Thursday, July 28, 2011

July 28-
E had a busy day today, she went to swimming lessons, played with Ama, and with her friend A. This morning E was running a fever, and only wanted to cuddle with her dada. After some snuggles, she was ready for swimming. She and Ama took a nice walk, played at the ba and looked for woo woos. On our nightly walk, E stopped at A’s house and made me knock on the door. We were in luck, A and her parents joined us walking. The girls had a great time chasing each other and exploring, there was only one crash, and no one even cried!

Every day on our walk, E tries to turn on our neighbor’s water spout. Each night, I tell her no, but it doesn’t stop her from trying.

July 27-
E had a great time playing at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, she loved blowing bubbles and playing with her grandparents. They had a new farm toy with lots of animals. E’s fever started today, and she really wanted to be held and carried. We took our evening walk in a stroller, which is unheard of.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

July 26- Dada described this today as E having security dress, not a security blanket. She took this extra dress on and off several times. Although she doesn't dress herself quite yet, she is starting to get interested in it, and has very clear opinions about what clothes she should wear. As a result, she spends a lot of time running around the house in a diaper, since we can't seem to find the outfit she wants.

E was just a little under the weather today, she was cuddlier then usual and wanted to be held a lot more. During our evening walk she wanted to be carried and even road in the stroller for a little bit, something totally out of character. E's new word was "Rora" her friend's name.

July 24- Dancing queen! For some reason, E was doing funny little dances all night, she was doing little stomps and arm waves.  Dances are hard to capture with a camera, but the little grin sums it up. She had a wonderful time playing outside, and even got to play ball with her friend A.

July 24- Today E spent some time with Ama and Grandpa while dada and I celebrated our anniversary. We started the day with a walk for breakfast, half way there E announced she was "all done" with the stroller. She pushed the stroller herself for a while, and then we had to carry her the rest of the way. After breakfast, we played outside for a long time. E went to great grandma's house and had a nice visit, then she played with Ama and Grandpa at the Ba and in the pool. She was even brave enough to put her nose in the water.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

July 23- The messy dinners have continued, today was pretty exceptional! In addition to a crazy dinner, E had lots to do today. She started off the day feeding mama her breakfast, including huge bites of egg on a fork, and hash browns using her fingers. It was a pretty funny way to eat. In between feeding me, she managed to take a few bits for herself. There was lots of outside play, and E's friend A even came over in the afternoon. E loves giving A hugs, which is adorable. E also helped Ama shop for yarn, E loves pulling the yarn down and putting it into baskets.

June 22- We took E to the County Fair this evening, here is E in a mooing contest. She won a tee shirt, it won't fit until she is 4, but she still said moo over the loud speaker. She was a little scared of the cows and horses, but liked the sheep and chickens. We took her to the children's petting zoo, and she was too scared to touch a chick, but when a volunteer held out a duckling, all of a sudden, E gave it a poke. She scared all the grown ups around her, but the duckling was fine. She also had her first meal of fair food, trying a turkey leg, Vietnamese noodles, and cheese curds. It was all a hit.

E spent the morning with Grandma and Grandpa, while dada and Grandpa did some work, she and Grandma got to play. Grandma even helped E figure out how to work her clacking alligator on a string.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hot, Hot, Hot

The temperature here has been incredible here this week and staying cool has been top priority. Its been funny to watch E deal with this, I forget that she doesn't understand that hot means slow. She's kept up her frantic pace the entire week, with just a little more swimming and playing with the garden hose then usual. She also gotten some new words, "moon," "Elmo," "up," "down," and "ouchie." She also knows what an elephant says.

  July 21- After dinner tonight, E grabbed a swim diaper and insisted that she go outside. Since she'd already been swimming at the Y and at Ama and Grandpa's backyard, we didn't really to go to the pool, so we got the tub of water and a few toys. It worked just fine. We also went on a walk to look for dogs and played with the swings and bubbles a little.

E had swimming today, and her Grandma and Grandpa came to watch she loved showing off for them. After her lessons, she stayed with Ama for the afternoon.

July 20- A post swimming cheerio. Tonight the whole family got into the pool and took a swim. E and dada loved showing off at the songs and splashes she's learned at her lessons, and we all loved the chance to cool down! E spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa and even got to take a nap on Grandpa's shoulder.

For some reason, during our pre-dinner walk, E wanted to be carried the whole time, which normally I love, since she's so independent. However, tonight, with the heat, I found myself wanting her to walk on her own for one of the first time.

July 19- This was possibly the messiest meal of E's life. She insisted on eating standing up, which was the first problem. The second was that she was most interested in yogurt. She ate a container and a half of yogurt and got it all over everything since she was controlling the spoon herself. On top of that, she also had rice, which always gets everywhere.

E and her dad had to go mall walking to get out of the house and heat today, they ran into one of dada's grad school friends who was delighted to meet E. After work, we of course had to go for our usual circuit outside, which was so much hotter then usual. Fortunately, most of it is in the shade. 

July 18- Clowning around with her sun glasses is one of E's favorite things. So much so that she broke the sun glasses later this week. She loves putting the glasses on herself and her parents, and always giggles when looking at the world through them. We played on the swimming pool steps tonight, which, if she doesn't get to go swimming is the next best thing. The steps are just right for climbing down two of them without getting too wet.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Monkey Girl

Our neighbor describes E as being in the monkey stage, she has lots of words and signs, but instead prefers to point and grunt to get her point across.  There has been lots of pointing and grunting at our house lately. There has also been lots of climbing up onto things lately, which E loves, but worries mom and dad.

July 17- E loves her new kitchen, her favorite part of the kitchen is the series of small blue hooks across the top, she loves to try and hook the utensils and pans on them.  Today was very, very hot, and E basically refused to wear clothes all day. She was dressed when we had lunch with my family, but other then that, no clothes for her! Aside from lunch out, we spent the rest of the day trying to beat the heat.

July 16- We visited Grandpa at the little league field where he was running a tournament. E even got to speak over the sound system, saying hi, and then telling the audience that the cow says moo.  Grandpa even gave E a baseball, which she loved throwing and chasing. In the evening, E and I joined Ama and Grandpa for dinner, and then Ama came over and played for a little bit.

E was all about Ama all day, in the morning, she heard the coffee pot beep that it was done and immediately said "Ama" she spent the rest of the day asking for her.

In the morning, E and I went to the Splash Pad with her friend L and his parents.  Neither kid really liked the splash park, L got splashed in the face right away and was scared the whole time, and E doesn't like to get her face or head wet. She spent the time handing me a cup to fill and then dumping it out.  But it was worth checking out the Splash Pad, and I'm sure we'll go back.

July 15- Only recently has E been allowed to play in the basement.  She really enjoys it down there, and now asks to go down all the time. In the basement she gets away with stuff she doesn't up stairs. She's allowed to take Dada's DVDs off the shelf, play with CDs, and play with the VCR and DVD player. She loves trying out all the stuff she's usually kept away from.  She also likes the giant purple ball, she's not great at throwing it yet, but she's working on it.  Her favorite thing to do is put her belly on it, and have one of her parents roll her on top of it so she's laying on top if it, its sort of like a exercise ball for her.

E also got to play with her friend A today, A's mom had made a super bubble mix, and sidewalk paint.  The girls also had a huge bucket of water and a bunch of cups to play with, between the the two of them, they managed to empty the whole thing.  E also learned to play with mud, and tasted the bubble mixture. She didn't like the taste of dish soap at all.

After that, E got to take part in her second Skype conversation, she talked to her Auntie in England, E loved seeing someone on the computer and loved seeing herself on the screen.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

July 14- Captain America is E's favorite superhero.  Apparently, she plays with one at Target every time she and her dad go, and today, when we all were in the basement, she got to play with one of her Dad's Captain Americas.  She also pulled dada's Star Wars DVDs off the rack, so I can tell that dada thinks he's turning her into a mini Star Wars/comic book fan.  E also spent a lot of time playing with her play kitchen, every time she turns on the "faucet" she made a little shhhhh noise like water was coming out.  She loved putting the fake food on plates and carrying around the pan, but we could tell she was frustrated that no water came out of the faucet.


July 13- We had dinner with Grandpa and Teddy since Teddy is moving on the 14, E went to the ba (playground) with Teddy, and had mostly a good time.  She also got to blow bubbles with Grandpa and listen to her favorite CD.  Before dinner Teddy took her to play disc golf in the back yard, E is a good disc retriever, Teddy tossed them and E ran, picked them up, and put them in the basket.

July 12- E is helping dada sign his teaching contract for next year!  We've been waiting to get in the mail all summer!  Because everyone was up early (5 am), I got a ride to work, and they handed in the teaching contract in person, right when the office opened.  E also got to visit her uncle Teddy.  After work, E and I did our usual circuit. We sit on the stone edge to the garden and blow a few bubbles, then we run over past the neighbor's house to the pool and swings.  E tries to open the door to the pool for a while, then she swings for a few minutes.  After that its back to the pool door.  Then, we go look at Jim's flowers and say hi to his garden decorations (two bunnies, a Dutch boy and girl, a duck, and two solar lights). After that we run over to the ramp leading into the community room, E runs up and down the ramp, and then sits in the middle.  After all that, momma usually carries E home to wash up!

Monday, July 11, 2011

3 Bears

We spent the weekend at 3 Bears Lodge with my friends from college and their kids (and baby to be) and Ama and Grandpa.  All the kids loved the water park, although it took E a little time to warm up to it.  E's word count has grown in the past week or so to include "milk", "up", "hop" (as in "what does a bunny say?" "hop"), and "meese" (milk please).

July 11- Here's E kicking back and doing a little reading!  She laid out her changing pad very nicely, and collected a newsletter to read. It was another busy day for E and dada, they played around the house, played on the swings, and ran a few errands.  After work, E and momma took a walk and after dinner we got to play with our neighbor A.  A and E played on the swings, watched people swim, and chased each other. E tends to push, so we had to watch her pretty closely.

July 10- the whole crew at the 3 Bears.  E is in one of the water swings, which, along with the lazy river was her favorite part. She doesn't like getting her face wet, so the splashing in the park was a little overwhelming for her. She loved seeing her little cousins and I think even had a little crush on P, she followed him around and gave him a couple of hugs.

She had the best time playing on the bottom bunk beds with the other kids, watching movies and climbing up and down.

July 9- E is back in the water swing, she never wanted to get into the swing, but once she was in, she had a pretty good time.  Her favorite was riding on the lazy river on either my or her dad's tummy, although when she and I were on the ride, she got splashed with a wave and she screamed! I don't think E has ever spent more time in the water then she did the weekend.

July 8- E is helping dada unload the luggage, she's really been interested in climbing lately, and this was no exception, she didn't actually get to ride down the hall on the luggage cart, much to her disappointment.  She had a great time exploring the hotel room, one of her favorite parts were the kitchen cabinets that were empty so she could open and close them as much as she wanted.

Bed time

July 7- Bed time had been going smoothly for a few weeks now, but suddenly took a turn for the worse.  We aren't sure why, nothing in the routine has changed, just the falling asleep!  Today was probably the last Ama, Teddy and Ellie day and they made the most of it, after her swimming lesson, she took a stroller ride to the library and then played in the pool, she is getting brave enough to put her belly in the water.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Concert on the Square

July 6- E and I went to her first Concert on the Square today and she had a wonderful time. She got to play on the top of the capitol steps with a bunch of other kids, we walked around the capitol and looked at dogs, had a drink from a bubbler (one of her favorite things to do), and had snacks with both Ama and I. Some other kids brought sidewalk chalk, which E loved. She colored very nicely with the other kids, she liked throwing the chalk, which we tried to stop whenever possible.  But, E loves to throw.  The concert ended with the 1812 Overture which included a live cannon, the explosions didn't bother E at all, she kept on coloring.

E has really been missing momma while she is at work, it has been particularly difficult in the afternoons, when she has napped and is able to use her energy to cause trouble.  She also got to play at Westmorland Park and took her first ride on a merry-go-round!

July 5- E is playing ghost again! She ran around her room, and her dad and I took turns catching her, so the she didn't crash into anything.  This evening E only wanted to be outside, I took her out three separate times, once to blow bubbles, once for a walk and a swing, and once to look for dogs.  She really wanted to see a dog and refused to go inside until we found one.  Once we finally did, she was scared of it!

She and her dad went to the Geology Museum today and E was scared of the dinosaurs, they also went and toured the new Union South, which E enjoyed.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Holiday weekend

July 4- Today E marched (or rolled) in her second 4th of July parade, it was so much fun watching her watch the other kids this year, last year, she was just a little baby, and had no idea was was going on.  I'm sure that next year, she'll be one of the kids on the decorated bike! After the parade, she got to play on a playground, and  walk around a park, she had a great time.  Her favorite part of the park was playing with the tire pieces which protect kids from the ground. 

After the parade, an exhausted E fell asleep in the car, and after a relatively short nap got to go swimming with both mom and dad, and got to play in the neighbor's sprinkler. To top that off, she had dinner with Ama and Dad-ee.  Some how, Grandpa's name got changed from Ada, to Dad-ee.  We'll see how long that lasts.

July 3- We went to one of dada's second cousin's cabin, E didn't get to ride on one of these ATVs, but she loved sitting on it, and playing with the buttons, it kept her occupied for quite some time.  E spent pretty much the whole day outside, playing on the ATVs, in the grass, and going on walks.  We had a great time spending the day with Dada's family, some of which hadn't seen E since she was small.

We learned that E is still afraid of dogs, she wouldn't go near the two big huskies, and even when being carried near the dogs, wanted to be up as high as possible.  We did learn that E likes beef tenderloin, she ate quite a bit of dada's dinner.

July 2- We went over to Great Grandma's for our traditional 4th of July dinner this evening.  Great Grandma's house is near a big fireworks display, so E spent quite a bit of time people watching, here she is getting ready to blow some bubbles, while sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, so that she doesn't miss anyone. 

Aside from the dinner, E also went to the farmer's market, where she picked the garlic herb cheese curds, which are her favorite and got to go swimming, she is turning into quite a little fish!

E also got really good at saying "animal" she has an animal magnet that her dad got her at the zoo, and she is now able to go to the fridge and ask for it.
July 1- was the hottest day of the summer, the picture on the right captures it a little, the camera fogged up when I took it outside.  To beat the heat, E and I decided to play with some water in the front yard, E dumped it out right away, and I made a mistake, I showed her that we had a hose in the front yard.  From that point on, she had to have the hose (with the water running) and used it to fill her bucket, and just to pour on herself.  She then went for a walk and tried to use our neighbor's hoses too!

E and her dad also visited me at work today, which I loved, E showed off her animal sounds (cow, dog, cat, and sheep) for my co-workers, and showed off how good she is at saying hi and bye.

June 30- E absolutely loves to brush her teeth.  Unfortunately, we accidentally taught her to say che-che-che (from the Rafi song, brush your teeth) instead of a word for brushing, so now, she walks up to us and says "che-che" instead of  something else.