An afternoon at the playground.

Today we had a high of 70 degrees and headed to a local park to allow Baby S to burn some of that abundant energy. Look behind Baby S on that first picture and you will see Joseph's lower body. Baby S noticed him, his father, mother and 5-month old sister as soon as we arrived. Joseph and family are Japanese and Baby S was clearly taken with him. He is 27-months old and they played together for a while. It turns out that the father Jay, is a dentist and studied at L0ma Lind@ University. We talked about Southern California and how much we miss the area. Joseph and Baby S (and his baby sis) were the only Asian children in the playground and it was funny watching them check each other out, and how they studied each other's faces. A reminded of how important it is to be exposed to others who look like her.

Baby S was so much more confident today than any other time we have visited an outdoor playground. While she does well at the Mall, there is something about the full size structures that intimidates her. The only total miss was the swings, as she absolutely hates them. I'm pretty sure that in a few months she'll get over her fear.

Baby S enjoyed climbing on the playhouse and using the slide. She actually interacted with the other children and was not glued to my leg or P's. What really surprised us was that she spent about 15 minutes playing while P and I sat about 15 feet away. Baby S would occasionally look our way and smile, but was not anxious, just doing her thing. P and I recalled that on Thanksgiving we were thrilled because she played with her back to us, a first for her. Now she is confident enough to play on her own. Baby steps, baby steps.

Other than the puzzle at the Mall, slides are her favorite thing.

She did well climbing.

Remorseful, we have yet to find out what about. Do we really want to know?

Mama, I can't stop!

Not a fan of the swing. Don't worry Abuela, P removed her immediately.

Oh yeah she's happy. How do we know? Because the happy tongue is out in full force. We took 167 pictures and that tongue was out in most of them. We are afraid that she is going to end up biting her tongue and hurting herself.