labor day weekend

I'm skipping Miscellany Monday this week because, as far as I'm concerned, the weekend isn't over yet!

On Saturday afternoon one of Chris's co-workers came over with her 1-year-old daughter for a play date. We had never gotten together with this family before and it went well. Celia was very shy at first, but did finally warm up. She was showing everything to the other baby, giving her toys, and telling her about letters and colors. I was thinking that Pita could open her own little preschool and teach other babies :). I also couldn't get over the fact that the 11-month-old was bigger than Celia! Crazy.

On Sunday morning I converted our high chair into a booster seat so Celia can sit at the table with us. She's been fussing about being in the high chair lately, and I thought the novelty of the booster seat would interest her in sitting to eat again. Then we went out to get her a plate to use at the table. We didn't have any non-breakable ones. We avoid toys with characters and lots of branding, but when I saw a Sesame Street dish set I knew it was the one. Pita has, on her own, become obsessed with Elmo. She was pretty excited to open the dishes and have lunch with them when we got home.

In the afternoon we went to the zoo! Yet again I didn't get any pictures. It was just too busy. We walked all around the zoo, had a snack, stopped at a little playground, and rode the train they have that goes through the forest where there are a lot of deer and elk. That was an experience because we had to wait for the train to come in very close quarters with a lot of people and a lot of cranky, crying kids. When we got off the train, Chris and I were both thinking how lucky we are to have such a happy and well-behaved little girl! I think Celia was just confused by all the crying, wondering why the other kids were so upset. She has her moments, of course, but we've never had a public meltdown. We also stopped at a petting area with goats, calves, a rabbit, and turkeys. Celia had asked to go in and touch the goats, but she was scared to touch them once we got inside. She liked seeing them though, and she did touch one goat after Chris and I showed her we could pat it. On our way out, Pita saw a little boy with a ice cream cone. Suddenly she needed a "snack"- haha! When I asked what she wanted, sure enough it was ice cream. So, we stopped and she had a little ice cream before we left.

Today is a beautiful day. We've had perfect weather all weekend, sunny and in the 70s. We have no plans today- just to spend time outside and take Celia to the park. Chris and I both went for runs, played with tiny Pepita, and I cleaned the house while Chris and Celia played outside after lunch. I've also discovered a new solution to all the trouble I've had getting Celia to eat. Turns out she will eat all kinds of things if Daddy's eating them too. Every time Chris has eaten something today, Celia wanted to sit in his lap and eat off his plate. She even had tomato and snap peas from his salad. These are the first fresh vegetables she's been willing to eat in a long time. Now I've told Chris that he needs to be home for all mealtimes so Pita can eat off his plate!

I hope everyone has had a great long weekend!