Busy

Lots has been going on the last several weeks. Frannie got to have some serious family time....several days with her aunts (great aunts but they are much too young to be called that) and cousin, then another few days with her uncles Ben and Alan (for their marriage!) and then a day meeting her great grandma, aunt and uncle on Brian's side of the family for the first time. Throw in some Meemaw (Frannie has changed this to "Maymay" much to my dismay) and Boppa (Grandpa's new name) time and she's been quite the attraction.

She's also been talking up a storm. She tries to say most everything we say. Lots of it sounds similar but her communication gets better and better everyday. She puts her shoes on (anything that slips on) by herself and loves being a helper. She feeds Foxy in the morning and helps throw things in the garbage and even helps me take the garbage out. Flowers, animals, and birds are still her favorites. But her all-time favorite activity at the moment is digging in the dirt/sand and playing with water. Preferrably combining the two together. The weirdest and most amazing development is how she is now using our phones and iPad. She doesn't use them that much but in the past few months she has learned how to delicately tap the screen on the app she wants and touch the buttons/pictures to get the game going or play the video/music. It's incredible! I heard music the other day only to find that she had gotten it going all by herself. Crazy. 

I love watching her learn and grow by the minute. She truly amazes me every day. And she not only makes me smile everyday but she seems to bring a smile to most people around her as well. She says hi and bye to pretty much everyone and for those (even cashiers or fellow shoppers) she seems to really like, she blows them kisses. I think she said bye bye to the entire Chipotle restaurant the other day. Social creature she is.

Birthday

36? Can I really be 36? I'd like to say my math is wrong but numbers don't lie. My birthdays used to involve several days of parties and get togethers along with eating and lots of drinking. Sigh. It's very different now but there were highlights of a different sort.

I was able to have a little alone time in dad's garden harvesting blueberries, we had a family day at the beach, we went to Wilderness Walk, and Brian and I were able to sit outside, eat pizza, and drink beer for almost two hours without being eaten alive by mosquitos. It reminded me why I love summer.

Frannie was a riot at the beach slowly, slowly making her way into the water. We figured out that we have to leave her totally alone for her to make her way to the water. If we attempted to help...she ran back to the sand. Because really, for her there is nothing better than playing in the sand. Finally we were all in the water and she was up to her chest splashing and having fun.

Wilderness Walk took on a whole new meaning for me this year. I know I took her last year, but this year Frannie's love of animals culminated at Wilderness Walk. She had SO much fun. She loved the ducks and feeding the goats. She really shows no fear and went up to most every animal. Her only hesitation came in the form of a large tortoise in the petting zoo which is probably because Brian and I both envisioned it snapping her fingers off-until we found out it was a tortoise, not a defunct snapper.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and kind thoughts. I'm so lucky and grateful for my family and friends.