Photodump

As has become our norm when visiting Baltimore, time that wasn't allocated to other activities was spent hanging with family around my folks houses.  After our lunch with Ali, Peter and I decided we need to take a break from restaurants for a bit. Cole is just not in a place where sitting still for a meal at a restaurant is an option. Of course, we'll revisit going out to eat with time, but for now we'll work on manners at our dining room table. So with no more outings on our agenda we spent our final days in Maryland just hanging around, lounging by the baby pool, and exploring the gardens.

 Our little girl may be the queen of sass.

As grandparents often do, every time we go to visit she is welcomed with a few new toys. Like a ride along car or wheelbarrow.

Following our trip to Maryland, my dad came back with us to Memphis. He comes to visit every few months (as I wrote about here and here) and his trip was planned before we decided to take a week long trip North. Coincidentally, we were on the same flight back to Memphis.

We went to playground but it was a tad warm so we spent most of the time in the shade snacking.

We also made our way to the zoo, where Cole was quick to show her PopPop the sea lion and her new love of the fountains.

Our trip and visitor were so much fun, though it made for a very busy ten days. We're going to stay local for awhile before we make our way to the beach in late summer.

An Observation on Life at 15 Months

The summer after my junior year of college I spent six weeks in Ortigia, a little island in Sicily, studying Italian. I went to wrap up my foreign language credit. After taking Italian 101 at Clemson, I was able to take a condensed 201 summer course in Italy. Despite having a year of Italian under my belt, when I got to Italy I was overwhelmed by how little functional Italian I was able to speak.  I had a few phrases mastered, but for the most part I spent every conversation listening for a familiar word to hold on to.

After a few weeks, I realized that I was understanding more and more but my vocabulary acquisition was not keeping pace with my comprehension. While I was able to understand most of what heard, I was left replying, "I understand. But I don't have words to answer." It was certainly frustrating but I've recently gained a new appreciation for the experience. You see, Cole, at fifteen months, is just like me in Italy!

My baby has a few words she's mastered and a few signs but it's not much. And she's frustrated. She's been able to communicate with us using her signs and she's quick to answer Yes/No questions. She understands what I mean when I tell her to sit on her bottom or present her with instructions but she really can't respond verbally.  She is absolutely in the same place I was. Every week I notice her attempting new words and responding to more diverse instructions.  It'll just be a matter of time before she is spouting new words daily. But, for now, I think back to how I felt in Italy and then make every effort to speak in a way that will help her learn and reinforce the efforts she's making.

A Funny Thing Happened

People, my daughter had her first kiss! I was blindsided. We were at the park in Maryland having what I thought was a pleasant time when Cole locked eyes with a boy in the playground tunnel. He was just a few months older than her so the kiss was as precious as it was surprising. I had my camera out and was poking my head in the tunnel just as they decided to smooch. I got a picture of the moment before and the moment after. Cole was pumped! Her daddy, Scottie and I were all dumbfounded. This child has more flirt in her than Peter and I combined!

After we left the playground, we walked around the park for a bit. Cole watched some older boys playing lacrosse and then found some flowers to smell. She's quite the fan of flowers so we taught her to smell with her nose, as opposed to with her hands.