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What's fun on a hot day at the park?
First you fill the bucket up...

Then you look inside...
And finally, you pour. Then repeat 100 times.

At 22 months, it is amazing to see how Elisa finally makes connections between cause and effect. Not all the time, mind you, but it's becoming a bit more normal for her to want to do things that involve multiple steps or have some kind of pay-off at the end. If I could bottle up her delight with herself, it would be a potent formula. Even in just the past month since we joined the local park, her confidence on the equipment and her ability to scale the small ladders and slides is soaring. She loves the climb/sit/slide combo way more than I ever imagined she would. On a good day, she can do a loop for 20 minutes or so without ever stopping, and nearly every time she yells "weeeeeee!" as she pushes off on the slide. When I think about how she was as a baby and how she explored the whole environment with her mouth, I can see its translation into toddlerhood: now she explores with her whole body. The difference between last summer and this one is everything. She's using more words for her actions too saying up, down, sit, help, and wee (for the swing) and many times she will say "momma sit" or "there momma" when she wants me to do something. And yes, she's very into control at the moment which is loads of fun. I try to give her an inch, but you know how that goes...So most days we just try to find a middle ground. Elisa gets to do some things all by herself (holding a sucker all by herself yesterday) and momma gets to do the rest without her help (putting the clothes in the dryer so they don't ALL fall on the ground). And before I forget, she has finally started to use a name for herself when I ask her what it is. "Isa." Sounds good to me.