My Pod!

Let me share a little story about our secret weapon that keeps Elizabeth COMPLETELY HAPPY in the car! It's this magical invention called the "my pod" or "my mp3"--or, as Elizabeth calls it "ABCs"--that is made by the folks at Parents' magazine. It plays 14 different nursery rhymes that she can change herself with a touch of a button! The songs are catchy little tunes sung by children with British accents...and most are songs anyone would recognize, like the alphabet song or her new current favorite "me shout"--er, "I'm a Little Teapot"...go ahead--sing through it once to yourself and you'll see why she calls it that!) And, as you can see, she totally digs it!

A couple of weeks ago, though, we had a near tragedy on our hands when it looked like ABCs had BROKEN! Daddy even cleverly changed the batteries (usually the most obvious solution to "fixing" any toddler toy these days!)...but it still didn't work! So, since she asks for ABCs EVERY time we get in the car, Mommy found herself on a quest to find a replacement! Should be easy enough, right? I mean, after all...they sell it at TARGET! Or...so Mommy thought! After different trips to multiple Target locations, searching it out online, and even enlisting the help of Grammy to scour her local Target stores in Houston, we soon discovered that the nursery rhymes version has been replaced by the new and improved CLASSICAL MUSIC version! OH NO!!!! And, mind you, I have nothing against classical music...but when your toddler wants to hear ABCs and Me Shout, then Beethoven's 5th Symphony simply will not do! ;-)

So, after even more super-sleuthing, I was able to locate ONE store on the internet that carried this "must-have" toy--and went to put it in the "shopping cart" only to find that I was blocked from navigating to the checkout page! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Alas, if you are still reading this, then you deserve some reward for sticking with me through this long, drawn-out, Peter-like telling of this story to find out what happens, so I will end the suspense now by reassuring you that, in fact, it does have a happy ending! It turns out that the internet store that was selling the mymp3 is located HERE in Los Angeles! So I simply called them and had them reserve one for me! The kicker is...on the morning we were set to go get it, Elizabeth picks up her "broken" one, clicks away at the buttons, and all of a sudden...it's playing music again as if it were brand new! UGH! But, not willing to take any chances, I trekked down to the Kidsland store on Wilshire and Western and bought my "back-up" mp3...so now we are armed and ready if tragedy strikes twice!

Quick Fix

Just in case you are going through Elizabeth withdrawal...here are a few recent pictures!

Our Little Reader

Just wanted to post some cute pictures of our budding little reader!

Sometimes, when she is roaming around the house, it gets a little quiet...so I go searching for her.













And, inevitably, I find her hunkered down with Mo and a good book! :-)

Yep...Daddy's little girl!

Here Comes Summer!

Elizabeth faced today's 92-degree heat head-on with daring tenacity by slipping into her new summer sun gear and heading outside to run around in the backyard!

She played in the sprinklers for a short while (which she wasn't so sure about at first)...and then, Daddy let her take the water hose and go to town!




Boy was that a HUGE hit!

















She soon discovered that it was a great way to get wet ALL over!









Plus, it made getting a cool drink pretty easy!











And somewhere in the midst of all that fun, she even found time to stop and admire a ladybug!

The Miracle Worker?

So, Elizabeth has become a little bit obsessed with the water fountain in Auntie P's backyard. Here are what we like to call some "Hellen Keller Moments" with Daddy. All we are missing is the audio of her repeating over and over again: "Water?...water?...water?"

Stop and Smell the Flowers!

Now, Elizabeth is taking this quite literally...but it's really good advice!

Every once in a while, I get overwhelmed by motherhood and a little stressed out about life's curve balls, and I have to remind myself to stop and appreciate all of life's WONDERFUL blessings. Sure, we all have our fair share of ups and downs, but there is a LOT to be thankful for! So I write today with an attitude of sincere appreciation and a grateful heart for the gift God has given me in this sweet little girl and kind and loving husband. XXOO

Hangin' with G & G

Elizabeth sure had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Here are a few pictures from their visit!

BIG Shoes to Fill!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit about two weeks ago.


And Elizabeth decided to step into Grandpa's shoes!



(I warned her that doing so might cause her to stress out--a LOT!...but she insisted! haha!) See for yourself!

We Are Some of the Easter People...

...and here is a picture to prove it! haha!

Hope you all had a very happy Easter with family and loved ones!

Nakey-Nakey

In case you were wondering whether Elizabeth still enjoys bathtime,...

...the answer is a resounding YES!

Sittin' In My High Chair...

Well, this one is not exactly a "high chair"...but since learning this little "high chair" song from Gymboree, Elizabeth has overgeneralized EVERY chair to be a high chair.








So, when Grandma and Grandpa bought her this adorable little pink Elizabeth-sized chair, she ran toward it, exclaiming happily, "HIGH CHAIR!!!!"





And she pretty much repeats it every time she sits in it!

Da Plane...Da Plane! (Or, in Elizabeth's case: Da "Meen" Da "Meen"!)

Here, Elizabeth and Daddy are watching planes land near LAX. This was definitely a highlight of Daddy's spring break vacation! Elizabeth's LOVES planes...or "meens" (lately "meen" has morphed into "mane"...but is not quite a "plane" yet!) But she loves to run after them and point! ALMOST as much as she loves to point at the moon!

Elizabeth is unlocking a whole new world of words! It seems like one minute she was barely uttering "daddy" and "doggie" and the next minute, an entire encyclopedia of words came pouring out of her mouth! And now, there is just no stopping her! Just after our return from Houston in early February, Daddy and I tried writing down a list of all the words we had heard her say --and, much to our surprise, it turned out to be nearly 35 words long! And now, just a month later, she seems to be adding several new words a day!

Disclaimer: Lots of the words she says are pretty easy to decipher...like "melmo" for "Elmo" and "moon" for "moon" (go figure!)--not to be confused with "moon" for "balloon"--haha! But several are words that we struggle to figure out and then must translate for others later! But since she repeats the sounds over and over while pointing to the same object--like "meen" for "plane" and "mope" for "blimp" for example...we think those still count!

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!