We took Josiah to the zoo last Saturday. For a few days beforehand, we had talked up the experience, noting particularly that he would get to pet goats. (Phoenix zoo has a farm area geared toward kids.) He identifies goats by "baa-ing," so he baa-ed quite a bit Saturday morning as we got ready, made an earlier stop, and then finally arrived at the zoo.
Last time we visited the zoo--several months ago--Josiah was pretty intimidated by most of the animals, including the goats. He just clung to us and didn't want to pet them then. This time we saw the elephant first (from quite a distance), and he was fascinated--not scared!--so we hoped he'd enjoy the rest of the animals. He loved seeing all the exotic birds on the way to the farm area ("More, More!" he'd say), as well as the jaguar. He didn't like the Galapagos tortoises, though. "No, no, no!" he said as we got close. At the farm area, he said "no" to the cow, horse, and turkey (especially the latter), and he was apprehensive about the goats when we entered their special petting yard. But Jer camped out by a baby goat with Josiah (who loves all things baby right now--from his "bebe" bear, which he sleeps with nightly, to "bebe" bites of oatmeal to "bebe" fuzzies to "bebes" he sees in the store or at church). The goat nibbled on Jer's finger and clothes, and finally Josiah decided to pet it. He used the little comb provided on it, and even allowed it to nibble his shoelaces and zipper without protesting too much. Then we trekked around the yard and visited other goats, and he warmed up considerably, as the following picture testifies . . .
Since the trip to the zoo, Josiah has talked about the "zoo" almost every day (another new word!), and invariably he "baas" and says "shoes," retelling the story of the baby goat eating his shoes. :)
