Observation

Nothing spoils an imaginary appetite for imaginary tea like a waitress with an unimaginably smelly diaper.

We went to the nearby park today. Only stayed about 20 minutes, but it was long enough for us to get hot and sweaty and Annika to get thirsty. She finished playing and started looking around for water. "Awa, Awa!" She said, pointing at random things in the park. Lesson for Mom... bring a drink to the park.

Two teddy bears, a stuffed dog, and I enjoyed fine dining in the Wright Family Playroom this afternoon. Miss Annika was our waitress. She kept us well supplied with soup, hamburgers, french fries and refreshments. I do have to admit though, my enthusiasm for the scrumptious tea and crumpets began to dwindle after a few dozen servings.

Annika spent the afternoon playing with the neighbor girls. More accurately, she drank gatorade while they played. They have a playhouse in the back where they spend quite a bit of time and as part of their tea party, they enjoyed a glass of gatorade. The other kids had a few sips and moved on. Annika had never been given a whole glass of something so tasty in her life. She sat and chugged the whole thing. In a no-spill sipper cup, this took a good 15 minutes. Then, the neighbor asked if she wanted more! "Si, si!" she replied. Next time I need a babysitter I'm calling up a glass of gatorade.

It's all about fashion

Annika is 15 months old and she's quite interested in fashion. She picks things out of the laundry basket and holds them up to her to see how they'll look. She hangs bags on her shoulder and trots around the house, shrugging them back into place as though she's trying out the latest handbag at the mall. She's been wearing earbuds around her neck all morning, replacing them as they fall off while she plays. She doesn't even know how stylish she is.

Also a vocabulary update... spanish is losing. She says: cheese, book, ba (ball), mama, papa (papi & grandpa), shoe, no, uh oh, si, awa (agua), ny ny (blankie), lala (Laura), and probably a few more I'm forgetting right now. She understands and responds to both Spanish and English seemingly equally.