Such, bad, bad, bad bloggers

Why yes, it has been forever since we've updated the blog.

Who knew that being a family with a law student and a work-at-home Mom would be so very lacking in time to actually update Eliza's blog? Oh, that's right, pretty much everyone but us.

We've had a pretty eventful first part of the year, but I've completely given up on trying to catch up. Let's just start fresh, shall we?

First of all, Eliza is getting HUGE. She's 36 and 1/4 inches tall and 36 lbs. Since we're amusement park season pass holders, we've learned this year that Eliza is tall enough to ride some of the good rides. She LOVES riding the Monster and will always request that she ride that ride as soon as we get to the park.

She has also turned into quite the articulate little lass. We've been painting the house recently and she told her doctor the other day that her house is only "partially painted" and we were stunned. She's also a big fan of using adjectives like colorful, sparkly and her favorite word for people's breath which is misgusting. Sure, she coined the term, but I wouldn't expect to see that on urban dictionary anytime soon.

Her favorite TV shows these days are Jake and the Neverland pirates, Phineas and Ferb and Doctor Who, which she watches with Daddy. I'm still not so sure that last show is a good idea, but Daddy needs someone in the house to watch Doctor Who with him. Eliza can read some of her favorite shows on the TV Guide and we'll just add that to her freakish early reading ability. I swear, we're still not actively teaching her to read. I have no idea how she does it.

Eliza also likes to watch YouTube videos. Her favorite is the video for They Might Be Giants' Istanbul. She also likes this avant garde performance art video called I Am Your Grandma. We've spent hours on end watching Hakuna Matata and Banana Phone on YouTube, too. We've recently started looking up karaoke videos on YouTube and singing at the top of our lungs. This kid is a joy to have around.

Eliza has had some health concerns lately, but so far all the testing we've done has come back okay. She does have a type of cyst at the base of her tail bone, but we're checking in with the doctor tomorrow to see what can be done about it. Aside from this, she's thriving and we couldn't be more pleased with her progress.

The one point on which we haven't made much progress is potty training. It's the only time Eliza's disposition can be characterized as anything other than lovely. She screams and cries and begs not to go. Her most recent claim is that the small potty hurts her posterior, so we're going to try to go with a potty ring. She'll need to be potty trained to go to preschool in the fall, so fingers crossed that we can master that skill soon.

We've been having fun in the backyard and out and about this summer. Our neighbors were getting rid of a soccer goal that had never been assembled, so Brian put it up in the yard for Eliza to play with. She LOVES kicking a soccer ball around the yard. She also likes swimming in her baby pool. We went to the drive-in to see Super 8 and Kung Fu Panda 2 the other night and Eliza seemed to love it.

So far, Eliza has had a great summer. By the end of it, she'll be three-years-old. Our baby is growing up.

Eliza's Second Birthday

Eliza is a big girl now, so we had a big girl party for her. We invited all of her closest family members to a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party at our new house in Louisville. We showed off her little tribute video, ate cake and pizza and watched 5 adults attempt to assemble one little Cozy Coupe and doll stroller with some bit of effort.

I can't believe how big she looks in all her birthday pictures. We sure are proud of our not-quite-a-toddler, not-quite-a-preschooler little girl. Here are a few pictures from her big day.

Sweet spread, including the "well loved" Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mommy and crew worked on for her. There was some "issue" with the black icing, but we made it work.
Obviously thrilled party guests.


We managed to win back one of our unhappy party guests.

Or two....




The family brought Eliza a lot of great presents, including some instruments. Knowing our musical kid, she'll have a band together by the end of the month. She's also completely outfitted for fall and got some educational toys and a new baby doll. Eliza's a pretty lucky kid to have so many people who love her. We can't wait for next year.

A year and a half of Eliza Jane Smith!

Eliza is 18-months-old today. We've come leaps and bounds in the past month. She'll now mimic pretty much any word we say (which is both a good and a bad thing - Brian and I are working on this) and she likes to mimic our actions. She's learning her letters by pointing to them as the credits roll at the end of TV shows and movies. No kidding. She names them (not always correctly)and then will look back at us for applause. The other day she was prancing around the house saying "seven, eight, nine!" in a low whisper over and over again. Just like the cliched observation everyone makes about babies - she's an information sponge.

She can walk down the stairs with a little help from the banister (and Mom) and she'll stay in the living room without the baby gate up. She's gotten very social and yells "Hi!" at everyone in the grocery store. Loudly. She now eats with a fork or spoon all on her own and has acquired a taste for pot pies. She even eats her morning cereal with milk in it like a big girl.

She sings along with TV shows and the radio. She generally picks one syllable and repeats it over and over, but it's still singing! Her new favorite TV show is Blues Clues. The very old version, with Steve. She gets all worked up when it's mail time and will always try to sing the mail song.

Today was her 18-month half birthday so we decided to get her a cupcake to eat after dinner. I think the size was a little overwhelming, so it took her a bit to dig in. We snapped a couple of pictures of her eating her cupcake, and of course we have a few more to share. Look at this big girl!

Country Girl

Eliza got a toy barn and a stuffed tractor for Christmas. We decided to dress her up in her tractor t-shirt and let her play with her farm toys. Sadly, once Brian got his camera out, she only wanted to play with his camera. Silly baby.

Don't the pigtails crack you up? She looks like such a big girl.

Summer-Winter (a picture recap) and some other tidbits

I've been terrible with keeping up the blog. I'll give you a little update on us and then show you some of the pictures I just pulled from the little camera I carry in my purse. I have some from back in the summer, even!

Thanksgiving was nice, but the next day my Mom fell ill and spent a week in the hospital in Louisville. Brian's Mom was nice enough to stay with us and keep Eliza last week. Thankfully, my mother is home and doing much better, so we'll be back in our usual routine tomorrow.

We've put up two Christmas trees this year. We initially put up an artificial tree, but it's no secret that I'm not a fan of the fake tree or colored lights. My very understanding husband let me undecorate the fake tree and put up a real one with white lights. Before and after pictures to follow below.

Next week we're heading to Western KY to visit family and we'll also head to Nashville to take in some of the holiday cheer at the Opryland Hotel. We couldn't be more thrilled.

Eliza is chatting up a storm these days. She likes to say "Oh, wow!" along with "Who/what's that?" Along with her own little alien baby language we've yet to translate. Her hair is getting much longer and really wild, but she won't let me put bows and ponytail holders in it. She has almost a full mouth of teeth and still uses them to chew almost anything she can get her hands on.

And now, a half a year's worth of quick snapshots.

Busy times!

I spent all last week at home with Eliza as part of what corporate has obfuscatingly termed "work reduction" (read: unpaid furlough.) The upside to that was, we got to have a lot of fun. We went to the park one afternoon, we went to the store, we played games, we took naps. Fun was had by all.

Tonight, we had spaghetti for dinner, which meant Eliza got to play with her food a little.



As you can see, Eliza had some fun with it.

She did scare us a little last night by waking up at 4 a.m. screaming for no reason. That's extremely unlike her.

Eliza is 10-months-old.

Our sweet, funny and genuinely cool baby girl turned 10-months-old today. She was born last summer and here we are in summer again. In two brief months from now and we'll have ourselves a kid with a full year of life experience under her belt. Here's what Eliza can do now that she couldn't do last month.

-She crawls and cruises like a champ. She can walk from one side of the room to the other as long as she has enough furniture to steady herself.

-She can drink an entire bottle on her own without having to have me recline her to finish it.

-She just started taking baths in the big tub.

-She will eat almost any baby food we give her, and she's starting to try more grown-up food. This month she tried watermelon and iced tea for the first time.

-She's babbling up a storm and says DADADADADADADADA constantly. She's beginning to realize that it actually means Daddy.

-Her top left tooth is poking through. Good thing we just started brushing with her brand new Hello Kitty toothbrush.

-She tries really hard to wave, but sometimes it's a delayed reaction. Someone will wave at her and she'll wave 5 minutes later. She also randomly waves during the day or waves at the TV or computer screens.

Last night we went to the drive-in again and took a few pictures. As much as we love watching a movie under the stars, the movie we saw was terrible. Eliza sat and watched the whole movie like a big girl. She even sat still and ate puffs out of my hand most of the time. So big.

Here are a few pictures of Eliza's first bath in the big tub, our trip to the movies and, of course, this month's Raggedy Ann picture.

The weekend so far...

We decided that we were going to have a relaxing weekend. So far, so good. Yes, I knocked whatever kind of Target furniture particle board this desk is made of.

Last night, Aunt Cheryl and Eliza's cousin Bransen came over and we played a couple of games. Today we watched some TV, hung around the house, grilled some steaks and went to walk at the park.

We managed to capture a few pictures of fun moments we've had lately. Thought we'd share.