i finally saw her

I have made several trips to the zoo over the last few months hoping to catch a glimpse of Fiona, the premature baby hippo whose story captured the hearts of animal-lovers around the planet. I wore my Team Fiona t-shirt each time as a good luck charm, but she was only outside for a few minutes a day and I never happened to catch a glimpse. Now that she is 6 months old and has been successfully reintroduced to her mom and dad, Fiona spends most of her time in her outdoor pool. Last week, I was determined to see her, even if I had to linger around the enclosure for an hour!

When I arrived, Henry and Bibi were snoozing in the pool with no sign of Fiona. I asked a zoo volunteer who indicated that Fiona was tucked in between her parents and completely hidden by Henry's huge body. Then I saw two tiny, wiggly ears pop up over his back. My first glimpse! After a few more minutes, Henry woke up and started nudging Fiona. A decent crowd had gathered and I think he was encouraging her to show off for her fans. She swam up and down the length of the enclosure windows, so I got a great view! She is 400 pounds of cuteness!!

We met up with Jen and Anna (we were sad to miss Stacey and Isaac this week) and treated Mae to her first train ride. She enjoyed it, though she wanted to stand and look out the sides towards the end. She is walking all over the place now! Just in the last week she has made the transition from primarily crawling to primarily walking, and she is getting very steady on her feet! Most of the time she only falls over if she's being too silly to stand up.

Looking forward to our next fun playdate!