Elmo rocks

Rikki & Doug came in from DC for the weekend. It was the first time they had seen Elizabeth since Easter. My oh my how she has grown and changed in the last couple of months.

E had a blast on Sunday on Nana & Papa's deck playing with her Elmo sprinkler! She loves the water (just about as much as she loves to try to stay awake - like she is doing at the moment by standing up in her crib watching "Animal House"! At least she is developing a good taste in movies...)

She ran - non-stop for about an hour (despite no morning nap) through the sprinkler. She is so much fun!!! And, she had to show off by saying "RaRa" and "Doh" (Doug - which was the first time we'd heard her say Doug's name!)

She also loves her bubble making machine - so much cooler than expecting an 18 month old to be able to blow her own bubbles - or for Mama to get stuck with that detail for hours on end...that would really suck...I mean blow...

I love my camera, too, if you didn't know...it is the mack daddy of digital cameras! I took 535 pictures of Elizabeth in the hour we were outside playing...check out the water in this one - she was drinking the (fresh - thank heavens) water from the wading pool making creative use of her rake.

She's saying a few new words, too, as of late - I hope I remember them all here:

• Ali (Alex - her cousin - all babies are now Ali...including pictures of Elizabeth from last year)
• Caylin (the princess of Morton Mansion)
• baby
• Doh (for Doug - just a coincidence that she said it on the opening weekend of the Simpsons movie)
• picture
• belbow (elbow)
• arm (two syllables, like Anne)
• hair
• head
• eyes
• hands
• feet
• toes
• cookie
• cracker (come on, there had to be some food references...the gal loves to "eat, eat, eat!")
• fish
• Mimi (from the book, "Sweet Dreams, Mimi")
• hug
• Bobo (from the book, "Hug" - she can read all of the words in that book! Impressive, I know!!! Hug, hug, hug, hug...Bobo, Mommy, HUG. She should already be promoted a grade...)

My Mom's a Slacker

Okay, that was Weezie talking...not MY Mom...who cleaned my house when I was at my Annual Meeting and was Elizabeth's care taker...

I've been busy & haven't had time to post. Hopefully I'll get a few moments to catch you up on the goings on in our home.

Reid & I just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Yea!

Elizabeth continues to grow and her vocabulary is increasing at a rapid pace. Most of the new words are either body parts or have to do with food - she has an incredible appetite (we think she is in a growth spurt.) To our dismay, she still continues to climb on anything that stops moving for a second - I think she would try to use Kennedy for a step stool if she wasn't always hoovering at my feet. All pictures of all babies are now "Ali" (Alex) - including the photos on the mantle of Elizabeth. We're looking forward to the Wines coming back to WV in a couple of weeks for Alex's baptism.

Aunt Rikki and Elisa (not sure about Show Doug) are coming in this weekend. Rikki hasn't seen Elizabeth since Easter - what a surprise she'll be in for!

I promise I'll post more later...but very, very behind on my work (and go figure, I'm posting from my office - yipes!) do to all of the goings on with our 51st Annual Meeting.

Meeting my cousin

Elizabeth is going to meet her baby cousin, Alex, today. We're really excited! I can't wait to get a picture of her feet next to his big dogs.

Congratulations to James Lee & Helen Wine (Sean-e-boy's folks), who are celebrating 60 years of marriage today!

Happy Birthday, USA!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Elizabeth & I are looking forward to getting to Sutton to wish Mom/Grandma a happy birthday (birthday is today - we're coming in tomorrow.) And, E is really excited to meet her baby cousin, Alex! (Not sure if Sweetness is coming yet or not...)

Love you, mean it!

I'll Teach My Dog a lot of Words

"I'll Teach My Dog A lot of Words" (by Michael Firth - a Dr. Suess collection book)is one of Elizabeth's favorite books - she has a lot of favorite books, though...I mean a LOT of favorite books!

Anyway, I was trying to figure out what all words she can "say" (some signs help us figure out what she is saying)...here goes:

• Dada (her first word)
• Mama
• Nana
• Papa
• Anne (yes, Auntie Anne, she points to your picture and says Anne - two syllables, like you always wanted a two syllable name)
• Rara (for Aunt Rikki - when she's pointing to your picture)
• Up (definitely UP, with an emphatic sign)
• Bye-bye (waiving to herself, mostly!)
• Cat
• Kenny (for our dog, Kennedy)
• No, no, no
• Ea (for eat, with sign)
• Mo (for more, with sign)
• Wa (for water, with sign)
• All Gone (with sign, for when she is finished eating)
• Ba (for bath, with sign)
• Ball (with sign)
• Bobby (for Sponge Bob, they're close like that - her favorite TV show to watch with Dada)
• Happy
• Baby
• Sit (usually after we're yelling at her to SIT on the furniture rather than stand/jump on the furniture)
• Hey/Hi
• Yeah! (for anything deserving applause, like dancing or singing, staying out of something she isn't supposed to be meddling in, or putting books away)
• Ham
• Hat
• Head
• Hand
• Hug (E loves the book "Hug" with the monkey, Bobo, looking for a hug from his Mama!)
• Car (any moving vehicle)
• Cross (especially when she is digging in Grandma's shirt to see her cross necklace)
• Hot (like my coffee cup)
• Cold (every time the refrigerator door is opened, or usually when she is holding her milk)
• Shoe
• Apple
• Two
• Free (as in one, two, three!)
• Please (with sign - sometimes)
• Caca (not sure whether this is for Aunt Caca - or for the other kind of caca, both can be rather similar ;-) )
• SIGNS milk - refuses to say anything like it

Other super cute things (not that I am partial or anything) that she does relating to language are:

• She quacks - when she sees a picture of a duck
• She pants - when you ask her how the puppy goes
• She growls - when you ask her how Boomer (Nana & Papa's temperamental cat) goes
• When she give you a hug, you usually get "awww" to go with it
• And, when you get a kiss, you usually get a "mmma" to go with it

Just thought some of these may brighten your day! (Let me know if I'm leaving anything off either of these lists - I'll update if necessary!)