One Year Later....

Well, it has been a very long time since the last post here on the blog.  We've been super busy!  It's a little sad that the last post was made in honor of Elizabeth's first birthday, and now I'm posting again and it's for her second birthday (well, her birthday party--her birthday isn't for a few days yet).  In any case, we decided to go with a birthday brunch and toddler pool party, since she will be getting another birthday party when we visit Michigan.  Instead of a birthday cake, she got birthday pancakes! Look at how much of a difference a year makes:

 

I considered doing a special toddler food review post, but the truth is that it seems strange to write fake dialogue for a little person who is learning new words every day.  However witty I may try to be when crafting humorous dialogue to go with her pictures, it doesn't hold a candle to how precious, hilarious, and delightful she is in real life.  I do hope to do a fun Downton Abbey-inspired photo project--but that will likely be the last time I put words in her mouth. Would you like to know what she was saying in the picture above? "Cheese!"

Elizabeth's Baby Food Review: Episode 9

Hello adoring viewers! Welcome to a very special episode of Elizabeth's Baby Food Review.  I'm Elizabeth, and today I'll be sampling something called birthday cake.  You see, I've been around for a year, and apparently that warrants consumption of some specific thing, according to the servants.  They've been making lots of preparations and wrapping boxes and things in paper and I don't know what it's all about, but it keeps them busy.

Ok, so here's a picture of this cake thing I'm supposed to eat.  The servants took forever to get it out, and I have no idea why because as you can see, there isn't exactly some intricate artwork going on here.  I was told that the thing sticking up out of it is a candle and that it will be lit on fire.  That doesn't seem like such a good idea to me, but the servants keep telling me that we are going to blow it out and that it won't catch the cake on fire, nor will I have to eat fire.  I'm not sure why we're bothering, if it's just going to be extinguished almost as soon as it is lit, but whatever. These servants are pretty weird, so I don't know why I'm surprised by their strange rituals.

Hmm...well, after poking this weird white stuff, I'm not feeling any more confident about this, but I'll risk a tummyache for my beloved viewers.

Oh my. I say, that's not bad at all.  That's fairly delicious, I must admit.  The cooking skills of the servants are always a little dicey, but this white stuff is pretty nice.

So this servant says that I'm not actually eating any of the cake part--apparently there's something under this nice white stuff, and he's determined that I try some of that.

Hmmm...the combination of textures is very interesting.  That stuff is more dry and crumbly and the white stuff is moist and fluffy.  Hand over the spoon!

 

Mmm....this is so goo---do you hear that? One of the servants is nattering on about how I need to work on my skills with using utensils this year. I don't know what else they want me to do--I'm doing great, see? 

What do you mean I'm not supposed to get food all over my face when I eat? Maybe you're the one doing it wrong, ever consider that? 

 

Oh goodness. Oh my.  I must say, this stuff is rather rich.  But...soooo good! I can't stop now!

Ugh.  Man, I don't think I can keep this up.  Why did the servants give me such a huge serving?

 

Well, I think I have to call it quits on this.  Cake is delicious, but tiring to eat--I think I need a nap.  Happy birthday to me.

Mother's Note:  Elizabeth seemed to enjoy her cake very much, though she couldn't make much of a dent in it (which was fine--we didn't want her to get a tummyache!).  A fun night was had by all!

 

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

So June 26th was Elizabeth's first birthday! We've been pretty busy and I haven't had a chance to post the pictures from that momentous day until now (I'm posting from Michigan, where we're visiting my in-laws).  Much fun was had by all, and I'll be posting a special episode of Elizabeth's Baby Food Review with more pictures from that day, after this post. 

Here is a picture of the birthday girl that morning (the bow did not last long):

 

And here is a picture of her sitting with Daddy beside the table with her gifts, ready for the afternoon's festivities:

 

And here is a better picture of that table, complete with gifts and cards from her adoring fans:

Here's a picture of the cake (before the destruction):

 

And here's a picture of Suzie begging for cake:

 

And one of Elizabeth's tranquil face as she bathes in frosting:

Mmmm sugar....

Some new facts about the birthday girl:

• She can mimic eating with utensils, but she hasn't figured out that the spoon works best if it is turned a certain way, etc.
• She does very well drinking with a straw--better than with a sippy cup, in fact.
• She still hasn't said any real words, though she does spout quite a bit of gibberish on a routine basis.
• She is doing very well with petting the dogs, and sometimes Suzie will even turn over to let her pet her belly because she does such a good job. 

This isn't exactly a new fact, but she's ridiculously adorable and tons of fun. 

Eleven Months Old!

Elizabeth turned eleven months on May 26th, and in typical bad-mother fashion I did not take any pictures of her that day.  I did, however, snap these yesterday on the 27th:

 

She's starting to look like a little girl, rather than a little baby! We didn't think it was possible for her to get any cuter, but we were mistaken. 

Some new facts about the little devil darling:

• In addition to her two bottom front teeth, she has one upper incisor (not one of the front ones).
• She gives kisses upon request (most of the time), and they are sloppy. 
• One of her favorite things to do is to run at us and hug our legs, and to chase after us to try and grab our legs, giggling all the while. 
• Her very favorite thing to do is to paint the floor with her bottle. She turns it upside down and presses the nipple on the floor so that it leaks all over, then uses her fingers to smear it everywhere.
• We have to be very careful, because she's starting to model many of our actions and gestures.

She's so much fun!

Elizabeth's Expeditions

Hello, my name is Elizabeth and I'd like to welcome you to the first episode of my new travel show.  I recently visited a local playground.  I give this place four stars out of five--it loses a star because I had to be carried or lifted onto most of the equipment by one of my servants.

 

Here I am enjoying a structure with a bridge and steps and several slides.  Notice the servant hunched over behind me.  He seemed very concerned that I would fall, and the servant wielding the camera kept saying "Careful, careful" like everything was so dangerous. It's not like we were in a war zone.

 

Here I am, trying to enjoy the slide.  Note the servant's goofy grin as he tries to keep me from actually sliding down, supposedly for my own protection. They wouldn't let me slide down until the other servant put down the camera. I swear, these people are more like bodyguards these days. 

 

I tried to walk down this very colorful path to the neighboring areas, but I was informed by the servants that it would be best if I stayed in the area of the playground.  They really have no sense of adventure.

 

There was a structure that allowed one to make music by hitting together some metal things, and that was pretty fun.  I don't give concerts for free, however, so I didn't really participate.

 

Here I am on a sort of see-saw.  The goofy grinning servant is back.

 

 

This was one of those instances in which the servant was actually encouraging me to do something that I wasn't sure was safe.  That alligator did not look friendly. 

 

I really did not enjoy this part--the servant was playing around in that dirt and expected me to put my hands in it.  He kept saying that I needed to get used to this since we would be traveling to places with lots of sand this summer, but I didn't really want anything to do with it.

All in all, I did have a decent time--it was certainly better than staying at home!

Mother's note: She did have a pretty good time there--it was probably nice to do something out of the ordinary, and we'll be making more trips to this particular playground. 

 

 

 

 

 

First Mother's Day

So Sunday, May 13th was my very first Mother's Day, and it was perfect.  Michael went out and got this for our celebratory breakfast:

 

Not very healthy, but it was a treat! 

 

And I found four cards waiting for me when I woke up.  The top two are from Elizabeth (one was created at daycare, the other was one she ordered a servant to purchase). The bottom left card is from my Mom, and the bottom right is from Michael. 

 

And here is a shot of the inside of the cards from Elizabeth.  One of the servants helped her sign the bottom card.  Isn't the top one adorable?! It was a wonderful day and I felt very special. 

Ten Months Old!

Elizabeth turned 10 months old on the 26th, and in characteristic terrible mother fashion, I did not get a picture of her that day.  So I present to you the second best thing--pictures of her from today:

 

 In that last shot, you can just barely see the two little teeth that are coming up through her gums.  She's growing too fast! 

A few new facts about our little girl:

• She can wave bye-bye and clap
• She is super active and runs us around the house trying to keep her out of trouble
• She is already testing us--she knows what 'No' means, but doesn't usually care to listen. 
• She recently had her first babysitting experience, and it was a positive one.
• She's walking very well on her own, and she also loves walking behind something she can push--though, if she reaches the end of a path or hits a wall and can go no farther, she gets very angry. 

We learn a little more about her personality all the time. So far, she loves to play and laugh, and she's very affectionate, but she also loves to ignore directions and cautions.  She's curious and inquisitive, and has a quick temper when she doesn't get her way.  In other words, she's just like her father.  Let's hope I can live through this....