20-months-old (Yeah, we know, we haven't posted in a month...)

First of all, Raggedy Ann and Eliza. 20 months.

There, now that we have the business out of the way...

We've been exceptionally busy over the past couple of months. I switched jobs, Brian decided to attend the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law in the fall, and we've been trying to have as much fun as we can possibly squeeze in.

In March, Eliza had her first haircut. She was very good about it until the very end. She started to cry a bit when Brian had to hold her head still. She came out with straight bangs, so I suppose that's a victory.

Eliza is very eloquent for her age. She's even beginning to formulate sentences. She loves to demand that we pick her up, and she also loves the word "no". Luckily, I don't think she's knows what the word "no" means yet.

This April, we went to Western KY for Easter and spent some time at the farm. We got to see Grandmommy and Granddaddy and Mimi and Poppa and Gaga. Not to mention Aunt Lee and all sorts of cousins.

Later in the month, we went to Keeneland, our first Legends game of the season, and we made our first trip to Kings Island for this season.

Here's a little bit of video of her haircut, Easter egg hunting, and our trip to Kings Island. Plus, pictures from Easter and our trip to Mayfield.

We promise to try not to wait until this time next month to post again.

Bop!

Eliza has been bickering with me about my name. Her speech has picked up a bit over the past week and, in addition to long time phrases "who's that?", "what's that?", and "oh wow!", she's added "eyes" and "cat" and started mimicking words when we say them. Now when I asked her to say "Mom" she very loudly says "Bop!", as though she's arguing with me. I don't think she'll ever say "Mom" on a regular basis. Some people think I should just go with it. Can you imagine a 16-year-old Eliza calling her mother Bop?

This weekend we celebrated Valentine's Day with Eliza by taking her out for her first trip to Chuck E. Cheese. While not the magic experience Showbiz was when I was a kid, it still seemed like fun for a kid. The pizza, however, is just about the worst I've ever had, and half the games were broken in some way.

Eliza didn't know the difference. She had a blast watching all the older kids play. She even shouted "Hey!" at them as they'd run by. We got a little video of Eliza riding her first baby ride all by herself. If you pay close attention to the first video, you can hear her call me Bop.

Snow Day (and 17 months!)

Eliza was 17-months-old on Thursday. Just one day after Brian's 26th birthday. We totally forgot her Raggedy Ann picture, so it didn't get taken 'til yesterday. Brian had some flash issues, so this didn't come out the greatest. Still, she's 17-months-old. Such a big girl. Eliza is attempting to talk, but outside of "Who/What's that?", "Oh Wow" and "Hey", she really doesn't have much to say. She's trying to mimic the sound of words, but nothing much yet. She still doesn't say "Mom" on a regular basis. She does, however, seem to address me by the name "Bop!".

Today we decided to enjoy the snow and take Eliza out for her first sledding adventure. Unfortunately, there were no sleds to be found for the big people. We decided to break out Squeakin' Bill Quackers and see if he'd make a good sled. It took a good incline to get him going, but once we did, Eliza had a great time. Here's a little bit of video.





We came home and warmed up with the homemade hot chocolate. Such an excellent winter Saturday. Now we're watching Kentucky play Vanderbilt and being entirely lazy.

Eliza eats in her sleep

Eliza didn't take a nap this afternoon, so she was nodding off while eating puffs before dinner tonight. Of course her Mommy found it adorable and just had to get it on video.

Eliza stays put

I wanted Eliza to get mobile and learn to crawl, but I didn't think of the ramifications of Eliza actually crawling. It's sorta like when you vote for a local politician who promises to change some things and then he knocks down your house to build a road. Careful what you wish for.

In the past week, Eliza has gotten lightning fast. A can put her on the floor in the living room, spend 10 seconds in the kitchen and come back to newspapers all over the floor or Eliza attempting to move giant books from the bookshelf even though they weigh twice what she weighs. We went out and got all the babyproofing necessities like outlet covers, but I still needed a way to contain my adorable little monster without leaving her in a playpen half the day.

Enter: THE BABY CAGE

Basically it's just a hexagonal baby gate that keeps Eliza and her toys in a contained area. It totally looks like we're about to stage Oompa Loompa wrestling matches in Eliza's bedroom. We sorta felt guilty about this at first, but if I ever hope to get anything done again, I have to be able to keep her contained without keeping her too contained.

Here's some video of our new acquisition.

\

Eliza splashes and laughs at her first joke

I know I'm on a huge video kick lately, but I couldn't help sharing these. First, Eliza laughed in the appropriate place at a knock knock joke on TV. I couldn't believe it, so I played it for her again today. Sure enough, she laughed at the same place.



And just for fun, here's some video of Eliza splashing around in the tub.