Manu goes to the zoo.

With Spring finally upon us, we wanted to spend Saturday out in the fresh air; and since Manu seems to enjoy the veritable petting zoo that is our house, we thought he might enjoy a day at the Louisville Zoo. We awoke that morning and fixed a breakfast of idli, sambar and upma. We seem to have started a tradition of eating Indian breakfast items on the weekends. These are so much more interesting, and tastier, than bacon and eggs. We never imagined eating spicy food so early in the morning, but our trip to India changed a lot of our perceptions on food...I digress. On our way to the zoo we stopped in Shelbyville to see my mom, aka Nana, and Momaw, his great grandmother. Manu was a little fussy at first, he had just awoke from a nap in the car, but he warmed up and soon he was giggling and smiling while trying to get into anything within arm's reach. After leaving his grandmothers, we continued on to Louisville, stopping to get a bite to eat before heading to the zoo.

You could tell it was the first nice day of spring by the multitude of families pouring through the front gate of the zoo. While waiting in line we experience what would become ubiquitous throughout the day: the curious stares of people trying to figure us out. It goes like this: first they look at Manu, then glance up at us, then back to Manu, then somewhat nervously back to us, as if not wanting to be perceived as gawking, but trying to decide what to make of the very white couple with the cute brown baby. Not that this doesn't happen just about everywhere we go, but with the sheer number of people, I haven't felt as much like a spectacle since India. Everyone was very pleasant though, and many people were heard commenting on how cute Manu was, especially in his little boots that his uncle Brian got for him. Of course the stares could be just that people have never seen a baby as cute as he is!

While Manu was intrigued with the experience and enjoyed the animals, especially the elephants, he seemed to mostly enjoy just being out and about in the hustle and bustle of it all. At the end of the day Manu and mommy rode the carousel while daddy took pictures. This is Leslie's favorite ride of any amusement park, and Manu seemed to agree, as he was all smiles. We left the zoo for some shopping before heading back to Lexington. All in all a really good day, at least until 2am when Manu kept us up for 2 hours trying to get him back to sleep, but technically that's Sunday.

Speaking of sleep, or the lack thereof, Manu has taken to waking several times throughout the night lately. Most of the time we can get him back to sleep fairly quick, but at other times we could be up for hours. Part of the problem might be a lingering cold with which we all seem to be suffering, and the fact that he has 3 more teeth just about to break through. Whatever it is it is turning daddy into a zombie throughout the day. Manu simply takes a longer nap at daycare and is full of energy when we get home! He should be walking any day now, as he is starting to take a couple of steps on his own before flopping down. Whenever we see him doing this we try to encourage him and work with him, but then it becomes a game, and he's more interested in us than in walking. He has mastered stair climbing though...