NH: The Weekend

Friday we practiced clapping

 climbing

 and crawling.

 We played with a plant

 And the flowers it lost.

 And we hung out with the cat.

Did I mention my kid is an expert speck of dirt finder?  She LOVES my kitchen floor...

A plane? Bird? Cloud? Nope... probably a ghost or something...

And went swimming.  And took naps.  And ate food.  And went shopping.  But those things aren't glamourous enough for photos.

I lied.  Shopping with a baby is always photo-worthy.

Yes, I bought the book.  For the record, it is an Indestructible.  Best invention ever.  Which, I should have thought of so I could be a millionaire.  However, I didn't, so I'm not.  Sad face.

And then Daddy came to meet us.  MiniM.E. was very excited.  Well, she didn't actually say that, but she kicked her legs a bunch.  And then we had to put her to bed because it was late.  Oh well.

Fortunately, we had Saturday to play in the pool with Daddy.

And go to the Concord Market Days.  Which was an ok outing, but seriously USA, get on the street festival bandwagon.  A street festival (a la Dresden) must have A. bratwurst stands (or at least some tasty greasy food), B. beer, beer and more beer, and C. beer.  Did I mention a street festival should have beer?  Eh, its ok.  I've learned over the past year to lower my expectations of street festivals.  We don't have cute wooden figurines, or cold fish sandwiches, or little huts in which to sell goods...

After the market days we played in the pool some more, had a BBQ, relaxed on the deck, and enjoyed being taken care of by my parents (thanks guys!).

PS: above photos were taken by my sister.  I am petitioning for her to leave her job and come live here to be my permanent photographer.  No, I lied.  Though that would be awesome.  But she should probably be a photographer, right??

I forgot to mention we put the cat in the baby swing.

We couldn't leave Sunday without swimming some more... and as MiniM.E. went down for her second nap of the day, we left.

It was so nice to relax for a week by a pool while having my mom make me food and do my laundry... and have two or three other people fuss with MiniM.E. a bit.

Now it's back to the grind... (because playing with toys, sitting out in a kiddie pool and taking walks are such taxing activities...)

I Don't Mean to Brag...

but my kid is kind of awesome.  We had to make a trip to the doctor's office yesterday, and even though Stretchy was supposed to be acting fussy and rubbing her ears (inner ear infection?), she was all smiles and cuteness...

Now, typically, as I think most parents know, when your child can do something awesome at home (wave, clap, talk, walk, stand on their head...) they never do it in front of someone else when you want them to, which often makes the parent look like an idiot, especially if they person they are trying to show doesn't have kids.

Scenario: Stretchy learns to wave and I want to show it off at coffee with one of my friends.
  (arrive at coffee shop.  Stretchy waves at multiple strangers the cashier and the barista while I wait for my friend.  Friend arrives, we get coffee, make small talk.)
  Me: Guess what Stretchy learned to do this weekend?  She can wave! Wave hello, Stretchy!
  (I frantically wave my arm around in front of the baby)
  Baby: Gaaaaa.  Ba. Ba. (gives quizzical expression and drops toy to ground)
  Me:  Come on, wave!  Hi! (I wave more, people start staring)
  Baby: Ba. Ba. (bangs table) AAhhhh! (starts crying).
I look like a giant liar.

As we sat talking to the doctor, Stretchy started waving.  The doctor waved back and said, "wow, already waving, huh?"  So, being the proud mom that I am, decided to try to show off her latest skill.

"Watch this," I said...  "Clap your hands..."

And for once, Stretchy actually did something awesome in front of somebody else.  She clapped.  The doctor seemed pretty impressed.  I was pretty impressed.  Which made me extra proud of my awesome baby.  Just had to share...