grocery bags. She took them all out of the bag they were stuffed in and proceeded to adorn herself with them. Then she looked up at me and said, "Have two bags around neck. Looks like necklace." And, as you can see, that is exactly how it looked!

Update: When I showed Rachel this post, she identified each photo: "Giraffe face," "Brushing goat," "Sun-fow-lers," and "Necklace." Not only does she imagine, she remembers!