Fun at the Zoo

Levi is three weeks old. I can't remember what it was ever like without him! He is the greatest gift and we are all quite smitten.

I'm feeling pretty good, although I'm still completely swollen from the extra IV fluids they gave me for the antibiotic drip (it was burning so badly, so they diluted it more, which ended up filling my body with twice as much fluid.) My abdomen and my feet/ankles are the most swollen- obviously, ha!- and I'm anticipating another few weeks before I see much progress, so I'm trying to give myself grace and focus on what matters more: loving this sweet, soft little baby.

 21 days old

Since our school system has vacation weeks in late February and again in late April, we decided we'd take Levi to the zoo on a bright, sunny day during April vacation. We brought Mimi along for reinforcement. :) 

I have to say, I was a complete basket case at even the thought of driving anywhere with Levi for the first couple weeks after his birth- I was totally intimidated! I don't even know why, it's not like this is my first rodeo. So funny how things affect us sometimes. I finally worked up the nerve to go to Toys 'R'Us to look for a baby wrap/carrier with him, but I dragged Isabelle with me for moral support. She was a big help! After that first voyage out, I've never looked back. So funny!

So here we are at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA. It's very small and quaint, but I've always thought the people who work there take such good care of the animals, and that makes a world of difference to me.

We had explored about half the zoo when little Levi started to come unglued. I had him in the jogger, where he slept peacefully for about an hour, and then I knew I'd have to find a spot to feed him. I am not ashamed or embarrassed to nurse in public, howeverrrrr, I still feel that it's a private thing between me and my child, and I don't feel the need to share that with the world staring at me. We found this little bench near the monkey exhibit and I thought it looked quiet enough to relax a bit and feed him. It was chilly so I covered us both up pretty well, and it's a good thing I wore a long scarf because I leaked all over one side of my top and had to cover that up after. Ugh. Hormones.

 22 days old

Maybe someone is not such a big fan of the zoo?

Uh-oh, that's cue for Mommy to take over ;)

Later in the day...

look at that perfect little pout!

Ack, just want to eat him up!!!

I had to maneuver a diaper change on the passenger seat of the van, and Levi was not happy about it. And feed him again before we left. The boys are pretty good about it, as it can be a tad awkward. Then we set out for ice cream cones!

 I had a few licks and they were so yummy! And huge!

All tuckered out - sometimes he sleeps with his mouth wide open and it cracks us up to no end :)

I had just buckled Levi back into his seat and placed him in the van, and he stayed asleep! Jonah wanted to take a selfie with me. :) 

Such a nice day!

I realized that I didn't take even one picture of an actual animal at the zoo, ha ha ha! I think our favorite thing was watching the monkeys- there was a brand new baby, and it was so mischievous and funny. I watched for a long while while I nursed Levi. They are quite entertaining! I was hoping that the river otters would come out and play, because they're one of my favorites, but they were lazy bums and just slept the whole time, ha.

We've visited the Stone Zoo several times throughout the years, and I have actual animal pics from our other trips, like this one.

After today, I think I'm getting the hang of this five kids out-and-about thing... although Ethan stayed home to work on a big project, so then again, who knows?