More Pictures

'Cause that's what you came here for, right?

First of all, please allow me a little nostalgia. Here is a picture that my mom just sent me a couple of days ago, but it was most likely taken sometime in March or April of 2007, when Dorothy was about 2 or 3 months old. I got tears in my eyes when I saw it! I can barely even remember when she looked like that! Thank God for photographs.

And, now for some more recent pictures. The first one is a picture of Dorothy with her best buddy James. It was taken at our old house in June. The second one is Dorothy in our new home, about 3 weeks ago, wearing her adorable flower headband.

And lastly, I just had to post these pictures of Dorothy eating corn on the cob for the first time at my Dad's July 4th cookout.

Notice how she's opening her mouth really wide, just like Mommy does. (I've been reported to be less than elegant when I eat corn on the cob. I say I'm just efficient.)

Gotta get every last kernel!

That was one of the yummiest foods ever!

How can I get more corn off this cob?

Yum.

We're Back!

A lengthy travelogue is on the way. I won't make you wait too long for it, I promise. We had a wonderful time! For us, it was a perfect mix of relaxing while also seeing a lot of really amazing places. Dorothy really enjoyed her time at my mom's house but was also glad to see us when we got back. Believe me, this was no small thing as I was afraid she wouldn't recognize me! She immediately said "Mommy! Daddy!" and eagerly hugged us both. My mom caught that precious moment on video as we walked into her house and Dorothy greeted us.

My mother cared heroically for Dorothy while we were away. She told me over the phone at one point that she was "a little more tired than usual" (my mom works two jobs and hardly ever sleeps, so for her to say she was tired was really saying something). She said she's glad she isn't raising a toddler now, at her age. And she's not old...but obviously she's older than us :o)

While keeping Dorothy for the week, my mother kept discovering Dorothy in various states of undress in her crib. This had started about 2 or 3 weeks before I left for vacation, and it seemed no matter how many layers of clothing I put on her at naptime or bedtime, she was finding ways to get out of them. Zippers and snaps, it would seem, are no longer an obstacle for her. Once her clothing was removed, getting out of the diaper was child's play (heh, heh). But so far, thankfully, this had only resulted in an occasional wet bed and nothing worse. I dreaded the day that I would arrive in her room to find her naked and full of you-know-what. Well, instead of me arriving and finding her this way, it was my dear mother. And instead of being in her bed at home, she was in her pack-n-play at my mom's house. Can you believe the rotten luck? (Well, rotten for my mom. Kind of happy luck for me!) Well, it only had to happen once. My mom, in full MacGyver mode, devised a solution - she started taping Dorothy's diaper with cellophane packing tape when putting her down for a nap or bedtime. Now that I'm home, I have implemented this same procedure and it's working flawlessly. When the time comes for naptime or bedtime, my sweet girlie even gets herself in position to be taped (standing up with her hands against the wall, like an angelic-looking little criminal) and says "tape! tape!" Lest I forget.

On Vacation

Sorry to post such a brief note, but we are leaving for our vacation very early tomorrow! Dorothy will be enjoying a week at Grandmom's, and Mommy & Daddy will be enjoying a week on Hawaii's Big Island. The clock on the right tells you what time it is where we are. (Isn't that fun?!) Please pray that we'll have safe travel and that Dorothy will have a really fun week at Grandmom's house! We will be back with updates when we return.

Pictures

As promised, here are some photos. These range from late April through early June. There are a few things about Blogger that I have not figured out yet. Basic things, like putting captions under photos (I sure hope there's a way to do that!) and putting the photos in the desired order. (Hence, they are not displayed chronologically.) In the meantime, though, I wanted to at least get some pictures up for everyone who has been asking for them. Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

Hi! Sorry for the lengthy absence, but we've been busy moving in to our new home! We are getting settled in, slowly but surely. There are a lot of boxes, but this home gives us more space than we've ever had, so the boxes yet to be unpacked are pretty spread out. We are SO excited to be here. We think we're gonna love country livin'. Dorothy is very busy and she loves having room to roam.

Speaking of our darling girlie, here are a few fun things she's been doing since I last posted:

(1) She says "Excuse me" when she burps, as well as when either Mommy or Daddy burps. Which is hardly ever. Heh heh.

(2) She thinks that every single truck, van, or somewhat large vehicle is a "ga-guck", which we suspect means "fire truck" because it is always immediately followed by "WEE-oooh-WEEE-ooooh-WEEE-oooh". No matter how many times I try to tell her, she can't be convinced that trash trucks, dump trucks, SUVs, choo-choo trains and mini-vans don't ALL make that sound.

(3) I finally sat down and made a list of her words and I have come up with 113 of them. I keep remembering some that I forgot, so the list is probably still incomplete! Her enunciation on many words is clear as a bell, and she is expanding her vocabulary all the time by pointing to things and asking "dis-is?" ("what's this?") She not only knows many nouns, but also some verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, such as "sleepy" ("seepy"), "rock" (as in a rocking chair), "walk", and outside ("side"). I plan on teaching her how to diagram sentences pretty soon.

(4) She continues to take wonderful, lovely, 3 hour naps each day.

Pictures soon...