Her first zoo trip

went well. She didn't care at all about the animals. The people were way more interesting, which is usually the case. Most of the animals were sleeping, and only a handful were visible. One thing about the Folsom Zoo - they usually don't lock the animals out of their bedrooms for the benefit of the public. Kind of a downer when you are there to see animals, but better for them in the long run. The weather was great. We're so excited to be done with the heat. There was a slight chill in the air which makes it perfect zoo weather.

We're working on helping her sit up on her own. It's slow going, but I'm learning to not be in a hurry for her milestones. She's good at rolling over and really likes tummy time now. A huge change from her early days. Still no hint of a tooth or crawling, but there is plenty of time for both of those.

Since we switched her to a sippy cup and the occasional formula, things are about 50/50. Sometimes she's okay with both, and other times she won't have anything to do with either. I'm starting to think the missing link in the equation is me. It seems like no matter what Ryan tries it just doesn't work well. I'd like to start letting her spend more alone time with Ryan and have my mom watch her occasionally just to give her someone else to look at for a change.

On a sad note - a little girl who goes to the mom's group on Wednesdays has a congenital cranial deformity, I think it's craniosynostosis, that she will have to have surgery to fix. She's only about 5 months old. One side of her cranium closed before the other side. She has a ridge down her forehead because one side is growing bigger than the other. In addition to the corrective surgery she'll have to go to physical therapy to correct a head tilt that comes with the cranial deformity. I'm sure she'll come through the surgery just fine (it's supposed to be a fairly routine surgery as far as pediatric neurosurgeries go). It makes me so grateful that Isabel is healthy. It's a good reminder that the milestone timeline isn't really that important. As long as she is growing & developing within the range of months, it really doesn't matter if she is at the beginning or end of that range.