Babies and pigtails.

For the past month or so, Baby S has been clearly saying "baby" amid all her baby talk. I don't know if she is referring to herself or it is just a word she happens to like. Yesterday afternoon, I took her to the indoor playground to spend some energy. It was too windy outside to play comfortably. Baby S chose the opportunity to reveal her social butterfly side. She talked to every child in the playground and played with a lot of them.

Until now, while obviously enjoying being in the company of other kids, Bay S has been more of an observer. She walks over to them and says hi, but remains closer to our side. Yesterday she played chase with the older kids and squealed every time she saw a baby. Baby S would point at the child, squeal and say, "Mama, baby." The funny thing is that the babies (between 12-14 months) were as tall and much heavier than Baby S. I guess that now that she is almost two, she feels she is a big girl, a step above babies.

Baby S really hit it off with a handsome 4-year old. His mother is Thai and his father Caucasian. He really looked like JJ at that age, just gorgeous. The little boy is an only child, and according to the father, not very good at playing with younger children. He was wonderful with Baby S, very careful around her (the boy is a freaking tornado), and slowed down to allow Baby S to "catch" him. His dad was very surprised at how nice and considerate he was.

Later on, a 7-year old girl and her brother arrived. Both were taken by Baby S and wanted to play with her. The brother was 4-5 and would follow Baby S around, then pet her head. Baby S's new friend, and self-appointed protector told the other boy, "Don't do that, she is NOT a pet." Dude, that so cracked me up. What a chivalrous young man. Baby S was running around, totally jazzed up and tripped a few times. The girl helped Baby S up, only to be chided by Baby S's friend, "Excuse me, she is very capable of standing up on her own." Yep, he said capable. Good looks and a decent vocabulary.

Baby S played for almost two hours and I was hoping that she would nap on the way home. She was obviously tired, as evidenced by her crankiness. No matter what I tried, she was too wired to fall asleep. Baby S finally bit the dust at 5:00 p.m. P decided to wake her up an hour later, because we did not want her to be up all night. Big mistake and we paid dearly. Hell hath no fury like when Baby S is awaken before she is ready (or when I'm hungry). She was in a foul mood, and it seemed that she would remain that way all night. I told P to allow her to watch Ni Hao Kai Lan and as soon as she saw Kai Lan, she was off my lap, all smiles and forgot about how mad she was at us. :)

Yesterday, on a whim, I finally bit the bullet and tried pigtails on Baby S. She has so much hair and it is always all over her eyes. Can't wait for her bangs to grow out. I am completely useless when it comes to feminine things, but I think they came out pretty decent. How bad am I at girly stuff? I sent P a picture and he texted me the following: "Oh goodness. I never thought you'd be the one to turn her into a girl." Hmm, I'm her mother, who did you think was going to do her hair? Yeah, that bad.

I did not notice the chili stain by her nose until after I took the picture.

Coastie granddaughter. Grandpa, thanks for the shirt.

Baby S considers this fish her property, and does not appreciate it when others play with it.

Beyond cute.

Passed out.

She is so angelic when she sleeps.

3D baby.

I'm so funny!