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!

Bathtime Peek-A-Boo!

After months of following Mommy and Daddy's lead...last night, Elizabeth initiated her own game of peek-a-boo!

After bathtime, she was lying on the changing table wrapped up in a large giraffe towel.



She pulled the side of the towel over her eyes and waited for Mommy and Daddy to say "Where's Elizabeth?"













That was all she needed before she threw the towel off her face and shrieked with delight when we laughed and responded, "THERE she is!!!!"

What fun!

Snack Time!

To Elizabeth, an open refrigerator door is synonymous with an open invitation to help herself to anything inside it!Usually, she goes straight for the bottle of Vitamin C! Must be Grammy's pro-vitamin influence...either that, or the fun sounds the bottle makes when she shakes it!

Snowy Day!

No, no...not in LA! (Puh-leazzze, people!)


This is in Boulder, Colorado! Elizabeth and I made a last-minute "rush visit" to the Alpha Phi chapter house there last week, and we both had a great time!










She was totally spoiled with attention from all the wonderful girls...and from Becky in particular, who looked after her so that Mommy could get some things done! (Thanks a million, Becky!!!)





It wasn't supposed to snow until the end of the week...but to our surprise--and Elizabeth's sheer delight--the snow arrived early! Twice!

All Bundled Up!

I thought this particular series of pictures deserved its own post! So here it is...Elizabeth dressed in Winter Wonderland attire! Dress provided by Grammy and hat and mittens provided by Grandma! Too bad it didn't snow in Texas!

Christmas Catch-Up Mega-Post!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Wow! It's been almost a MONTH since I entered anything on this blog...so I have A LOT of catching up to do! We spent a lovely 10 days in Texas for the holidays and had a great time with our families. We took a TON of pictures while we were there...so here is the Christmas Mega-Post!
Elizabeth's first taste of Christmas...and she's not quite sure what to make of it. She gets some fun bath toys from Heather and a little dolly from Grandmommy Jones.




Elizabeth sleeps with Mo (in her mouth) on the road from Houston to Austin!












Elizabeth with her Grandpa, Grams, and cousins Matt and Erin.







Elizabeth with Mommy, Grams, Aunt Jennifer, and Grandma.








Elizabeth looks down from the balcony and wonders when it was that Daddy and Uncle Mike became ROCK STARS!

Elizabeth always on the move at Grammy and Pop-Pop's. (Mommy and Daddy soon learned a lesson about walking around with sippy cup straws! Later that morning, Elizabeth tripped and cut her lip on it! Awww!)

Elizabeth realizes that she is the present!