I bought a “sandbox” toy set the other day, and ever since, Brianna has been playing with it non-stop. So, we took her to a nearby playground this morning that has a sandbox. Surprisingly, she wasn’t too sure about the sand (must take after her Daddy!). After watching a little boy play nearby, she decided maybe it wasn’t all bad.
Still, she was much more interested in swinging on the swings and playing on the rocking duck:
I also put her on a slide:
But, she didn’t like that too much until I took her down the big slide. That, apparently, was much more fun. Despite the rain that hit before we left, we had a good time hanging out with the other kids, and eventually playing with her sandbox toys…outside the sandbox. Go figure!
Brianna continues to learn and grow every day! She still is not much interested in walking by herself, but that does not slow her down. She just crawls over to her walker and off she goes! Here is a picture of her towards the end of one of her marathons (she does several a day) – multiple loops downstairs, stop at the foot of the stairs and go up and down, more loops downstairs.
Here she is chatting with me while finding new uses for her walker (You can push it from the back! You can push it from the front! You can even push it from either side).
She continues to eat everything in sight (now that we got rid of that nasty ear infection), and she seems to be adding more words while improving the enunciation of her current vocabulary. The big one the last couple of days is “please.” Anytime you ask her to “say please” she does the sign for please (or at least her version of it!). She always has a HUGE grin on her face when she does it – too cute.
She has really been into reading lately also. She will sit in her chair and read the same book over and over again. Then she will pull out another, and repeat. The balloons in these pictures were her favorites today.
She has also become very clingy and shy. If she has not seen you in say, the last week or so, she does NOT want you to hold her or touch her or generally come near her until she is ready. Which brings me to my final observation – I do believe she will be a tad strong-willed. She is already starting to demonstrate how stubborn she can be…daily… Jason has already commented that we are getting a peek at what the “terrible twos” will be like. 
This past week, Mimi came to visit and we all had a wonderful time. We all went to a baseball game and did some shopping. Tatie Kat joined us in time for Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday we went to a local tea spot to have afternoon tea. Brianna very much enjoyed her first tea party!
Brianna has been a little fussy for the last couple of weeks, and she has definitely started acting shy around pretty much anyone but Jason and me. We think the fussiness is most likely due to all the teeth she is getting – currently she has at least 10 teeth, 3 of which pushed through during this past week. At least I think she only has 10 – she is not really interested in letting me do a thorough check. I have to rely on what I can see when she is crying…
The best part of this past week was Wednesday. When I went to pick her up from daycare, her teacher held her hands as she walked towards me. When she was about 3 feet away, her teacher let go and Brianna walked the last few steps all by herself! It was very sweet, and very exciting, and she seemed very proud of herself. I say “seemed” because she is not necessarily all that interested in repeating the act right now. She takes a step or two here and there, and occasionally she stands by herself for a moment, but for the most part, she crawls or hangs onto whatever is available.
To celebrate the Canes fantastic victory over Boston in Game 7, Brianna wore her celebration Canes outfit and posed with her Cam-bear (complete with Cam Ward jersey, of course). It is only a celebration outfit b/c she only wears it after a win (they seem to lose when she wears it on game day…). The Canes were up 3 games to 1 in the series and it looked like victory was inevitable, but Boston fought back and forced a game 7. Then Boston scored the first goal…things were not looking good… But Brianna turned up the pacifier sucking just in time to spur her team on and they pulled it out in overtime – the Cardiac Canes strike again! As you can see, Brianna is so proud of Cam, that she gave her Cam-bear a big hug!
Off to the conference finals we go to face the Pittsburgh Penguins!
After a day of eating and playing, including slicking her hair back with sunscreen, all with a completely unsnapped onesie (wasn’t me!), you get a fairly happy kid with crazy hair, a little food on her nose, and her shirt hanging out! This kid does not have time for baths, or clean clothes, or any of that boring stuff. She is on the move!
It may not be her prettiest look, but she was happy so it is all good with me!
We have all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. We chose to do “Mother’s Day brunch” yesterday to avoid all the crowds. I think we went to one of the few restaurants that does not have a high chair, and we left her booster seat at home. Soooooo, she sat on the bench of the booth all by herself. She did great! She did manage to get strawberries everywhere (the chef was very nice and sent out some fresh fruit for her), but we all had fun and that is all that matters.
Today, Brianna was kind enough to sleep until 8:15 or so, and then we went off to a local neighborhood with a fabulous (and relatively flat!) loop for inline skating. I love going there to skate and haven’t been in a VERY long time. Jason pushed Brianna around in her stroller while I did laps. Then, we did some shopping and later we will watch some hockey (sushi for dinner!!). Fabulous weekend.
I have gotten quite used to getting some pretty cute photos of Brianna, but even I think she outdid herself on these photos. Enjoy!
How do you like my hair with my hat? So stylish.
Strike a pose!
Must save Albert from the kitties…
HAT!
We took Brianna on her first real road trip this weekend to Gainesville for Tia’s graduation. Many of you have commented on her “99% Angel” shirt and asked when is she ever less than 100% Angel?? Answer: road trips! Still, she wasn’t too bad. She just really, really fought her naps. But even when exhausted, she was still pretty good. She slept great at Uncle Andy and Aunt Michiyo’s house (thank goodness!). All in all, it was a great trip!
Here are some graduation day photos.
Christina Marie (Tia to Brianna) graduated Summa Cum Laude in Nursing. Yay Tia!!
The siblings:
Brianna in her graduation dress and with her Daddy:
The morning after graduation, we got up really early to head down to campus to reminisce about our college days and to get some gator gear, especially some national championship gear. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning! We started at the Reitz Union and headed down the North Lawn (the Green Banana) to the science library – home of the French Fries and close to Century Tower.
Then we walked a little around the auditorium where I used to perform with the symphonic band, and down to the art library (it is a beautiful tree-lined walk). After that, we headed back towards the tower and saw this fantastic sign – we just had to take a picture!
Brianna will do the TD sign by herself, but generally not when you are trying to take a picture…
After that, we walked up Stadium Rd to The Swamp. It was open, so we stepped inside and took a couple pictures there too.
After that, we went past my old dorm (good old East Hall!) and headed to the bookstore to pick up some Gator gear. The whole family is now all set! We had a wonderful trip. My only regret is not getting a picture of Brianna with her Uncle Andy and Aunt Michiyo. I flat forgot until we were headed out of town.
