Body Part of the Week

One of the best parts of having an almost 8-month-old is that most things that the rest of us take for granted are exciting and new to her. Last week, she learned that she can actually fit her toes in her mouth, so now diaper changes and bathtime are a lot more exciting for us!

This week, she has discovered her tongue. Not only has she discovered that she has a tongue (which she somewhat knew before, since she has become proficient at giving razz-berries). But, she has learned how to stick her tongue in and out and from side to side, making us believe that she may have some lizard genes hiding in her family lines somewhere (we'll let the rest of you decide where those may have come from...)

Visiting Mother Dot

Yesterday, we drove to western KY for a quick overnight visit with my grandmother, "Mother Dot," who is a spry 97 years old and can still recite long pieces of poetry that she memorized when she was in grade school. We are blessed that she is still able to stay at home, with the help of 3 caretakers that are with her 24 hours a day. She was very excited to see the baby, and kept reminding us that she has a "baby sister Elizabeth" - my Great-Aunt Elizabeth. Proof that your younger siblings never really grow up in your own eyes (sorry, Erin!).

Here's a picture of Mother Dot letting Elizabeth "read" (i.e., eat) her newspaper with her this morning:

It's in her blood

Those of you who know David or my family will not be surprised to hear that Elizabeth loves music. In fact, this was quite evident, even from the time we brought her home from the hospital. She loves to "play" the piano with David and she loves it when we sing to her or play classical music. We've been using Baby Signs with her for a while now, and just this week we think she learned her first sign....for the word "music." I was waving my hands for the sign we had made up, similar to a conductor waving his baton - however, she seems to have modified it a bit. Whenever she's "singing" to us or hears music or singing, she starts waving both her hands rather violently.

But, tonight she actually started "dancing" to her first music. We were playing some bluegrass music by Adrienne Young (the singer that my cousin Robyn is currently interning for), and Elizabeth started moving her torso up and down whenever we played the music, somewhat in a hoedown fashion. It was hilarious!

David caught a little bit of it on video for you (just click on the picture). You can also see her "music" sign at the end of the video!

Our new blog

This is our first attempt at blogging. We're hoping it will make it easier for us to keep up to date with family and friends. Thanks to my friend Linda for the idea!

We've also started uploading our photos to snapfish.com. You can view the December pictures in the: December 2005 Photo Album

We'll keep adding more as we get the chance.

And, for those of you who keep bugging me for pictures or disks, you can now order your own prints of any of these pictures that you want for only 12 cents/picture (10 cents/picture if you pre-order bunches and bunches). They can be shipped to you, or you can pick them up at any Walgreens store. Aren't we high-faluting now? :)