a sign of the times

Somehow it's already Wednesday, but here I sit still relishing in the wonderful weekend we had.  Our dear Mama Nelly came to visit and we had oodles of fun with her!  We tried to make good use of every moment we had together, so we packed in quite an event-load.  We took her to the pool and showed off our swimming skills (we're now jumping in all by ourself- belly-flopping and fully submerging with a smile).  We went to the Arts Festival and saw giant Lego creations and danced to live music.  We went to Daddy's convocation for his Architecture Scholarship (which is why we were blessed with Mama Nelly's presence in the first place). *See picture below of Caz's smashing convocation ensemble- I thought he looked quite debonair...and convocational. 

Sidenote: By "we went" to the convocation, I should really clarify.  Although all four of us went to it, Caz and Mommy didn't actually attend the ceremony.  You see, we're experiencing a marvelous stage of exploration, wonderment, independence and general busy-bodiness at present.  So, sitting in a lap or chair for an hour is ABSOLUTELY out of the question, regardless of fancy iPhone Baby Einstein antics or the availability of any other piece of handheld entertainment, for that matter.  Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun playing around Jones Stadium with dandelions and then crashing the convocation's reception afterward...and boy did we crash it.  A wise mother once told me to always smile and laugh in public as a reaction to any and every behavior displayed by your child.  It shows a sense of confidence and control that makes people think you know exactly what you're doing and that you're not the least bit embarassed or stressed....I'm still working on it.

Alas, I've gotten far off-course- back to our weekend activities.  We also paid a visit to the park and practiced our monkey skills- running, climbing, swinging, yelling at others and picking up poo (actually that was last week).  We watched "Up" (thank you Joanne Baumgardner, silent "j") AND part of "Planet Earth".  We went to the grocery store for a big shop.  And what visit wouldn't be complete without not one, but TWO, trips to Wally World- fantastic!  So all in all, it was a grand ole time and we can't wait to do it again soon.

Other exciting updates: we very intentionally repeated "Guck, guck" today when we visited Auntie Joli's duck.  And we're also signing more words: "outside" and "book" are recent additions.  A recent read has actually encouraged me to really continue with the sign language even as verbal language begins to develop.  Apparently signing will not only continue to advance cognitive learning abilities, but it will also be a big help to Mommy and Daddy during the terrible twos (I gather that signs are often displayed during tantrums when words have ceased to be sufficient or audible).  So, onward we go!