My Geek Baby

We’ve packed in a lot weekend fun this summer and introduced Indie to all kinds of things.

This weekend is the BrickFair Lego FanFest. We’re not sure she’s big enough to attend. I don’t know if she’d be a toddler-sized King Kong knocking down displays and we’d get escorted out like an overzealous crowd-surfer at a concert.

Pirate’s Cove Waterpark in Lorton, Va has something for all ages. A kiddie pool with a massive slide, and for the big kids and even larger pool. It only cost $6 per person and kids under 2 are free. We had a blast. Indie is not yet swimming but she enjoyed splashing around. They also have a concession stand so you can stuff yourself with hot dogs and pizza between swimming laps. Jake and I debated if waiting 20 minutes so you don’t get a cramp and sink like a stone, was a myth.

Clemyjontri Park - where every child can play - was the brainchild of Adele Lebowitz, who envisioned this playground and park and generously donated this 18-acre property. It really is something to see.

We also had some fun at the Botanic Garden where they have a children’s garden. Kids can water plants, dig in the dirt and sweep the floor with kid-sized brooms.

I think she liked it.

The Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History is a place we can go back to and still see something new. Have you ever seen an Okapi?

Last week I was chasing Indira around outside of our house. She quickly scrambled up a hill and I followed. On the way down, I slipped on the wet grass. I didn’t get up right away but wasn’t hurt. Without missing a beat, she said “Careful, Mommy.”

This week she’s asking questions like “What are you doing?” and saying words like coffee and newspaper that I haven’t taught her, but she’s picked up along the way. Other words she’s picked up along the way because I have cut my finger while cooking and spilled milk on my dryclean-only pants on the way or the door in the morning. Barnacles! (I’m trying not to curse like a sailor but saying “sugar!” just isn’t nearly as satisfying when I’m suddenly cut off in traffic)

But then, maybe remembering to be 17-months-old again, she asks for “cookie fish” for Goldfish crackers and points upstairs and says “tubby time” when it’s nearing her bedtime.

Indie is also trying to keep me fit. When I take her out in the jogging stroller for a low-impact run (i.e., walk) she says, “Go faster, mommy.” So now I’m running a bit.

She’s still saying things I can’t decipher, like “Momma, a chockablocka (something in a whisper) blaaahdibli pha, PLEASE?” I just respond, “Why do you ask?”