Butterstick

On Thursday, we loaded up Lumpyhead and the parents and went to the zoo. I'm a little ambivalent about the zoo; it always feels like animal prison to me, even though I recognize all the good zoos do with regard to animal protection and species preservation. I find the primates particularly unnerving. The silverback gorilla was hungry, and would move from door to door, waiting for the staff to feed him. He sat in a crouch, resting his chin on his hand. I looked around, and noticed two of the other people watching the gorilla were also in a crouch, chin on hand. It was spooky, the people watching the gorilla and the gorilla watching the people in the same position.

Highlights of the day (other than being creeped out by our animal cousins):
Lunch at Zoo Bar. What a dive, in a good way.

Street parking. We found a spot on Connecticut Avenue, so saved the $12 parking fee in the zoo lots. woo hoo!

Tai Shan (aka Butterstick). Yes, everything the baby panda does is cute. He walks cute, he sits cute, he eats cute - he probably even poops cute.

A Glimpse at Our Future. We put Lumpyhead in the bear outfit he received from Aunt Shelly for Christmas, and on the way to the panda exhibit, a woman said, "Look honey, that lady has a bear, too!" Her son, who couldn't have been more than five, looked around wildly. I stopped and turned so he could see Lumpyhead. "Mom, that's a baby," he explained, his voice dripping with condescension. So that's what I have to look forward to, once Lumpyhead can talk.