Zoo Day (day 17)

We spent the morning in the apartment. What would be a day in Belgrade without a trip to the Mini Max for some sort of grocery item? Since the store is about 4 buildings away, I decided to forfeit the stroller and carry Mila. UGH! I learned my lesson and from now on, she will be on wheels! She is heavy! She weighs every bit what Hannah does, plus more! It is hard to hold her because she doesn't help At ALL! She can sit on my hip, but she tends to stiffen her body in excitement or will throw her head. It is somewhat like holding a 25 pound baby.

After a good nap, the weather looked promising, so we made the 45 minute walk to the Zoo. The weather was nice today (72ish) so it was nice weather for walking. Mila enjoyed taking in all the sights and sounds along the trip. We have a stroller that Devin and Stacy gave us, and it serves it's purpose, but it won't be one we keep forever. Mila is about too tall for the stroller. She tends to stretch out her legs and a couple of times dragged her feet....not good.

We have been spoiled in America with our zoos. We frequent the Columbus Zoo, which is ranked as one of the best zoos in America. Zoos in Eastern Europe are very different. I will say the Belgrade Zoo was clean and the animals were well cared for. The thing that baffled Doug and I was how close you could get to the animals. Many of the animals were in/behind chain link fence cages/fences. Sometimes there were bars in front of the cage, but many times not. If I had wanted I could have felt a cheetah's coat today. I could have fed the elephant a peanut. I could have climbed into take a swim with the hippos (but the water looked dingy!) There are signs on every animal display that asks you not to touch the animals because they are dangerous, but there is nothing to stop someone from their own stupidity!!


We stopped at Pizza Cut on the way home and ordered (the best we could) pizza for dinner.

Still waiting for a deposit from Mila. Maybe tomorrow we go looking for stool softener.....the joys of parenthood!

The first night with Mila at the apartment, she went to bed and took a nap easily. The last three days, nap have been easy, but at night she seems to fuss and be afraid. We thought maybe it was the dark, so we left a light on. That didn't help. So we have been laying down next to her until she falls asleep. That seems to do the trick.