Some of you probably wonder what Leila has been doing all summer. Well, this girl likes to go go go! She's been walking while holding our hands for a while now and just this week she's started chasing dogs while not holding anyone's hand at all. She has a pretty expansive vocabulary, and mostly likes words that begin with B and P and D and G. Ball, book, bear, block, and bmoo (what a cow says) are all great topics for conversation. She also likes to say Nuh-night and Buh-bye and uh-oh when she hurls her toys out of her reach.
On Monday mornings we go visit her friends at the zoo, where we especially like to hang out in the cool Polar Bear rooms. We also like to go bmoo at the cows, baa at the sheep, and cluck at the chickens. We've even spotted two new gorillas in the primate area, girl gorillas from San Diego.
On Tuesdays we go to storytime at Davis-Kidd, where all the boys and girls wear party clothes to go play with a model train set, sing "If You're Happy and You Know It," and read books about five silly monkeys, Corduroy the Bear, or farm animals.
On Wednesdays we go to the Farmer's Market at the Botanical Gardens to get delicious treats like tiny cucumbers and just-picked peaches. We also like to smell at the herbs that the herb farmers bring like chocolate mint or lemon basil. Last week we brought home some zucchini bread too. The Farmer's Market is one of Leila's favorite places to practice walking by herself--the grass is nice and soft and there are so many exciting things to see and very few hazards that she might "accidentally" pick up to test her throwing arm with.
On Thursdays we sometimes go to an encore performance of storytime at Davis-Kidd and often find ourselves running other errands (especially before weekends where we have big trips planned). If we have extra time, we go shopping at the mall or at thrift stores, which Leila really likes because she can find lots of trouble to get into AND sometimes she comes home with a goodie. This Thursday she came home with a set of butterfly wings to celebrate the fact that she walked all the way from Dillard's to the end of Macy's without asking to be picked up.
On Fridays we like to wish Daddy wasn't at work, because usually Mommy is out of ideas by then. This Friday we even went to his office so we could take him to lunch!
On most Saturdays we go to the library and on Sundays sometimes we go to the dogpark.
Every day Leila gets to go on a walk with Mommy in the early afternoon and then again with Daddy when he gets home from work. Leila likes it when Frida comes too, but sometimes that's a lot to handle. We often walk to the park to play on the swings and down to a neighbors house to play with dogs.
We're looking forward to visiting with our friends Tabitha and Danny, who have been wonderful about coming to Memphis every summer since we moved here. After their much-anticipated visit, we'll be driving to Thomaston to visit with Sarah and Rachel for July Fourth. Mommy will be making a side trip to Mobile to be Roman's Godmother. Then we'll be back to routine!
