Perfect Saturday

We had a perfectly lovely day today, despite the rainy grey weather. We had planned on taking a drive to the beach and going for a long walk, but the rain ruled that out, so we ended up going to Mystic Aquarium instead. With a discount pass we checked out of the local library and a discount from where I used to work, it wasn't expensive at all - and we had a great time. I can definitely see getting a membership so we can go regularly when Nora's a little older! It was her first visit (obviously), and I had been once about 8 years ago and Aaron had been when he was a little kid, so it was pretty much new to all of us. What fun!

Nora particularly enjoyed the beluga whales, who are also called canary whales because of the high pitched chirping noises they make. We watched them eat a meal and do some tricks, and Nora spent the whole thing conversing with them - everytime one of the whales chirped, she'd call back to them. Luckily, the people around us thought it was cute! (It was.) She also liked watching the seals and sea lions get fed, because of the deep coughing barks they made. In the inside exhibits, she was mesmerized by the jellyfish - we stood there for her to watch them for at least 10 minutes, and she probably would have stayed longer if she'd been in charge. The coral reef was also a hit, with all the brightly colored fish swimming past at a super fast pace.

After the Aquarium, we went for a quick early supper at Friendly's - Nora charmed the servers, strewed Cheerios everywhere in a six foot radius from her highchair (don't worry, we picked up as much as we could and left a good tip), and ate three dill pickles. She loved the pickles! Weird baby.

Nora and Mama watching a beluga whale underwater.


Mama and Nora hanging out with a penguin mama and baby!

I'm wearing Nora in a new wrap in these pictures - it's something that I've coveted for ages, and finally got myself as an after-Christmas present! I love the colors, and it's super comfy. I wore her in front like this for four hours this afternoon, and my shoulders and back aren't a bit sore! It's very convenient, too - Nora got hungry while we were in the Institute for Exploration, and it was easy to nurse her in the wrap while still walking around and checking out the exhibits. It's discrete, too - someone came up to me to ask what sort of a baby carrier it was while she was nursing, and I don't think they even realized what was going on during our conversation! Here's a picture of her on my back before we went for a walk the other day (ignore the weird look on my face).


In other news, Nora's still really enjoying feeding herself. Here she is with some of her meals in the last few days.

Avocado.

Toast.

Yum!

A peach (yes, she is completely covered with peach and cantelope juice here. That's why she's wearing the approved baby-feeding outfit!).


And a movie of her eating cantelope (and sharing it with Mica, too)! This also features her favorite new noise, the growl. Good Times!