While eating dinner tonight, Brianna decided to see what hummus would do for her skin…
She cracks herself up!
Today we went to the annual firm picnic at my boss’ house. He has a great pool and the kids always have a great time. We weren’t sure what Brianna would think of the pool since we have not yet had a chance to take her to the neighborhood pool, but she loved it. She had a great time splashing in the whirlpool, playing with the ball, and watching the big kids play in the big pool.
This weekend we met up with Grandpa Bill (and all his family) at the beach. We rarely get to see Grandpa Bill, and this is the first time I have met his family, so this was a special treat! Everyone adored Brianna, and she handled the huge number of strangers surprisingly well. We even had a ~2 hour dinner (with 24 people) at a restaurant, and she only fussed at the very end (which coincidentally was her bedtime). The beach was beautiful and very peaceful. In fact, it was much nicer than I expected! Despite the fact that we have lived here for several years, this was our first trip to the local beaches. Jason and I both admit to being beach snobs – it is hard not to be when you grow up on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I still love my home beaches best, but I could get used to the occasional trip to these beaches as well, especially since they are so much closer. Here are some pictures of our brief trip.
Jason, Brianna, and Grandpa Bill – this is the view we had from our room. We literally walked a few steps out our door to hit the beach!
This last picture is pretty much as close as I could get to the water without Brianna fussing. She has never minded loud noises, but something about the combination of the noise and the moving water made her nervous. We did dip her toes in the water once – let me just say she did not care for it…So, no pictures of her frolicking on the sand or in the surf. We will try again when we visit the Gulf coast later this year.
I made some chocolate chip cookies today, so Brianna had her first cookie – it was fresh from the oven! At first I gave her the whole cookie. She nibbles on crackers and apple slices, so I thought she might also nibble on the cookie. Nope. She just started digging out the chocolate chips. So, I broke it up for her. Suddenly, she was in cookie heaven!! Before too long, she had cookie everywhere (as you can see) – in her hair, all over her face, up her nose…
This cookie is magnifique!!
Uh oh (her new favorite word), all gone. More! Hey, I want more cookie! Lady, you had better give me more cookie…
I think she likes them! 
Well, this may be a little late, but it is not like I haven’t been posting! Perhaps I am just in denial – 14 months?? Really?? As you can see, she is getting so big.
I did not measure her height or weight, but trust me, she is growing. She walks completely on her own on rare occasion – she simply has no interest. She can get where she wants to go so much faster either by crawling or pushing her walking toy. Still, when she does not think about it, she walks just fine. In fact, I think the whole walking thing is just part of her personality showing through. She is very deliberate about most things, and rarely tries anything without first studying it at great length. She is definitely a watcher-then-doer kind of gal!
To celebrate her 14th month birthday, we went to the annual picnic thrown by the local Gator club. It was a BEAUTIFUL day – sunny, temps in the 70s…in JUNE! Fabulous. After eating the wonderful grilled fare, we headed over to the fancy-schmancy playground (the picnic was held in a fancy-schmancy neighborhood). Brianna had to try the swings (of course!).
She was also fascinated by the “spin toys” – not sure what you call them but you sit on it while someone spins it around. She wasn’t really willing to get on it (that whole watch before do thing again), but she was absolutely fascinated by it, and loved watching the other kids play on it.
Today I pulled out this dress Jason bought for her when she was about 4 months old. It is supposedly for a 3-6 month old, but as you can see, it still fits her. Obviously, it was big at the time, and obviously it is a lot shorter now than it was, but she still looks adorable!
Poor Cat-in-th-Hat…she looks so innocent for someone squashing the cat. I think this picture gives a little hint of what she will look like when she is older.
Brianna – where is the Cat-in-the-Hat??
So, today as I was putting Brianna in her sleepsack for a nap, she saw The Octopus. Most of you have seen The Octopus – it is a stuffed blue octopus by Baby Einstein that plays music when you squeeze or push on his head, and recites colors when you squeeze or push on the ends of his tentacles. Anyway, she saw The Octopus and HAD TO HAVE IT!! No biggie – it was not the first time, so I gave it to her and in the crib they both went. You might think this was a bad idea, but normally she plays with it for a few minutes and drifts happily off to sleep. Then as an added bonus, she has something to play with when she wakes up. Not this time. Today she played with The Octopus – repeatedly pushing on his head for over an hour, almost non-stop – she did not fuss even once. I got to listen to the same four octopus songs play over and over and over for about 70 minutes. By that time, I figured she was not going to sleep and that it was time for her to get up. You may find this hard to believe, but the music did not bother me. Truthfully, I spent the entire hour amused and amazed at her perseverance. All the same, no more musical toys in the crib!
Brianna is definitely a berry girl – raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, whatever! She loves them all. You might think this is just normal, but while Jason will eat strawberries, I don’t recall seeing him eat many if any blueberries or raspberries. This morning she had blueberries for the first time and I couldn’t give them to her fast enough. I had them in my Cheerios, and she kept demanding “MO!” with an occasional please (if prompted). Hmmmm…I guess I am just going to have to share my berries with my little munchkin. It is a good thing she is so cute!
She is also still really into balls. We went to a neighborhood concert last Friday night, and she was most distressed that she could not play with the “big” balls the other kids had. (We told her she could if she wanted to walk over there and get them…she didn’t). At that time, she didn’t have any big balls, so I picked one up and it is a big hit! This afternoon she even figured out how to kick it (much to her delight and mine!). Here she is trying to get into her rocking chair WITH the ball and ultimately losing the battle.
She did eventually figure out how to get the ball out while she was trying to get in, but it was a struggle of course. She just has to do it the hard way. As you can see, sitting in the chair with blocks is MUCH easier!!
Sleepy baby – time for a nap! Nighty-night…
