In a nutshell: Miss Independent

Yesterday Amy and Eric came over to go swimming and then for a small cookout afterwards - because swimming makes you hungry! We were anticipating a very crowded pool because of the holiday, but there were only a handful of people there, thank goodness! We had the whole kiddie pool to ourselves! We opted out of bringing the huge float, so Allison was on her own. We were only a splash away, so she was in no danger, but there were many inevitable falls. The first time she went under was funny and a little scary because she makes no attempt to bring her head back up above water. She just lays there submerged very still with her eyes wide open. I was prepared for her to get really clingy after that, so I over-mothered by holding her, patting her back, and telling her it was ok. After all, that's the response she needed after our last trip to the pool. But not this time! Noooo sir. My little 13 month old promptly pushed me away and took off again as if nothing happened. She was walking all around the pool, and basically trying to get as far away from us as she could to prove to us that she didn't need our help. I tried following her around, and when I would put my hand on her to help her stay steady she would grab my finger and throw my hand off of her!! Her attitude was very fitting for the July 4th outfit that her Aunt Jen sent her. It appropriately says "Miss Independent" on the front of the dress.

On dry land, she is hitting speeds comparable to a half-run. Frank caught her rounding a corner this morning at top speed and she nearly took him down. Instead, she looked up with her devilish grin and then took off again. Something else new she is doing is trying to share things with us. She will try to feed me food from her tray, or she will bring me books to read. I am totally in love with this stage. Most nights we just sit and watch her play and listen to all of the crazy things that she babbles about. She is learning new sounds every day, it seems so I think we may be on the verge of a true first word - other than mama or dada.

To celebrate the 4th we went to the local Melissa festivities because we heard there would be a petting zoo. It was insanely hot outside though so we only stayed for about 30 minutes. The petting zoo had lots of little animals, but Allison was too young to be let loose in the pen. A lady picked up a rabbit for her to pet, but she wasn't to sure about that. She pointed at it, and was done. We also ran into our friends Marcus and Tricia with their son Malaki who is about 3 months younger than Allison. They looked so cute decked out in their red, white, and blue. Other than in these pictures, Allison was running around outside getting into everything within reach. Here are some more pictures!

Trying to stay hydrated with some apple juice!