We took a brief trip to San Diego this week. Dana hadn't been to Sea World in around a year, which meant it was time.
This wasn't Jessica's first trip to Sea World (we went last summer), but of course she could appreciate many things in a whole new way now. She really liked all the shows, and visiting many of the animals. (Note to self: take a video of Jessica demonstrating how penguins waddle for the blog.)
One highlight was "Breakfast with Elmo". Jess has never watched a full episode of Sesame Street, but she has watched a number of the short Sesame Street video podcasts, and she has many books and other toys through which she has been introduced to Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Zoe, Big Bird, etc.
She was so excited to see these characters walk around during breakfast. When she first saw Elmo, especially, her eyes just about popped out of her head, and she repeated his name in some register only dogs (and furry monsters, perhaps) could hear.
In her typical cautious fashion, while Jessica was super excited to see these friends and watch them interact with other children, she wasn't crazy about the idea of getting too near any herself, much less getting her own hug. We did get some pictures with Elmo and Big Bird, though being that close to them made Jessica too anxious to really smile.
While Jessica was sitting in a high chair at the breakfast table, though, she had nowhere to run when a character approached. She leaned back a bit, but did very well during some interactions with Zoe, Cookie Monster, and Bert (who were all very friendly and handled it very well). Bert picked up a napkin and wiped Jessica's mouth. She gave a smile, and Bert gave her a hug.