And then....

.....we returned to Nana and Wayne's house, where Bluet once again had fun, but most importantly, Bluet's great Aunt Kathy gave Bluet a haircut, viz:

Before

During

After

From the back

Bluet also played some more in the garden. Here she is pretending to eat huckleberry nuts with a plastic spoon

   talking to the cat 

Riding a bicycle

  running around the library

And just generally exploring

She also got Wayne to read her 'Goodnight Moon' about 35 times. One time Nana asked her "Who wrote it? [Goodnight Moon] and Bluet said 'Wayne'. She also enjoyed this Curious George book, but not quite as much

As well as having a haircut, when we returned to St Louis on the way home, Emily painted Bluet and Lila's toes purple.

 

Missouri Part II

We had a very pleasant time flying with Bluet - this was the first time she has had a seat to herself rather than travel for free, which we all enjoyed. When we arrived at the airport she stood at the window and looked at the planes coming and going for about 45 minutes. She is currently fascinated by the things that have wings and the things that don't, and has learnt that wings are for flying.

E.g. "Does Bluet have wings?" "No, Bluet have hands"

"Does eagle have hands?", "No, eagle has wings. Fly in the sky"

Stopping briefly in St Louis, Bluet caught up with her cousins (she also learnt that Nate was her cousin, but hasn't yet worked out that one can have more than one cousin.

Then we headed down to the family farm. Bluet was really excited to see all the animals - she learnt the names of the dogs, and counted how many dogs there were. She also heard us telling the dogs to go away, so started to say things like "Go way, Dingo", which was very cute, if ineffective.

She also got to try out some new forms of transport, including a tractor that was a birthday present for Emily, back in the day.

And of course there was plenty of opportunity to play outside with water (although for some reason she thought the water pistols were 'cameras'. She also really liked it when I used the water pistols to squirt her. At least I think she did.

She also practised wearing her life jacket for the float trip - more about that tomorrow. At first she liked it so much we couldn't get it off her. This changed at times when we were out in canoes and she actually needed it, obviously. Then Emily had to hold it on to stop her undoing it. Yes, she has mastered the zip (at least in the undoing direction)

 
  The life jacket also came in handy when she went to play with another cousin, Thane

And at some points she almost combined her love of water and love of animals - fortunately she did not jump in this pond, despite the fascination

Tomorrow: What happened whilst canoeing

Still to come: Bluet gets a haircut

 

Missouri summer break

This week we are in Missouri. On Friday we headed to Emily's sisters house; Bluet was delighted to be in a place with more than 2 rooms, stairs and a garden. We watched England beat Sweden in Euro 2012, and Bluet agreed that England were almost unwatchable until Walcott came on. Mind you, she slept through most of the game.

Bluet and her cousin Lila are almost big enough to play together. Unfortunalely at the moment both Bluet and Lila only want to play with a toy if the other one already has it. I feel that soon they will bond over their shared love of Elmo (although Bluet's favourite sesame street character is Murray). Bluet also became extremely excited by the cat, chasing her around the house.

Yesterday we went to the baseball; wisely we did not take Lila or Bluet, improving our ability to actually watch some baseball immeasurably. (Scott looked after Lila and Bluet at home, and Bluet kindly rewarded him with a 30 min nap rather than her usual 2-3 hours. I think she just wanted to watch more Euro 2012 action).

Taking our leave of Abatha and Scott's hospitality, this morning we drove to Emily's parents house. Bluet is asleep after a hard morning's chasing dogs and cats and playing in the paddling pool. The farmers are out farming. Emily is showering after a run. And I am watching Euro 2012 (come on Holland!)