Poolside

Working on the assumption that you find my kid nearly as cute as I do (and you must, if you're still reading this blog, for which, by the way, I give my sincerest thanks, as the me I am today would probably bore the heck out of the me before mommyhood), here is another video:

Little Miss A in the pool, splashing around a bit

And here's one more

C'mon, it's at least as cute as the old Panda Cam from the National Zoo, right?  Or those daily puppy e-mails?

We were sharing the pool with a little girl, who must've been about 6 or 7, and her mom, and when I was desperately trying not to drop the phone into the water while filming Anika and Armando, I said, "look over here, Peanut!" to try and get Anika's attention, and the girl turned to her mom with a giggle and said, "Look, mama, they named their baby Peanut!!"

Yes.  Yes we did.  It also makes for the perfect nickname, since her little bald head kind of looks like a circus peanut.

Anyway, today Anika also figured out that when she throws a toy, someone will pick it up for her.  And then she can throw it.  Or toss it.  Or rest it on the edge of the table and watch it teeter and then fall down.  Or lightly hold it just past her lap and drop it to the ground.  She experimented with virtually any and all way possible to drop a toy to the ground, glancing mischievously up at her father after each and every demonstration that gravity works.  Poor Sophie the giraffe didn't know what hit her.  Unfortunately, by this point the phone was out of juice and therefore no more videos to be had for the day.

Another highlight from today:  we had an afternoon playdate with the moms from meetup.com, where Anika made her introductions to a very adorable girl, Mikaila, who is almost exactly her age:

Now THAT, my friends, is the definition of cute.