One Fish, Two Fish, I love you, Fish!

A couple months ago, I took Babykins to the Waikiki Aquarium.  She couldn't walk, yet, and while she enjoyed looking at each fish tank for a minute, she quickly got bored and was ready to leave.  So when we decided to go to the aquarium in Canada, I wasn't sure what to expect.

It turns out a couple months makes a big difference in the world of fish appreciation.  Babykins held our hands as she walked through the aquarium, pulling us from tank to tank.  When she found one that was especially exciting, she would push her hands against the glass and squeal.  At one point we even had to stop her from licking the aquarium glass.

This was fun to watch, but it got even better when Babykins discovered the "Please Touch Pool."  To her delight, Babykins was able to climb on the ledge of the pool and reach in to pat the starfish and sea anemone.  After a few minutes of exploring the sea creatures, we took Babykins back in to have another look at the fish. 

I put her down so she could stand next to one of the tanks, and she immediately dropped down into crawling position.  I stood back to see where she would go, and when she took off, I figured she was just crossing to another tank.  Instead she headed down the ramp leading back to the Touch Pool.  To my amazement, when the ramp bent to the right, she knew to follow it, and when it bent again, she turned, as well.  Seconds later, Babykins was crossing the floor of a new room and pulling herself up on the side of the Pool.  Who can deny a baby who put that much thought and effort into getting back to her favorite exhibit?

We spent a few more minutes petting the urchins, when Babykins discovered the most exciting part of the aquarium...the sink.  Usually Babykins fights getting her hands wiped after eating, but getting to wash her hands in a sink like a big girl is a different story.  By the time we were able to drag Babykins away from the sink, her fingers were wrinkly and she had the cleanest hands in the aquarium.

Babykins washes her hands at the aquarium...again :)

I'm pretty sure Babykins spent that night dreaming about beautiful fish and hands-free sinks.  She may not remember the aquarium when she gets older, but if she becomes a marine biologist or a compulsive hand washer, we'll know where she got her start.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

Begins with a single step.  Which means that Babykins is on her way!  On Saturday, as Hubbykins and I perused the brochures at the Victoria Visitor's Center, Babykins was preparing to reach another milestone.  Instead of holding her hand to help her walk around the center, I put my hand under her arm.  As she motored along, seemingly without leaning on me, I removed my hand and Babykins continued on another step by herself!

Hubbykins and I clapped and cheered, thrilled to see Babykins' first step.

For the next 2 days, Babykins refused to take a step unless she was firmly holding on to a hand.  Then yesterday morning, Babykins turned into a crying, clinging meltdown.  I spent most of the morning carrying her around our apartment, then went to playgroup and put her down for a nap.

Babykins woke up cheerful and ready to play.  An hour later, she was standing next to the TV stand eyeing up her musical toy.  The next thing I knew, she had taken 3 steps and was calmly playing with her toy!!!  Since then, Hubbyins and I have taped multiple sessions of Babykins walking, and our little girl is now able to walk across the room by herself.

It's both very exciting and a little sad.  Babykins is growing up, and soon she'll be running off without our help.  For now, though, we're still happy to lend a hand whenever she'll let us.

Charmed

We've been in Canada recently, hence the lack of blog posts.  Just because we weren't writing about it, though, doesn't mean Babykins didn't have quite the adventure!

One of Babykins' favorite things about traveling is making new friends.  She likes to wander the plane/train/boat/restaurant/store smiling at people and, more recently, reaching out to them to see if they'll come to her.  Babykins currently has a 99.9% "smile back" rate, and as far as she's concerned, the people who don't smile back are stinky, anyway.

Perhaps her most successful outreach of the trip occurred at our hotel in Vancouver.  While trying to plan our day, Babykins started to flirt with the concierge.  She gave her a smile, then a wave.  After a few minutes of playing shy, Babykins reached out to the concierge and held her finger.  This led to the concierge asking to hold Babykins, and shortly they were taking a stroll through the gift shop while Hubbykins and I looked at brochures.  A minute later they returned with Babykins proudly clutching a new stuffed animal.

Hubbykins and I looked at the stuffed animal, looked at each other, and promptly offered to either return or pay for the toy.  The concierge waved us off, saying it was a present, and sent us on our way.  Babykins had once again worked her magic.