341 days

Cape Cod has always been a very special place for me. I spent all of my formative summers there, from Reilly’s age all the way up to my middle teens. Every little corner of Brewster carries with it a memory for me, from the big oak tree of the cemetery to the lifeguard chair down on the beach.

My mom’s side of the family is well rooted in the area, and each year that I go to the Cape, it ends up being a reunion of sorts. This year was no different, in that we shared a cottage with my cousin Lesli, her husband Chris, and their daughter (and my god-daughter) Sophia. Also present were my aunt Sandy and uncle Peter, my cousin Mike, and my cousin Keri, her husband Doug, and their kids Madeline and Logan.

Why list all this family? They provided endless entertainment for Reilly, especially all the kids. Reilly learned from her cousins very quickly, picking up their mannerisms, their jokes, their words. Before the trip, Reilly’s vocabulary included the words: hi, bye, ba-ba, duck, dog, baby, ball, and thank you. After the trip, she has included a new word in her lexicon: “uh-oh.” This morning, when she was done with her breakfast, she threw the remaining blueberries off her tray and said “uh-oh” as each hit the floor.

Reilly probably learned the most from her Nana, who offered to take Reilly at every spare moment. Most often, Reilly would take her Nana by the hand and lead her over to the nearby playground, where they would alternate between the ball court and the swings. My favorite thing my mom taught Reilly was how to kick a soccer ball. I didn’t think my daughter was old enough to have the gumption necessary to consciously kick a ball, but my mother has more faith, and within just a few minutes, had Reilly kicking away.

Between modeling the behavior of her cousins and the frequent trips to the playground with Nana, Reilly learned a skill that she’ll use for the rest of her life. That’s right, readers, we now have a walker on our hands. If I had to put a date on it, I’d say yesterday was the day where she did more walking than crawling. Today, she hasn’t crawled yet. This morning she strung together 20 consecutive steps to the applause and wonder of her parents.

The great thing about her walking is that it tires her out very quickly. In fact, she is sleeping as I write this entry, her little one-year-old body filling up the crib, a big girl at last.