We have been enjoying the ‘cooler’ summer temperatures, therefore, Brooke and I went to the botanical gardens and enjoyed the butterfly exhibit. It was nice that it wasn’t so hot that all you wanted to do was spend time in the water fountains. She had a lot of fun looking at them in the butterfly house and chasing after them in the large open gardens. So many different beautiful large ones!
We are really enjoying this time together as a family and yesterday we took Brooke to the Virginia Aquarium. She had an amazing time walking around and looking at all the exhibits. It is exciting to take her places now that she has turned a year because she really acknowledges and responds to her surroundings. She is a blur of motion in most of these pictures because she loved everything so much she just kept moving and looking at all the different things. She wasn’t too fond of seals but enjoyed the seahorses, fish, and turtles. She even tried to get into the water with the manta rays but the pool was really cloudy and hard to see. I think if she could really see them they probably would not wanted to have jumped in. It was a wonderful and fun afternoon.
This afternoon we went blueberry and blackberry picking at a nearby farm in Pungo. We were joined by Jen and her daughter Adrianna, who is one of Brooke’s favorite people. The girls had fun picking and eating the berries and so did we. AJ in particular was very good at picking with his speed and ability to get some of the hard to reach ones. It was a fun thing to do on a hot day.
People often ask me if now that Brooke is walking if things are harder for me. “Her walking doesn’t make it harder,” I answer, which is completely true. If anything her walking makes it easier. My relaxed walking cadence is faster than most adults and as a distance runner that goes for running too. I am not worried about ‘keeping up’ because she has to keep up with me. As it stands, I have more energy than she does. What IS a problem, however, is that she is TWICE the size she should be at this age. Therefore, she can reach things that a baby her age shouldn’t be able to. Such as: anything not in the exact center of the dinning room table, everything on every table top downstairs, all shelves and top of all bookcases, my desk top, the top of the banister, our nightstands and dressers, bathroom vanities, etc, etc. In fact, we have to keep our remote control for the TV on the fireplace mantle because the is the only surface downstairs she cannot reach. Now a two year old (which is how big Brooke is) has some knowledge and understanding of what to touch (whether they decide to listen to you notwithstanding). Unfortunately, it is near impossible to expect that cognitive ability out of a 13 month old. This is why we have these EXTRA TALL gates. One keeps her out of the kitchen because, yes, she would reach the burners. This morning after breakfast Brooke decided after being let out of her high chair that she didn’t like that Mommy was washing her tray and putting the dishes in the dishwasher (which mind you took all of 60-90 seconds) and decided to cry and then attempt to climb into the kitchen. I was so surprised I couldn’t help but laugh and take a few pictures.
On AJ’s first day of summer break before he starts with EPT we decided to go on a ‘day date’. We had a great lunch on the river and then went swimming. It was very nice to be at the pool with just each other and just relax.
