Fun times

I think Jonathan's enjoying having lots of toys around the house too!



Guess what happens when you run out of diapers after bathtime? You put on a swim diaper and hope Daddy gets home quickly!



String - the perfect cat and baby toy!



Whatcha doin', Jonathan? Can I help? Please?



Our first successful attempt at pigtails. Can you tell how impressed Elizabeth was? She sure was cute, though!



As you can see, Lyra was impressed too:



Elizabeth's now walking behind her pushtoy by herself. She also thinks it's a lot of fun to stand all by herself. Her favorite current game is to stand up, then plop back down. Walking, here we come!



And, take a look at this video that shows just how fun swinging can be!

Quick update

Elizabeth had her 15-month appointment. She weighed 18.8 pounds (<3rd percentile) and was 29.5 inches long (~20th percentile). The doctor said she was doing great. He just thinks she's going to be "petite"....hmmm, go figure!

Jonathan started 7th grade last week. I think he's already had more homework than he did in the entire 6th grade year. Not that he's had a lot of homework so far - he just hardly had any in 6th grade. His electives this semester are French and Tech Ed.

Last night, Jon went on a campout with the middle school boys from church at Red River Gorge. They all had a great time, and he even found out one of the boys plays Runescape (the online computer game he's addicted to right now).

Elizabeth really missed her brother while he was gone. She even tried to tickle his empty chair during mealtimes....it was sad and funny, all at the same time!

Still no walking for her, but she's getting close. She's started walking behind one of her push toys, and today she walked across the room to Daddy, while only holding onto one of my hands. We now think she's waiting to walk until we go to visit BB in Mississippi over Labor Day.

Blowing on her food

Elizabeth has decided she must blow on all of her food before she eats it, or at least feel it, to make sure it's not too hot. She makes all of us laugh with this new "quirk." It's particularly funny when she's eating yogurt and other foods that are served cold. We're not quite sure where this obsession came from, but she's obviously determined not to let hot food in her mouth!

Click on this picture to see a video from dinner tonight. You can see her blowing on her spoon before she puts it in her mouth, then feeling the food on her plate while saying "hot."



And, here she is "tickling" Jonathan's back after dinner, which has become a nightly ritual:

Weekend at the lake

We just spent a long weekend at Kentucky Lake with the Hobbs and Waggener/Tate clans, as well as Gran, Granddad and Granny Pat. We rented a 3BR/3BA "executive cottage," which was really quite nice and had a great layout for everyone to pile into. We got to spend Sunday and Monday afternoons on the lake, while Gran stayed back at the cottage with Elizabeth. It was a really nice break before school started back! We even withstood 3 hours of "roughing it" when the power went out on Monday night. We were quite amazed at our survival skills, which included a trip to Wal-Mart and McDonalds....

Here are some pics from the trip. The girls (and Jonathan) loved playing on the rafts...









...and at the playground, which was conveniently just down the street from the cabin.







Both Elizabeth and Brooke loved playing in the mulch at the playground.



However, Brooke's inclination to throw mulch and sand led them both to an early morning bath:



They also spent a lot of time fighting over their dolls, LouLou and Zoey...





...and climbing the stairs (with supervision, of course).



A fun time was had by all!

Robyn graduated!

My baby cousyn Robyn graduated from Belmont College University tonight. Congratulations!!!

Robyn got to spend the week in our basement when she, Aunt Beth, and Uncle Ben came to Lexington for several days. It was great to see them - although due to work I didn't get to visit with them nearly as much as I would have liked to. We're only hoping Robyn escaped the stomach bug that has taken out both me and David this week.

Elizabeth had yet another ear infection that was diagnosed on Monday. Fortunately, we convinced the doctor to skip straight to the stronger antibiotic, which she likes the taste of better anyway. The ear infection seems to have cleared up. Now, we're hoping the stomach bug won't get her. She was grumpy and tired tonight, and didn't eat very well, so I'm nervous about that!

Jonathan came home from his summer away on Sunday. Lyra came back with him, so the house is busy as ever! It's great to have the entire family together again. He's settled in nicely, back in his place in front of the computer. Elizabeth was very excited to see him. She now has a new routine at dinner, where she'll "sneak" up behind him and try to "tickle" his back. Of course, she giggles loudly during her approach, so I don't think he's actually very surprised. His first day of 7th grade will be on Wednesday.

We're heading out tomorrow for a long family weekend at Kentucky Lake with Aunt Amy (along with Neal and Jack), Aunt Erin (along with Brad and Brooke), plus all the grandparents. Little do they know this little bug may be coming with us. (Shhhhh....don't tell!!!)

Walking - with help

Elizabeth will now walk holding on to our hands. Today, we helped her walk all over the main level of our house, and she even stood several times on her own. She doesn't like us to use the word "walk" though - apparently there's too much pressure associated with that. If we ask her to walk, she'll immediately sit down and crawl away. But, if we ask her if she wants to "use her shoes" - or her feet - she'll jump up and try. Little stinker!







I think she's waiting until next week when her aunts come to town to take her first step. Her cousin Brooke took her first step when they were in Lexington for Christmas, so I think Elizabeth wants to continue the trend!