jade's 1st birthday!

jade's first birthday started off in perfect swedish style; breakfast & presents in bed accompanied by two singing parents and a meowing kitten boy named ingo.  as always, jade woke up happy as a clam and was all smiles when pappa delivered her tray of birthday surprises.  from all our beloved family & friends jade received many thoughtful gifts.  she loved everything!

the birthday girl!

the piglet!

the twins [a.k.a. proud pappa & jade bug]

after a wonderful morning at home we loaded our buggy into the car and headed down to the san diego zoo.  jade woke up from a perfectly timed nap as we pulled into the parking lot.  jade was so happy to be at the zoo, spending her day outside in the sunshine with her parents and meeting lots of new animals.  

jade & pappa were able to feed the giraffes & of course jade thought the biscuits looked so delicious she had to try one herself!  happy birthday to me she said!

next stop the petting zoo where there were goats, goats, and more goats.  a few sheep were hanging out in the shade but weren't at all interested in the kids.  jade found a goat and a new friend!

we realize this gorilla is only a statue, but jade still took great pleasure in patting it on the head for several minutes.  as with every other animal jade has met, she thought this was a katt [cat].  patting it's head and repeating loudly, "caaaaaaaaatttttttttttt" made for one happy birthday baby.

we even saw this adorable panda who put on quite a show for the onlookers.  born in captivity, this bear was happy to stretch out in front of the crowd while enjoying an afternoon snack of bamboo.  it turns out jade has quite a lot in common with panda's.  not only do they have the same table manners, lounging with legs wide open, but they also poop up to 50 times a day!  who knew?

we saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  and elephants and giraffes and rhinos!  but by far jade's favorite animal of the day was a little monkey who frolicked playfully on branches above the hippo tank.  we could have sat there all day to watch our little jade screech with excitement each time the monkey made his way in front of her.  he poked at the water, harassed the hippo, ran across a tightrope, and stuck his tongue out at the crowd.  we stayed until the zoo closed and decided to get our little monkey two little monkeys of her own.  [thanks grandma becky]!  

we'd like to think jade knows just how happy we are to have such a precious bug a boo.  it sure seems like she realizes this was the best year of our life.  happy 1st birthday to our truffle pig, swedish muffin, baby puffin, pumpkin latte, sugar butt, cha cha girl.  we love you!