The one where Purple wakes up...

Found this video floating around YouTube. Seems that Purple has just woken up and does some hilarious stuff while standing in her crib. And by "hilarious stuff" I mean she points at Mommy, smiles and giggles at Daddy, rambles on incoherently, points at the light, gathers up her Bunny and Mo for the long trip to the changing table, and makes sure she touches the walls. I don't know what that last one's about, but it's comedy gold. And by "comedy gold" I mean completely bewildering.

Here 'tis: Purple Movie 18!

Mischief Maker

Elizabeth is into EVERYTHING these days! But it seems that sorting is one of her new favorite tasks! And by sorting, I mean removing items from their rightful spot and relocating them to a new home!

It's a kind of game that, as she has so skillfully demonstrated, can easily be applied to anything: diapers (moving them from the shelf on one side of her room to the rocking chair on the other...and back again--albeit not stacked as neatly as they once were!), Daddy's XBox games (piling them up on one side of her as she sits, then flinging them one at a time to the other side...then making a new stack and doing it all over again!), and even CDs, which, unlike the other rituals, seems to require no attempt at "clean up" at all--at least not on her part!...(she just sits under the computer table and pulls the CD cases out of the storage bin one at a time until she makes a huge sprawling pile...then she moves on to something else!)






At the close of this activity, Mommy has started singing the "clean up song"--come on, most of you other Mommies know this one! Sing it with me: "Clean up...clean up...everybody, everywhere...clean up...clean up...everybody do your share!"





So far, our version ends with "Mommy has to do your share!" And, although Elizabeth doesn't realize it yet, we're working on changing that!

In Search of a Chair--Part 2

Elizabeth gets a core workout these days by trying to climb up on any sofa or chair she can find!


In this series, she successfully attempts to crawl up into the chair in front of the computer.






As you'll notice, she leads with the help of the strongest muscle...her tongue!








And once she is up, she is SO proud of herself!

Is This Seat Taken?

Wherever Elizabeth can find a little "Elizabeth-sized" spot to sit, she squats down and perches herself there--and the ledge on the inside of the refrigerator seems to offer exactly what she is looking for!










I think she is trying to give us a hint, here: "Can somebody please buy me a CHAIR?!" Grandma and Grandpa--get fired up for a trip to Big Lots! Woohoo!

"Side?..."

As of this posting, this is Elizabeth's favorite word--and favorite place, for that matter!















At first, she'll look up at us with one of those angelic expressions and say it like a sweet little question...and it means "Can we please go outside?"



But, if this earnest request is not met with an immediate and enthusiastic response of "okay, let's go" then, while her inflection remains the same, the intensity of her tone changes to more of a desperate and panicked plea that loosely translates to "Are you going to take me outside before I melt down into a huge hissy fit!?!?" It's kind of endearing and annoying--all at once.

For now, apparently "side" only refers to our backyard--even though we have explained to her numerous times that "outside" actually encompasses all of that which is not inside. But so far, the explanation hasn't sunk in. And even when we start out in the front yard, she heads to the back as though it is up to her to show us where "side" really is!


Once she is back there, she is nonstop busy!

She walks on the concrete path...then ventures out onto the grass, bends down to touch it...







climbs on the stone bench...


sits there for a minute...












goes back toward the patio...










climbs up on the furniture...










ventures toward the back steps, crawls around them to slide (or inch) her way down the slope...







crawls back up the steps, and meanders across the yard again!





All the while, she chirps to the birds, smells the flowers, talks to Mommy or Daddy, and even barks at the neighbor's dog!

How wonderful it is to live in sunny Southern California!

Valentine Attack Duckies...Revisited!

Well, I have had several requests to post the pictures showing evidence of the aggressive ducks that I described in my previous Valentine's Day post. (And okay, admittedly, I didn't actually capture the moment of agression on camera,...but that is because when they were in attack mode, I was fleeing with my daughter for our lives! Also, I feel the need to point out that there were WAY MORE of them in reality than were photographed in these frames! HONEST!)

Anyway, as I explained before, I only have about three pictures since my camera battery died...but I will post a couple here. And, you know...upon closer inspection, I'm not even sure that some of these creatures were ducks at all! Maybe just an odd breed of angry swimming birds?? You be the judge!

Who Needs Toys?...(Volume 2)

I know I've used that title before...but it applies here as well! Usually, when we take Elizabeth to a restaurant, she is content to sit in the high chair and "people watch" or just gaze in wonderment at the servers as they hustle and bustle around tables.

But, last weekend, while in San Diego, we met up with Auntie Sammy and headed to Bennigan's for dinner--(and before you say it, Grandpa: Poor Elizabeth...she couldn't "Bennigan" 'cause she had never been before!)

Anyway, while we were there, she became fascinated with the little pop-up advertisement on the table. And this occupied her for a good 10-15 minutes!

Night-night, Valentine!

Well, I had good intentions today of dressing Elizabeth up in a cute little red skirt and shirt and venturing to Polliwog Park to take some adorable Valentine pictures of her feeding the duckies! In theory, it was a good idea...but here is what went wrong:

First off, the "duckies" are not the same duckies that they appear to be in the picture books. You know, those cute, cuddly, docile, fuzzy little creatures that warm your heart? Yeah...that's a complete myth. In reality, they are rather aggressive and territorial--"attack" duckies, if you will! (No really...it was kinda scary! At one point, if you can picture this...I just abandoned the rest of the piece of bread that we were feeding them, scooped up Elizabeth, and fled!)

Second, about two pictures into "capturing the magic" that turned out to be not-so-magical, the battery on my digital camera died!

So, instead of heartwarming Valentine action photos, I will share with you the next best thing... an adorable picture of a peacefully sleeping Elizabeth! This was taken yesterday as we traveled downtown with Lindsay and Beckett to get some fabric for Lindsay's quilt...which, well...ended up being out of stock! Poor Lindsay. But, it was a fun time anyway! Elizabeth and Beckett enjoyed passing toys back and forth for a while, until Elizabeth conked out about halfway there, temporarily depriving Beckett of a playmate!And here is Beckett, looking a little sad at having lost his playmate to slumber! (Haha...actually, he's a little trouper and it didn't faze him at all! He seemed quite happy and contented the whole trip...with or without her company!...I just somehow managed to catch him in a millisecond of looking forelorn. Such a little cutie!)

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! XXOO!

Frequent Flyer

Okay...so...is it a bad sign when your baby is so familiar with traveling that she packs herself in the suitcase?!?!?
Just asking...After 9 round-trip flights in her short little 15 months (yes, I know....that's crazy!...especially to those of you who are saying things like "I haven't set foot on a plane since 9/11!"), I'm thinking it's time for us to stay home for a while!