A zoo trip, and self-directed OT

Miss Maya had the day off today, so we packed ourselves up and headed to the zoo.  While she's always loved the zoo, it's funny to think back on how her favorite animals have shifted.   She delights in holding her nose near the penguins and sea lions to tell me that they're "stinky" (really, they are---the fishy smell is overwhelming), she doesn't care much about looking at them.  The gorillas, who like to hang out right at the other side of the glass, have never held her interest for more than a second.  The current favorites:  alligators, tigers, and rhinocerous.  Why?  Who knows.  But she was in love. 

Fake rhinocerous, I love you almost as much as the real thing :)

Mommy, a tiger.  A real tiger!

The cover of the zoo map (which she clutches the entire time we're at the zoo) is a photo of the tiger.  She kept looking at it, then showing it to the tiger. 

Hey tiger, this is you!  Check it out!

This might be my favorite picture of the day:

Tiger: Wow---I can't believe what I'm seeing through these bushes.

Maya: Wow---I can't believe what I'm seeing through this window.

In other zoo news, she simultaneously desperately-wanted-to-ride and was-terrified-of the bug carousel.

She was exhausted when we got home.  She had a snack and then was having some sort of tantrum-y fit, whining and pointing and trying to throw herself out of the booster seat.  I took her out and carried her around the kitchen, muttering "what, what, what is it that you want?  I don't understand" and my mind wandered, again, to our quest for a communication solution.  As it turns out, she wanted the white board & dry erase marker (she lunged as we passed it on the counter).

She sat on the floor and drew (and I sat at the table and checked my email)  and suddenly I heard "Done!"

Done with what?

As it turned out, she was giving herself some fine motor practice with the marker cap.  I don't know if she's done this at school or what, but it was seriously cute to watch her practicing her to cap a marker, and triumphantly yelling "Done!" when she had it, well, done.


That's one focused girl  :)