Big Girl

 
Barb put Elizabeth in pigtails today and she looked so much like a girl and so much less like a baby. My baby is growing up!

Helper

 
Elizabeth is really quite helpful. She helps Barb cook and clean. She helps me take my shoes off. She gives us back- and foot-rubs. She's a good shopper. She helped us put lights on the Christmas tree.

The trick of it is, she has to want to. If she feels like she's being forced to do something (e.g., put on a diaper, put on clothes, ingest medicine), she screams bloody murder, becomes as limp as a pudding, and squirms like an eel. An eel made of pudding!

The Family That Paints Together...

 

One of the many benefits of parenthood is that it exposes you to art-making in a very unselfconscious, freeform environment. The other day the three of us get into the painting and we all had a lot of fun. We should all make sure to carve out time to make art, no matter what it is, no matter what our skill level. It's liberating.

This One's For Grandpa

 

A baby, a tub of sour cream, and a spoon -- enough said.

Zoo Rave

 

Here is Elizabeth wearing her 'Muddy Buddy' rainsuit for the first time at the Zoo Lights display. For some reason this picture makes me think of the rave scene, which I know next to nothing about.

A week or so after the cold snap that sent us to Macy's Santaland, Barb, Teresa, Wendy, Riley, Lily, and Elizabeth finally made it up to the zoo for the Christmas lights display.

Little Elf

 

We just got back from a Christmas party at Terrence and Daniel's and it was fun. I left my camera in the car, so no photos, but Elizabeth wore the outfit she's wearing in the picture above (sans crown) and she was widely adored. She was also very well behaved.

Terrence and Daniel live in an apartment complex way the heck out in Hillsboro and it was quite the adventure getting there, especially given that we left the cell phone at home and the Mapquest directions were minutely, but crucially, incorrect. We ended up walking around the wrong apartment complex purgatory for half an hour, losing one of Elizabeth's shoes, getting cold and damp, before retreating to our car and figuring out the problem.

It was worth it, though, as the party was spectacular.

Santa

 

During a recent cold snap (and I mean cold!) we abandoned plans to see the lights at the zoo and took refuge in Macy's Santaland. Elizabeth loved the animatronic reindeer and elves, the lights and presents. She was even intrigued enough about Santa to tentatively approach (with buddy Riley), though sitting on his lap was out of the question.

Boat Parade?

Yep, last night we went to a boat parade -- boats festooned with Christmas lights trawling up the Willamette River. We went to the Milwaukie waterfront to enjoy a huge bonfire, Christmas carols, and other attractions, including this spectacular fire truck.


You might not notice it from Elizabeth's expression, but she is holding food in her mouth. It's a new thing with her. She likes to hold food for a long time in her mouth. Usually it results in her spitting the food out, but sometimes she'll swallow it. It's pretty funny because while she is storing the food she won't say a word no matter how much you try to get her to talk.

She's really enjoying the Christmas season. And tonight we go to a party!

Zoo!

 

We went to the zoo this morning and had a great time. Excellent lion experience, also giraffes, zebras, gibbons, mandrills, and many other cool animals that we've seen time and again in books.

Milk Moustache

 

Grandma stocks half-n-half instead of milk, which Elizabeth not surprisingly really enjoys.

He Who Shall Not Be Named

 

Barb was doing her banking online with Elizabeth on her lap and after the work was completed she decided, what the hey, let's check out Sesame Street's website. The first thing that popped up was an Elmo video, and Elizabeth was mesmerized. It was her first taste of children's programming, and apparently the highly-paid experts who make that stuff really know what they're doing.

Sleepy Dada, Wakeful Baby

 

Elizabeth needs no coffee. She awakens bright-eyed, happy and energetic. She likes being a part of my morning coffee-making ritual. Especially the part where she gets to wear a filter for a hat.

Strolling

 

Elizabeth loves the umbrella stroller Barb bought. She puts her dolls and her doll-like friend Lily in it and strolls them around the house.

King and Princess

 

Barb made us crowns. Crowns are awesome.

Oktoberfest

 

Billi and Elizabeth

 

We babysat Billi Francis recently while Jen and Joshi went off to Disney On Ice or some such (it involved, according to Joshi, a princess on ice skates receiving a block of solid gold at the end). Billi and Elizabeth are very nearly the same age, and they get on well. We took Billi on a bike ride to the park, where she and Elizabeth rode this spring-horse together. The time passed quickly and we all look forward to the next time Billi comes by. She's fun.

Happy!

 

Elizabeth calls jack-o-lanterns 'happies.' Here she is painting (rather than carving -- knives causes owwies, as we've told her over and over) her happy. The great thing about painting a pumpkin is they last. This morning the one I carved finally deliquesced to the point of falling off the garden fence and breaking into four pieces, whereas Elizabeth's pumpking (pictured above) is solid as a ... pumpkin, and going strong.

Happy Birthday, Barb

We had a good time on Barb's birthday. Aaron and Wendy and Lily came over, as did Grandma. We carved pumpkins ('happies,' as Elizabeth calls them), blew bubbles, ate pizza, and drank beer and port.

Below, Elizabeth and Lily participate in a pajama fashion show.

Trick or Treat, Part 1 of 14

Technically last night was Elizabeth's second Halloween, but practically it was the first. She wore a costume. She attended a couple of Halloween events (at the library with the awesome Librarian Joan, then at the community center where she got a treat bag and a black balloon), and she went trick-or-treating! It was really fun, particularly the trick-or-treating. Barb and I have over the past six years noticed a decided lack of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. On a given Halloween night we might get zero or ten trick-or-treat parties. But last night was different. As we were walking around we saw lots of people and when we got home we got more than the usual number. Maybe people are forgetting their fear and re-learning the fun of the trick-or-treat ritual. I hope so. Twice on our route we got solicited to trick-or-treat at a particular house. Once, a grandma-aged woman opened her door and implored us to trick-or-treat her house. Later, another woman stopped us on the street and told us to go to such and such a house because the kids there had put in such an effort to decorate.

We're already looking forward to next Halloween!

Baby loves Grandpa

Elizabeth only has one grandpa, so he's a particularly special person in her life. Although he can be a grumpy old soul, Elizabeth isn't put off in the least by the gruff exterior. It was fun for me to see just how much she loves spending time with him -- and how much she learns from him! Grampa was instrumental in Elizabeth eating her first solid food (broccoli, I think) and in taking her first steps.

Owwieday

Rainy and cold here in Rocky Point, which has led (indirectly) to some unfortunate owwies. First, while I was hanging up my raincoat this morning in a closet Elizabeth, coming to investigate, tripped over my shoe and cracked her forehead against the door jamb. It sounded like a firecracker going off. Later, we were playing in the construction zone in the back yard (Frankie is paving a walkway) and while "jumping" from paver to paver, Elizabeth slipped on sand and slammed the back of her head against the concrete paving block. Ouch! Her eyes rolled up into her head and she was silent for a very scary moment before the wailing started.

Later we got in the car for a trip to Port Jeff and she passed out almost instantly. I kept poking her to make sure she was just sleeping and not in a coma.

After a brief time at home, we went out with Grandpa to a bevereage store to get a growler filled with local brew (Bluepoint Ryestafarian -- pretty good; very bold for a Long Island micro; "over the top," as desribed [correctly] by the salesman). We also picked up a sixpack of Sierra Nevada Torpedo (a taste of the West Coast -- ahhh!) and something called Porkslap Pale Ale from some town upstate that I've never heard of. It's OK, especially for beer from a can.



In any event, the beer has proven a godsend today given all of the shouting amongst the Braccos. They like to shout. Long ago I accepted the fact that they enjoy this form of communication, which, to my upstate sensitivities, sounds like hostility. It's not. It's love. But it sounds weird.

Back East

We're at the halfway point of Big Vacation 2009. It's been great. The picture above is from one of the highpoints for me -- hiking in the southern Adirondacks with Barb and Elizabeth (natch) as well as Mark and the Scott Larrison clan. The eastern woods are so lovely at this time of year. I also find them kind of comforting, probably because they're the woods I grew up in. The footbridge in the picture crossed a large wetlands area. It was broken down so badly that more than halfway across it just dove under water, becoming uncrossable. On this trip Elizabeth discovered the joys of hiking, and the joys of using the word "hiking," which she did over and over as she tramped through the woods with her hiking stick.



Now we're in Rocky Point enjoying the hospitality of the Braccos. Elizabeth is thrilled to be in the presence of her other grandma, and especially her only grandpa. She clearly loves and enjoys them both.

Oktoberfest

 

Last weekend our Oktoberfest mania culminated in a blow-out at Oaks Park on the shores of the mighty Willamette River. Elizabeth made herself a crown (pictured) and we saw crafts and an oompah-band and ate sausage and drank beer (not Elizabeth).

Milwaukie Weekend

 

This weekend we went to Milwaukie on our bikes -- something Barb has been hankering to do for a long time. We bought some produce at the farmer's market (and some non-produce, such a sack of fresh-made mini-donuts), visited our former residence, The Pond House (now owned by Milwaukie's library), and discovered the awesome playgrounds on the Waldorf School campus. The first playground is super cool, but aimed at kids much older than Elizabeth. Beyond that, though, is Walnut Hill, their kiddie playground. It's fantastic -- besides a play house with slide and monkey bars it's got a barn, garden, and lots of stumps for climbing and sitting. Elizabeth was totally thrilled by the slide; it is short but fast, and the ladder that leads up to it is easy to climb without assistance.

This picture is Elizabeth Rose at the top of said slide, preparing for another daring descent.

Sleep

 

This is what Elizabeth looks like asleep.

Everyone Poops

 

Elizabeth loves books and reading. I hope that's a trait she keeps her entire life, as I think reading may be second only to music as a fundamental human joy.

The book she's enjoying above is Taro Gomi's Everyone Poops. It's a great book, but Elizabeth is really only interested in the pages that depict humans pooping -- including a daddy-aged gentleman smoking a pipe and reading the paper. Talk about leisurely!

Her interest in the human pooping ritual seems to indicate she may be ready to stop pooping in a diaper soon. We shall see.

The Raggedy Ann who is sharing Elizabeth's avidity for the book was a gift from our neighbor Amy. She is a sort of third grandmother to Elizabeth, not too hands-on, but she's got a dog that Elizabeth loves and has showered our baby with gifts.

I thought Ann was kind of big & creepy when Amy gave her to us, but Elizabeth took to her immediately and they've been fast friends every since.

Pirates of the Willamette

Elizabeth and I (Barb) went to a pirate festival today. We met Jen, Joshi and Billi. The girls make very cute pirates.