Neigh neigh?

For many, many weeks, the only animal noise Kalena would make was a dog. She would say "woof woof" if she heard a dog bark or if you asked her what a dog says, although it took her quite awhile to associate the sight of a dog with the noise. (I blame our non-barking greyhounds for that. Although, never hearing our dogs bark didn't deter Patrick from pointing at them and saying "woof woof" Every. Single. Time. he saw them when they were visiting Texas.) It took quite awhile to convince her that not ALL animals bark. We did finally get the point across though, and now she'll do noises for a dog, a cat, a horse, a tiger (quietest roar ever), a sheep, a chicken, and a lizard (that one isn't so much a noise, she sticks her tongue in and out.)

Brian and I were both interested to see what she'd do when she saw some of these animals in person, so that was yet another reason to look forward to Thanksgiving. We're here in Alamosa with Brian's parents who have 2 dogs, a cat, chickens, horses, and a mule. She enjoys following the dogs and the cat around. One of the dogs is Onyx (she came here when we moved) and Onyx still runs away every time Kalena comes in the room. Buddy, the golden retriever, is much more tolerant and even the cat will sit still for the baby for a minute or two. She enjoys going out to feed the chickens, but the horses are DEFINITELY the favorite.

Brian's mom has been taking her out to feed the horses (they have 11 plus the mule) and she LOVES it. She rides around in the wheelbarrow with the hay and "helps" feed them. (Mostly she throws hay out the side.) As today went on, it became more and more obvious how much she likes the horses. She would go to the back door repeatedly and point out to the yard and ask, "neigh neigh?" and put up her hands in "I don't know" gesture as if to say, "when are we going out to see the horses again?" And when she's out feeding them she'll sign "more" when they run out of hay because she wants to give them more.

Brian's mom has been hoping (pretty much since she found out I was pregnant with Kalena) for a grandchild that loves horses. Looks like she got her wish.

P.S. She is currently pointing at these pictures and saying neigh.