Amelia lost her tooth!!

Amelia is growing up!!! She lost her first tooth today. It has been hanging on by the "skin of it's tooth" (just had to say that) and we thought it would come out last night. But it was still there this morning. They went to the pool this afternoon with their friend Chloe, and at some point Chloe accidentally kicked Amelia in the chin and the tooth came out. My experiences tell me that if you have a tooth that just won't give up the fight, go swimming!! It has worked for me, Leah, and Amelia. Amelia is really excited about the tooth fairy coming, but worried because she did not find her tooth. So she has written a note to put in her little tooth fairy pillow explaining why there is no tooth inside. And now she is worried the tooth fairy will be too small to open the note. I told her to relax, the tooth fairy could handle that. Now if she just doesn't forget to stop by!!!!

My Girls





Hannah, July 2009



Amelia, July 2009

She is her mother's daughter!!

Ok. I cannot believe the whole summer has passed and I have not updated the blog one single time!! I would like to say I have been too busy, but I think the word I am actually looking for is "lazy"! The girls have been on their annual whirlwind summer tour of the Southeast. They spent a couple of weeks in Jacksonville (with Uncle Pappy and Jillie), one week in Demopolis (with Daddy Hawk and Grandmama), and one week in North Carolina (with Grandpa John and Grandma Weezie). I feel like I have hardly seen them all summer. They enjoyed all of their trips, but were ready to be back home and both were very excited for school to start back (they get that from their dad--he gets so excited about the new school year). Obviously, none of them share my love of sleeping in or they would not be half as excited as they say they are. Both of them like their teachers after the first day, and Hannah has several kids in her class from last year, and she is back with two of her good friends from 1st grade. Needless to say, she is really thrilled about that. Amelia has a couple of kids from her class last year in her class again this year, but she is all about making new friends. And she also just assumes that Hannah's friends are her friends as well (sound familiar, Tracy?), so she feels like she is right at home already.

We have not had any big events happen over the summer. Amelia has one or two loose teeth, but so far she still hasn't lost any. It is not for lack of her wishing for them to fall out. I am not sure how much she thinks the Tooth Fairy is going to give her for each tooth, but I have a feeling she is going to be sorely disappointed with reality. I am hoping those wiggly little teeth hang on for a long time, because I hate for them to loose those pretty little "baby" smiles!! And it means she is growing up, and she is my baby. I don't want her to grow up so fast! Hannah is already claiming to be "almost a teenager", so I have to hang on to Amelia as a little girl as long as possible.

Amelia did receive a couple of scars for souveniers from the summer of 2009. Steve took them to the beach (to Jillie and Uncle Pappy's condo) and Amelia fell at the pool the first day they were there and split her chin. She went to the ER, but thankfully did not have to have stitches, just a little glue and some butterfly strips. And then the next week, Steve took them to his parent's house in Jacksonville. The same day they got there, Amelia dropped a stool on her foot and knocked her toenail off of her big toe (OUCH!!). I was beginning to dread her leaving the house for fear of what might happen next. She was a real trooper with both injuries, and Hannah was a regular little nurse taking care of her until they got back home. When they got back from the beach, Hannah told me exactly how to take care of the wound and bandages on Amelia's chin, and showed me where all the supplies were and instructed me on how often I needed to clean it and change the bandage. To see them fighting like cats and dogs the majority of the time, it always surprises me to realize they really do love each other!

Hannah turned 9 years old on July 22. Not quite the teenager she wants to be, but certainly not a "baby" anymore!! Steve gave her a longboard skateboard for her birthday, and he did a custom paint job on it. I will have to take a picture of it and post it on here. Of course, she LOVES it, and thinks she is cooler than cool when she rides it. But she had it for about 2 days when they left to go to North Carolina. The last time I saw it, it was in her room. When they got back home, she was going to take it out to ride and could not find it. Of course she wanted to know what I had done with it. (Because, as everyone knows, I am a closet skateboard fanatic). Once I had convinced her that I had not touched it while she was gone, then she decided that it had been stolen. Our next door neighbor Chloe told her that she might have seen one of the neighborhood boys riding it. That was all that was needed for them to take off to the garage, and all three of them jumped on their bikes to go "after" the supposed thief. The Wilderness Lake Biker gang!! They did not find the skateboard at the "suspects" house, and eventually I reached Steve and he said he had it at his house. So thankfully, the skateboard was safe and sound, and the innocent neighbor did not get roughed up by my little hoodlums!

While the girls were enjoying their summer vacation, I was working out in the heat and humidity all summer long. And it was a rough summer for us at the zoo. Unfortunately, we lost our old male chimp, Bamboo, to heart disease a few weeks ago. He was such a wonderful old guy. He was kind of cranky towards the keepers sometimes, but you could not help but love him dearly. He had a tough time the last couple of weeks, and it was very difficult for all of us knowing that our days with him were numbered. The other chimps in the group have definitely felt his absence, but we have tried to keep things as normal as possible for them, and have spent a little bit of extra time with them as well. This seems to make them happy, and it definitely makes all of us primate keepers happy to spend extra time with them. They are the most amazing creatures!

Bamboo and Sasha

I have spent the last 3 weeks or so rehabilitating a baby Mourning Dove. He (or she?) was found on the ground at the zoo after having fallen from the nest and being roughed up pretty badly by a crow. After a quick visit to the vet clinic, it was straight home to begin the process of recovery. I actually did not expect him to survive the ordeal, but survive he has. Now the only problem is that I have a fully fledged dove that refuses to grow up and leave my nest!! He still refuses to eat the food that normal wild doves would eat, instead waiting until I give him some of the baby food I have prepared for him. I am down to feeding him once a day, and leaving the other food available all the time, but he is as stubborn as I am!! Stay tuned to see who wins this one.

So that is really all that has been going on as of late. I am sure I am leaving somethings out, but that will give me something to post later on, I suppose. I have included a few pictures taken over the summer. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

All dressed up and nowhere to go.