Just now, Jen was holding Liam, and turned him to face Maeve and I, who were sitting on the couch. He wasn't looking anywhere in particular. Then, Jen said, "Hi, Papa!" and his eyes moved to focus on me. A moment later, she said, "Hi, big sister!" and he moved is eyes to focus on Maeve.

As I type this, Jen just tried the experiment again with Maeve, and again he moved his eyes and head to look at her!

How cool and amazing it is to witness child development!

On Safari, on Safari,
In a jeep, in a jeep,
I can see a lion, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

On Safari, on Safari,
In a jeep, in a jeep,
I can see a tiger, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

And so on.

There's a place just over the Quebec border called Parc Safari that we've been hearing about, and today we went up there on a family outing -- one of the last that we'll have with just the three of us (before little Liam is born).

On Safari, on Safari,
In our Matrix, in our Matrix,
I can see a zebra, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

Needless to say, the excursion was a hit for the whole family. The park has a drive-through safari adventure where you drive your car through a small preserve, looking at animals and even getting a chance to feed some of them. We saw zebras, elephants, rhinos, ostriches, water buffalo, ibexes, camels, giraffes, emu, oryx, reindeer, caribou, elk, bison, yaks, wildebeests... and many more that I'm either forgetting or didn't know the names of.

The highlight of the safari was probably towards the end, when we each of us got chances to feed bison from the car -- try that in Yellowstone! The bison were surprisingly gentle, and typically tried to take the food nuggets from your hand with their lips, but the greedier ones used their tongues and tended to exude tremendous amounts of slobber in the process.

(My personal favorite, though, was getting the chance to stroke a camel's whiskers. I don't know why, but it was just one of those great moments.)

Parc Safari also has a small amusement park, with very cheap prices ($2 Canadian per person for all day access to all rides), so Maeve got a chance to ride to her hearts delight. She and I went on the Ferris wheel together, and had an excellent time waving at Jen, who awaited us below.

If we had any doubts about Maeve enjoying it, they were allayed when, shortly after crossing the US border, we looked back in time to see Maeve pass out from sheer exhaustion. What a sweet kid... the chocolate from the ice cream was still smudged on her cheek, and her hand was gripping her memento rock.

"Because I'm so smart, and because I'm so right."

I almost wrecked the car as I guffawed. Kids. They're so dang cute. And so right!

This coming from the girl who has a fit every time her bink isn't within eyesight and reach. Needless to say, we didn't quite believe her, but we were willing to support her. We told her that if she wants to stop using the bink, that's okay; it's also okay if she decides to use it again. (Fully expecting she'd want it within minutes of going to bed.)

Well... Maeve slept all night without it, and didn't want it this morning, nor in the car. She's adamant, our little warrior queen! (Which is what the Gaelic Maeve translates to in English, in case you were wondering.)

I might be jumping the gun here, but I get the feeling our little girl has taken another step in growing up... and I'm bewildered and a little sad. Much as I've hated the bink the past year, I also associate it with my little girl... and she's getting so she's not so little any more!

UPDATE: I jumped the gun. She did go a full 24 hours, but the following night decided she wanted the bink again. But there is hope for a bink-less future...