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....

Happy Easter from Elizabeth

 So the servants have been acting all mysterious and one just came in and told me that I needed to go out to the dining area and look at something.  I don't see much around here, other than a floor that could really use a cleaning...but...hold on....

 

What the deuce? 

 

You mean there are things inside of this...what is it again?  An egg?  

 

Hmm...sweet potato crisps. Not bad. So eggs contain sweet potato crisps.  What? Not real eggs? Well why in the world wouldn't you just give me a real egg?  Too messy? Why is it messy? You know what, never mind. This is very confusing. 

 

Here's another one! This place is lousy with them!  I'm not really surprised, considering the (lack of) housekeeping skills of the current staff.

 

Hm. I thought I could just eat it and skip the whole breaking it open thing, but it looks like that isn't really the case. 

 

I should put it in this basket? Why? So that's where eggs go, in baskets? Not all eggs? Once again, you have made this whole process about as clear as mud. 

 

Well, here's another.  Let me put this fake egg in a basket.  So is it just fake eggs that go in baskets? No? Fresh eggs are gathered in baskets? Hmph. So fake and fresh eggs go in baskets. Where do real and not-so-fresh eggs go? Oh, so that's what that big thing in the kitchen is for! I've been wondering about that.   

 

This is what the basket looked like after I found most of the eggs and the servants retrieved other things that my devoted and adoring fans have sent me for Easter, like that card and the duck from fans in Michigan, and those books from fans in Texas.

  

Let's read the card.  Very nice. 

  

All in all, I have to say Easter is pretty fun, though some of the traditions are a little strange. 

  

Happy Easter everybody! Now I'm off to lecture the servants about various things they routinely do wrong.  

Mother's Note: If you want to see a video of the Easter egg hunt, you can view it here.

 

9 Months Old!

I am a terrible, terrible mother.

I forgot to post something on her 9-month birthday.  It isn't at all that I forgot that day was her 9 month birthday, I just forgot to post on or remotely around that day.  I feel horrible about it.  We were so busy--Michael's birthday had been the day before, his parents were here, and my voice was practically gone from a cold I'd caught from my daughter.

In any case, we do have photographic documentation of her that day:

 

Isn't she just so darn cute? Michael and I say that to each other about twenty-seven times a day.  

Some facts about our darling girl:

• She has taken her first step--but not a series of steps yet.
• She is babbling up a storm: bah, bah, bah, bah and dah, dah, and deh, deh, mah, mah, etc. 
• She likes nothing better than to rip Michael's DVD's off the shelf (the Blu-rays are in a shelf she never seems to make it to, thus far).  
• She thinks it is really funny when I tell her "no". She gives me the most charming, devilish grin. "Silly mommy. Don't you know I'll do whatever I please?"   

8 Months Old!

So Elizabeth turned 8 months old on February 26th, and I wish that I could say that I had lots of very cute pictures of her on that exact day....but I can't.

To be fair, her father and I were extremely ill that day, plagued by one of those horrific 24-hour stomach flu bugs. By the time we remembered that I needed to do a blog post, we were drowsy and miserable. We allowed Elizabeth to watch an episode of Sesame Street on Michael's laptop while we lethargically kept her from vaulting over the side of the bed by blocking her path with our bodies.  Michael snapped a picture of her on his laptop while trying to entertain her, and I was grateful because it was the only picture we took of her that day:

 

I'm not sure we'll ever forget that particular birthday.  In any case, here are some facts about our darling girl:

•  She is able to stand on her own. Seriously. 
• She loves to hit us in the face, sometimes with toys.  
• She is starting to cry when we leave the room or leave her at daycare--it's heartbreaking, but it makes us feel loved and missed. 
• She can crawl really fast, and likes to follow us from room to room.

We think she's the most marvelous thing in the world. 

Seven Months Old!

Guess who turned seven months old yesterday? This gal:

 

Sitting up so prettily, tongue out as usual. 

 

Grinning for Mommy with chubby cheeks!

Some facts about the big girl:

• She can barely crawl and she's already getting into everything.
• She is actually close to being able to pull herself up--she tries to do this on our coffee table all the time, and reportedly at daycare as well.
• One of her favorite things is to hit something with another thing that she's holding.
• She loves to play with her little squirting ducks in the bathtub, though they usually end up in her mouth. 

I am attempting a 365-day photo challenge, and Elizabeth is my model! Usually, I take photos of her all day and the next day I pick the one I judge to be the best or the most interesting/funny to post on a Tumblr site. So, if you would like to see what I've managed to do thus far, you can view it on 365 Days of Baby Elizabeth.