Photos: Sylvia on Noah's Ark

Sylvia turned 11 months yesterday. We marked the occasion with a picnic lunch with Sylvia's friends, Lila and Adriano, plus Lila's parents and Adriano's mama. Sylvia put a bunch of plant life in her mouth and giggled when she got to pet Lila's dog Louisa. Then Sylvia and Adriano visited the aquarium under the Santa Monica pier.

Sylvia was introduced to all sorts of sea life: fish ("You mean, this is what I've been eating?!?"), crabs, lobsters, starfish, jellyfish, anemones, eels, kelp, sharks, and an octopus. She touched a couple of starfish, but preferred fingering the kelp and trying to stick her fingers into the tank drain. She was fascinated by the octopus. Mama quoted from one of Sylvia's favorite books: "The octopus looks really great/Instead of two arms, he has eight!", and she broke into a big smile.

But her favorite part was the shark tank, which is open on top although touching the sharks is not allowed (the tank is small, and the sharks could get stressed out by too much touching). She kept pointing at the sharks (Swell Sharks and Horned Sharks) and leaning forward, clearly trying to pet them (Mama held her back—no fun). One of the Horned Sharks put on quite a show by surging across the tank, head above water, mouth open. When it reached the other side, it closed its jaws and sent a spurt of water over the side.

I realized how much I take for granted when I found myself explaining to Sylvia that fishtanks are full of water. She was absorbed in watching the ripples move across the surface.

With all the baby gear I need to lug around, adding a camera is more than I can handle, so I don't have photos from yesterday. But Lila's mom sent me this picture from our YWCA Mommy & Me class. Lila is front and center, and Adriano's big bald head is on the right. We spend a lot of time with these two!


Today Daddy had the day off and Mama didn't have yoga, so we took the opportunity to see the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Museum. We didn't think about the fact that schools are taking spring break this week, so we were unprepared for the long wait for a slot in the timed entries.

While we were waiting, Sylvia enjoyed some running-around time, sometimes on all fours:


But more often up on two:



We also took in the superheroes exhibit. Sylvia found the comic book displays rather dull, but she liked it when Mama and Daddy made shadow-shapes against a wall with a projected cityscape. She also seemed absorbed in a vintage TV episode of Superman.

We got someone to take a photo of the three of us while Sylvia was napping. You might notice that Kevin has been working out lately:


We managed to get into the last entry time for Noah's Ark. Everything in the exhibit is hands-on. Sylvia was enchanted with all the things to look at, touch, and move. It opens with these zebras, whose sides spin in dizzying stripes with a little push:


Here's an overview of the Ark:


Daddy helps Sylvia ride a camel:


The animals are built from reclaimed materials. You can see in this photo that the owl is created from windshield wipers and a coiled bike lock:


They also had a percussion jam. Sylvia's sense of rhythm becomes more sophisticated as time goes on. She's getting closer to keeping a beat, but you can tell that her mind's grasp of rhythm exceeds her motor abilities right now.

And, just to top off with a little extra cuteness... yes, these are our laundry hampers:


Sylvia loves playing catch-me-if-you-can these days, where she will catch your eye, smile mischievously, then make a little gasp of excitement and hurtle away from you as fast as she can. Every once in a while she'll peek back to see if you're coming for her:


We love watching her personality unfold, like an opening flower...