Sign-Off Celebration

Last Wednesday, my dissertation advisor, Tiffany, signed off on my project, which means I am nearly done. I just have a bit more editing and two more signatures to collect. To celebrate this momentous occasion that was years in the making, Tiffany took LB and me out to lunch. We went to Julienne, this eccentric and rather out-of-the-way, little restaurant in San Marino. When I arrived at the restaurant, I realized that I had in fact been there before, a couple of years ago with my friend Sheila. Not that I was complaining about visiting again! You can't beat good food and a pretty location!
We arrived a few minutes early, and LB waited very patiently for her friend Miss Tiffany.
We decided to get our lunch to go and take it down the street to a park so that baby could run wild and the adults could talk in relative peace.

And after lunch, Lilybeth and I made it back to Riverside in time for her swim class. While she was getting ready for class, she rubbed a bit of sunscreen in her eyes, and she was not very happy with Mama or the world.
But she quickly forgot about it once she got in the pool. LB has been loving swim classes this year. While she's not swimming on her own yet, she is definitely doing some vigorous kicking and arm flapping while I hold her. She also loves to go along the edge of the pool, hanging onto the wall while bobbing up and down, and she loves to climb in and out of the little baby "crib" in the pool. When she's doing these latter two activities, she announces, "By self! By self!" which translates into "I'm going to do this by myself, Mama, so stand far away from me and marvel at what you're about to see."

Today, however, she mostly wanted me to cradle her in my arms and rock her back and forth while she announced to her teacher and swim classmates, "I Baby Elmo. I Baby Elmo." (i.e., "I'm Baby Elmo.") So, LB didn't get much exercise, but I definitely got a nice upper body workout carting around 31 lbs of Baby Elmo.

After class, she got cozy in her towel,

and was a happy, happy girl.
And after dinner, she was an even happier girl because she saw the special little treat Mama brought home from Julienne, her own little petit four!
Yummy! A sweet end to a great day!