This will teach us to leave the diaper bag unattended next to Elizabeth! Just when she was sure no one was looking, she leaned over the started digging for whatever she could get her hands on! Was she ever surprised when we called her name and snapped a picture!
Unfortunately, however, at some point during the middle of the night, Baby Houdini managed to work herself out of the swaddle (yes...even the Miracle Blanket!, though this one worked the best!), and she would awaken (sometimes TWICE a night) and CRY until I would go in and rewrap her so she was all nice and snug! As soon as I did that, she fell right back to sleep again. After about three nights of this nonsense (well...what else do you call it when a baby who was sleeping through the night is now waking up to be reswaddled?!), Mommy and Daddy decided "no more!"
Peter would remind me that to go in there and swaddle her meant that I would be getting up two more times that night and every night that followed, to do the same thing until she learned to sleep without being swaddled! So, into her room we would go to shush and pat, first letting 5 minutes go by, then 10, then 20, until she eventually fell asleep. (sigh!)
I love this picture of Elizabeth because it seems to capture her playful, yet easygoing personality. We were just hanging out on a lawn at Berkeley and she seemed to enjoy the feel of the prickly grass between her toes. It also reminds me of one of those stock photos that comes with a store-bought frame. Too cute!
Our last day in San Francisco was a lot cooler than the previous days, so we suddenly found ourselves on a mission to find a light jacket or sweater for Elizabeth. When we stumbled into the Wildlife Works Eco-Fashion Boutique, Grammy and Pop-Pop could not pass up the opportunity to outfit their grandbaby and save the planet at the same time!!! :-) (The owner of the shop runs a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya that focuses on helping endangered species, while providing jobs to the locals!) 
All that sightseeing REALLY wore her out! Up and down the hills, in and out of the car, strolling along the Wharf to Pier 39, poking in and out of shops in Chinatown, hiking the Berkeley campus and the nature trails of Golden Gate Park! PHEW! She was such a good little traveler...and somehow, she even managed to get a few naps in along the way! Hooray!
While we were visiting Chinatown in San Francisco, I couldn't resist these precious little pink shoes! ("Oh, Elizabeth...those shoes are SO CUTE! They make your WHOLE HEAD SPARKLE!") As soon as I bought them, we had to put them on her and document the event with a photo! Doesn't she look excited?!? (Well, maybe she doesn't YET...but I'm sure this will be the beginning of a shoe frenzy!) And we'll be able to point to this venture as the moment that started it all!
We just returned from a super-fun trip to San Francisco for the Fourth of July holiday! (We met Grammy and Pop-Pop there and the five of us poked around the city for a few days!) Before we left, we purchased this handy backpack carrier so that Daddy could easily trek all over town with Elizabeth in tow.
needs just fine...whether she was cheerfully taking in the sights of Golden Gate Park, or grabbing a little snooze--(that's the one where only her hat is visible)--while we were visiting Berkeley! 
Since summer officially arrived last week, we decided it was about time to purchase a pool for the backyard.
(This was later in the day following our morning at the beach... when we eventually gave up on braving the cold ocean water and opted for lounging and cocktails by the pool instead!) We have a few more photos, but Peter and I decided that we are just too vain (and blubbery!) to post any of the ones that actually show evidence of said blubber! Anyway, she wasn't too sure about this whole pool idea at first, but she seemed to dig it after a while. We're keeping it up for a few days so Lindsay and Beckett can come play in it on Wednesday! Hooray!
Here is Elizabeth getting all lathered up with Water Babies lotion for her big day at the beach! (And by "the beach" I mean El Porto...just south of Tower 42 in front of Alfredo's Snack Stand, of course!) After circling the parking lot FOUR times for a parking spot, (why do surfers have to take an hour and a half to strip out of their wet suits, load up their boards, and pack up their gear?!?) Peter, Elizabeth, and I met up with the J's (sans Julia) for a couple of hours in the sun. Elizabeth was not super-fond of the ocean water (we just dipped her feet in), but she was fascinated by it and she seemed to enjoy the sun and sand.
She is just plain BUSY! She's checking out her toys, grabbing at anything within reach, talking to her little caterpillar,...and generally just caught up in her own little world that is busy, busy, busy!
(Don't you love the expression..."Do I have to smile again?!?!")
We were just having a good time rolling around on the floor this morning! So I took these cute little snapshots! 
For those who have not seen the latest commercials (which I guess reveals to you that we are one of the few who still do not have Tivo or any of those other fancy commercial-skipping devices), "Harvest Surprise" appears to be a form of liquid trickery...a concoction by the folks at Juicy Juice designed to sneak vegetables into the fruit juice that kids already love. The theory, I suppose, is that they will hardly notice that they are drinking carrots mixed in with their apple juice?? As one who was never successfully fooled into developing an appreciation for the veggies, I am skeptical. However, since Elizabeth seems to LOVE the taste of carrots (no fooling...I think it might be her favorite food so far!), I am thinking that we just skip the "surprise" and head straight to V-8! But first, we have to master the art of the sippy cup!
I'm pretty sure you've all seen the cheesy corporate plaques that display profound words of motivation beneath a soaring eagle, a flock of geese, or some lone ladybug that is supposedly displaying a trait worth emulating in the professional world. (Er...Grandpa, do you have one of these in your office?? ;-)) Anyway, after watching Elizabeth put forth all of her effort into reaching, pulling, and standing to get her hands into anything and everything inside that ding-dang diaper basket--I am convinced that none of those winged creatures have anything on her! 
Now THIS is what I call inspirational!
