What a difference a year makes

I need to upload vacation pictures, I know.  So I'm going to hold off on that post for awhile.  It was a fun trip, and we got to explore the city and see a lot, eat a lot, and walk...a lot.  St. Louis is a pretty cool city.  I mean, it's not my favorite city in the world, but when your level of comparison starts with Dublin, Ireland, not much can beat that.  Or ever will.  Did I mention I'd love to go back to Dublin sometime?  Oh I hadn't?  Yeah.  That sounds good.

 

 

It's funny because we went to St. Louis about a year ago when Aubrey was 5 months old.  It was July, so St. Louis felt like it was the second circle of hell with temperatures well into the 100s.  So we didn't really get to do much walking, and everything we did was inside.  That and Aubrey pretty much either slept, ate or stared around in her car seat/stroller.  It's not like we went anywhere where Aubrey would be interested.  There really wasn't much that did interest her.  So this time, almost a year to the date, things were different.  The main difference - she's mobile.  Oh man, she's mobile.  She's still not a steady mobile, mind you.  She has that toddler, walking around like a drunk co-ed look, stumbling and falling down on her butt every few steps.  But she gets around.  And she gets into every single thing.  And finds everything.  I mean, I guess it's a good thing because she's perceptive as hell, but it keeps you on your toes. 

 

 

It was a little more fun taking her around, watching her observe things around her.   This time, she was sitting straight up in her stroller, looking around at everything.  It was hilarious the things she found interesting.  At the zoo, she'd rather watch the people around her than see the animals. (I don't know...maybe she is like her Mommy, silently judging people around her.  She loved the arch.  We passed a construction zone, and T said she absolutely loved that.  Sitting at a restaurant, she's looking around everywhere, turning around in her high chair to where she's almost completely twisted. 

 

 

This time around she's more vocal.  Babbling, laughing, and...screaming.  Oh dear God, the screaming.  Just random screaming.  I think I can pinpoint which child in her classroom taught her this new, fun trick.  And she doesn't just scream out of anger.  It's just random, for no reason at all.  Not a fan. 

 

 

It's amazing what a difference a year can make.  Here's last July:

 

 

And here's now....it amazes me how much she has changed.