Category: Uncategorized

IMG_7940.JPG, originally uploaded by griffey.

Here’s something Eliza and I have in common: we HATE the summer heat and the direct sunlight.

We’ve tried to keep her cool by staying indoors, but she also gets bored fairly easily. And we live in the middle of nowhere, so our options for indoor play are limited to the Piggy Wiggly, the CVS, friends’ houses, and an ice cream place.

So, we broke down and got her an inflatable pool. Jason went all out and got one with an attached slide, which she adores. She has no fear of water and loves splashing and sliding in her new pool. The neighbors probably hate us because the only place to put it was our front yard. Oh well. It’s worth it to see her cool and happy on hot summer days.

IMG_7909, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza is officially a year and a half old! Time flies!

Favorite hobbies: watching home videos of herself, sorting the recycling, singing, “reading” by herself, putting on shoes (especially mommy’s), playing dress up with scarves, hats, and necklaces.

Favorite toys: Melissa & Doug castle and dolls, Elmo mailbox sorter, stuffed animals, magnets, wind-up toys, balls, sand and water table, anything her friend Griff has.

Favorite books: Billy and Milly Short and Silly; Spot Loves His Daddy; I’m Just Like My Mom / I’m Just Like My Dad; Peekaboo Zoo.

Favorite foods: chicken noodle soup, cereal with milk, vanilla ice cream, green beans, vegetable soup, Gerber juice treats (not really “food,” but she’s totally addicted), peanut butter, pizza

Eliza has changed a lot in the last month. She is better at feeding herself with a spoon, even something as tricky as cereal! She’s also working on the fork, although she still needs practice. She is faster at going up the stairs and can now come down the stairs with a little bit of help. Still quite the talker, she says 3-4 word “sentences” on a regular basis now. It seems that she says at least one new word every day.

Emotionally, Eliza is getting more complicated. She has turned into a biter, and we’re working on that. She gets her feelings hurt very easily and does not like to be in trouble. She’s also a lot more affectionate that ever before, doling out tons of hugs and kisses. And she has become a bit of a daddy’s girl, which is cute to watch.

At 18 months, she can count from 1-14, sing most of her ABC’s (she gets stuck on T-U-V), recognize and say most colors, recognize and say several shapes, point to and say at least 10 body parts, say 3 days of the week in order (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), recognize, say, and do the sounds for countless animals, and properly use the pronoun “I,” as in one of her favorite phrases, “I want that one.”

We can hardly keep up with her!

IMG_0489, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza got to spend 9 whole days with Daddy while I attended a workshop in Florida. I’m sure she stopped asking about me at some point. They did lots of fun daddy-daughter things, like a trip to the farmer’s market, playdates with friends, hanging out at the park, and a visit to Nana’s house.

In the 9 days that I was gone, she changed so much it’s scary. When I left, she needed help getting up the stairs to the slide at a local park. When I came back, she could do it all on her own. Standing up, mind you, not crawling up on all fours! She has also developed a new love of YouTube videos of animals (thanks, Daddy!) and a worrisome obsession with watching home videos of herself, especially of herself falling, which is apparently the funniest thing she’s ever seen.

IMG_0465, originally uploaded by griffey.

I think Eliza is going to have her mom’s sensitivity to others, which is both a blessing and a curse.

We were watching an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba today, and there is a character named Gooble, who is always crying.

“Gooble’s sad,” Eliza said.
“Yes, he is sad,” I confirmed.
“Hug Eliza,” she suggested, in order to make it all better.

Works for mommy and daddy, so why not the rest of the world?

IMG_1250, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza saw the ocean for the first time when we spent 4 days at Rosemary Beach, Florida. Although it exhausted her (in a good way), she absolutely loved it. She had no fear whatsoever, even when the waves knocked her around. She wanted to stand there all by herself (“Eliza do it!”). She also enjoyed digging in the sand with her new shovels, picking up sea shells, and watching the birds and airplanes fly overhead. All in all, a great trip. Can’t wait to go back when she has a little more stamina!

IMG_1086, originally uploaded by griffey.

Took Eliza to another festival this weekend, and she seemed to get more attention than all the cornbread. Wherever we go, people want to talk to her and touch her. Or we hear them talking about her. She has no idea how powerful she is. Yet.

We ate lots of yummy fair food (freshly fried potato chips, barbecue, hot dog, ice cream, kettle corn). Eliza was in heaven. Heard some decent bluegrass music, watched some juggling on stilts, looked at John Deere tractors and giant cow statues, and played with rubber ducks floating in a fountain.

We didn’t ride any rides, but she had a blast looking at all the bright spinning things. She kept saying “Wow! Wow! Wow!” It was clearly a feast for her little tummy AND her little eyes.

IMG_1030, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza got to go to her first “petting zoo” environment this weekend at a local festival. She had absolutely NO fear whatsoever and picked up the turtles with an ease and grace that astounded me. She also had fun stopping the mice on their wheel with just a powerful little touch of her finger and lifting it so they could spin again. She did this over and over.

We also took a hayride, which she thought was funny and fun. Although we were going about 5 miles an hour the whole time, she kept saying “wheeee! wheeeeee!”

And there was live music, which she enjoyed, and a cookout. She had an entire hot dog plus some of mommy’s food. But the best part of all was just seeing her walking all around, very independently. Someone asked us, “Is she a runner? Some kids just see an open space and take off.” Well, I wasn’t sure until Saturday, but yes. She’s a runner.

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Originally uploaded by griffey

Just keeping up with Eliza’s increasing language acquisition is insane. The latest: Every night when her evening episode of Yo Gabba Gabba goes off (we watch it after dinner as a wind-down for bedtime), the DVR stops and she says “Uh oh!” Last night, it went off, she said “Uh oh!”, then paused and shrugged and said “Daddy fix it!”

Indeed, Daddy fix it.

She’s 15 months old. I’m scared of her at 2.

IMG_7513.JPG, originally uploaded by griffey.

She’s turning into Linus, which is something I always feared would happen.

The sacred pink blankie used to live only in her crib or be brought out for naptime at daycare. But now that she can say the word “blankie,” she can ask for it whenever she wants. Today, she demanded to take blankie and Minnie Mouse for a ride in the stroller. She went to her room, pointed to the crib and shouted “blankie!” I gave it to her. She then carried it into the living room, where the stroller was parked, and tapped it, saying “ride! Mommy…ride!” And so we went on a walk, despite the 58 degree temps. And then blankie stayed outside with us and got nice and dirty as she dragged it around the yard. When I protested, took it from her, and told her no, she FLIPPED OUT. Will she be one of those kids that has her blankie in the grocery store, on the playground, at the doctor’s office? Gah, I hope not. Well, at least it’s “blankie” and not “binky.” She has classmates at daycare who are much older than her who still suck on the “binky” all day long.

Me, I pick my battles.