Beach Bum

Yesterday we went to the beach as a family in the afternoon. It was fun, but it was kind of a last resort. Baby hadn't slept all day: we hoped it would tire her out. We also wanted to build her a sand castle to sit in/wreak havoc upon. We have made a new discovery, which is that in addition to hating her sun-hat, she also hates sunscreen. However, sadly for her, her sun-hat and sunscreen are both a necessary evil to go to the beach, which she loves. Such is life.

Anyway, she decided that there was far too much going on at the beach for her to be sitting in her push-chair and loudly protested until we picked her up so she could get a better view... and play with sand. Evan had the genius idea of making a sand-throne to go with her sand-castle. which also had the dual effect of allowing us to complete construction of her 'palace' as quickly as possible.



She certainly had fun grabbing at the sand. Sadly, though there was nothing we could do to stop her from putting it in her mouth, but she didn't seem to mind. At least she is broadening her culinary palate by experimenting with new texture and flavor combinations. If getting her own castle eventually fails, maybe she will be a taste-tester for royalty when (if!) she grows up.



We also made another new discovery. Don't take a baby to the beach wearing a cute dress. It gets dirty.

Once the castle was as complete as we cared to make it (... baby lost her patience and the tide was coming in...) we stripped her down and let her play 'Godzilla in New York'... an instant hit. She has this new noise that she makes, akin to Benjamin's squeals, except her are grunts. Our little piggy. And yes this site will be used for future blackmail. She has different levels though... some express anger, some express tiredness. Then there is the sing-a-long grunt, and the I'm-talking-to-you grunt (she likes to use this one to tell you when she wants to be picked up... i.e. she rolls on her front and grunts at you... very ladylike), and then there is the happy grunt, which was the one she used while destroying Evan and my hard work (but mostly Evan's).



After that, Daddy took her in the ocean to play and wash off. She came back happy, cold, and tired. Perfect! It meant that I could wrap her up in a towel and blanket and cuddle her to sleep. She was out cold by the time we got to the car. And then she slept from 8pm - 6am. (Note the tiny dots in the ocean... it's Evan and Baby.)



I think we shall do the beach run more often.