Digger

Activities

Much of yesterday was spent wandering aimlessly around the community with Avery leading the way.  Our HOA is having gravel spread over the vacant lots and having fencing installed around them (otherwise they become dumping grounds for construction debris from houses being built/repaired/remodeled).  As such, they are using a digger to spread the gravel around.  For Avery, this means a good chunk of time was spent watching that digger. 

In the morning, Avery and I walked down to the beach.  I figured she'd want to pick up sea shells or play in the sand, but in a rare moment of calm, she just wanted to sit on my lap and watch the waves.  We probably sat there for a good 20 minutes just watching the waves.  That's about as ideal as you can get for my tastes. 

This morning, with no wind and lots of sun, Avery and I headed over to the pool while D was in town buying groceries.  Avery has already developed quite a reputation around here.  A woman I've not met/seen before showed up and said, "This must be the little fish!"  She said her husband has been at the pool a couple of times when Avery's been there and was quite impressed with her swimming and love of the water. Of course, that she's the *only* little girl around doesn't hurt these things, either. 

In pool progress, Avery can now get in and out of the pool by herself, both via the gradual walk-in area and via the metal ladder in the deeper area.  She can also get in and out of the hot tub (which, because it's not very heated, is like a warmer version of the pool, but certainly not anywhere near a "hot" tub). 

Independence

Not only is Avery doing all activities at the pool on her own, she has started to get herself out of the Pack N Play after naps.  She gets out (via the bed), then she goes potty, then she opens the door and basically is in a foul mood until we find some sort of key to unlock her happiness.  Today it was me telling her she looked like Cousin It.  She immediately stopped pouting and said, "Yes!"  I think she might have thought I was saying Cousin Dylan was here since I always call him "Cousin Dylan" when talking about him and not just Dylan. 

Chores

I asked our neighbor how she got the tiles in their village house clean.  She apparently used good old-fashioned labor and went tile by tile through her whole house chipping away the concrete stains.  Then she indicated that others have bought a type of cleaner to get the stains removed.  I am going to try that today, I think.  The problem is the tile never looks clean, even when it is.  I've certainly relaxed much more about the dirt down here than I thought was possible.  I just kind of accept it's there and move on.  Anyway, maybe I'll take before and after pictures.

Plans

We are heading to the Sunday Farmer's Market tomorrow morning, then will have dinner with friends at their house tomorrow night.  Right now, D is heading off to the pool for Avery's second trip of the day. 

Memories

Avery seems to remember further back in time than I assumed toddlers remember.  Two examples:

• When I asked Avery which swimming shirt she wanted to wear (from a choice of three different colors), she pointed to the shirt that I put Elise in this summer when they were playing in the water at our house and said, "Elise's shirt!"  
• Avery likes to play on the wood covering for a power transformer here.  On our last trip in May, I took a lot of pictures when Avery was sitting on it and let her take some pictures, too.  This time, she went immediately to that spot and asked to take pictures.