Busy Bee

Petra has been a busy busy girl. First a long three day trip up to Big Sur for Auntie Alena's memorial, then a long weekend with grandma visiting. Plus, developmental explosions galore. This is one busy baby!

Last weekend we had 3 long days of driving for the memorial. Friday we drove to San Simeon (with a little break in Santa Barbara to have lunch and run around a bit, and another in San Luis Obispo at the Mission). San Simeon was socked in with fog and drizzle, but Petra loved the beach anyway. She collected each and every pebble she could find, and there were a few. She'd hand each one to Mommy or Daddy (who would surreptitiously toss it behind their back), then pick up the next. Very sweet. Geologist, I'm sure!

Saturday we drove the windy road up to Big Sur, and Petra slept the entire way! Such a good girl! We spent a beautiful day on the beach with Alena's family and friends, and said our good-byes. Petra really had a great time (proven by the repeated use of the word "beach" since we've returned. Nearly surpassing "park"). She ran in the sand, climbed on the rocks, ate sand, chased the waves, and watched a kite fly (and said "Kite"). You can bet she slept like a log all the way back to San Simeon that evening, and you'd lose! She slept until the last 5 minutes, then fussed and whined because she was still in the car when she awoke. Poor thing!

Saturday was then the long drive back, with a break in at the lovely town-cum-tourist-trap Solvang. Truth is, it's not much different than a mall, but the shops at least were independents instead of chains. Petra danced on the street as the clock tower rang (oh so cute!), and ran into an antique store to pound out a few notes on a $19,000 piano (yikes! Run!). She also enjoyed the magic show in the park, though she wouldn't volunteer to disapear into a hat.

This weekend was all grandma, all the time- grandma and a bath, grandma and stories, grandma and drawing, grandma and swings, grandma and hiking, grandma and a bath (again). Mommy and Daddy even got out of the house for an hour or two to run errands while grandma watched over (a sleeping) Petra. Of course, grandma was thrilled to see Petra. Thank goodness! Grandma leaves tomorrow (careful with the punctuation there), and will get to hang out with Petra in the morning on her own for a few hours. Good luck!

Now, what has PETRA been up to? Lots of new words, some with more than one syllable (Tractor = "tracdido" her current favorite), some replacing existing signs (Flower = "Fla"). She's always surprising us with what she knows. She can pick out all the animals in her books (show me the penguin, snake, owl, ghost (!) etc.), she matches objects she sees in one page of the book with the same objects elsewhere in the book. While her drawing skills may not be perfect, she can recognize all the objects and characters Daddy draws on the easel- and his drawing is FAR less than perfect. What a good little brain she has. She has also begun to do imaginary play. She'll take her stuffed animals or dolls and "feed" them with a spoon, or give them drinks with a cup. She also carefully tuck them into bed. We'll be having tea parties any day!

I Love this baby!