She started rolling front to back and is now rolling over in
both directions. She has also figured out how to scoot backwards while on her
tummy, which is currently her only means of independent movement. She loves her
newfound mobility and uses it to reach things close by (I suspect we’ll be
baby-proofing the house soon!)
Also new this month: splashing in the bath and crying when something
is taken away that she wants (sorry, don't have any videos of either).
Highlights from Kristen’s visit:
Serendipity – a restaurant that specializes in scrumptious
desserts. We had a little mishap when Esme got curious about the oversized mug
of frozen hot chocolate. She cried. We laughed. She stopped crying. Then they
brought us more frozen hot chocolate. J
frozen hot chocolate - round 2
We visited the tallest lighthouse in NY, but, ironically,
Esme herself wasn’t tall enough to climb to the top. However, she was given a
certificate to come back for free when she’s 42 inches.
We had our own private tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,
learning of sordid murder mysteries and famous dead guys along the way. Esme
did great riding in her carrier.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery receiving tomb where dead bodies were kept before burial and stored during the winter when the ground was frozen.
We visited the Met, enjoyed falafel sandwiches in the rain, and explored NYC.
neat Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park
Esme had her first visit to the zoo, but she was still too
little to see (or care about) the animals so we’ll have to try again in a few
months. For now, we got some cute pictures of her with animals in the
background.
Highlights from the Canada trip:
Esme went international when we crossed into Canada at
Niagara Falls (although she slept through most of it). And, in the quaint
little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Esme got to swing in a park for the first
time.
strolling through colorful Niagara-on-the-Lake
she was nearly swallowed by the swing!
she's still young enough to prefer the cup to the ice cream
We visited Deryk, Maria, Emilija and Neven at their lake cottage north of Toronto and spent a relaxing three days taking naps, swimming, chatting, playing games,
and hiking. Esme hung out with her friends and met a new baby, as well as a cat
which was very intriguing to her. Maria taught Esme the “trot trot to Boston”
song – so much fun! Esme had her first boat ride and got to wear a life jacket. She didn’t like it at first, but quickly
changed her tune when she realized she could lick it the entire time.
tree hugger!!
sucking on her new favorite toy - the lid to her plastic cookie jar
"what is this strange beast I see before me?"
This is how a 5-month old would pet an animal (fortunately we didn't let her get too near the kitty)
Esme joined us in exploring Ottawa (Canada’s capitol) where
we toured Parliament, visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, strolled through
a huge outdoor market, and saw an inordinate amount of wedding parties walking
the streets. While gawking at a bride and groom, the stroller ran away from us
(don’t worry, Esme wasn’t in it) and into a crowd of people who gave us some
unamused looks. Maybe you had to be there, but it was really quite hilarious.
Ottawa from behind Parliament
Our last stop was Montreal where Esme played in the grass at
one of the parks in Old Montreal while Ryan and I enjoyed some maple flavored
chocolate (you can’t go to Canada and not eat something maple flavored, right?!).
On our last day we found a FREE baby pool at a local park. Of course we weren’t
prepared and didn’t have her swimsuit, but we got her in there anyway J
apparently putting her toes in the grass wasn't enough this time- she needed to graze
