Elizabeth is 18 months!

I can't believe our baby girl is 18 months old!

She seems like such a toddler now rather than a baby. I like to put her hair in ponytails. It makes her look so cute! Too bad she likes to pull them out all the time!

She talks all the time. I am still shocked at just how many words she knows. She's beginning to put 2 words together. For example, today she was putting a string of beads on and off of her doll. She said, "Turn doll." They were taking turns!

If I read her the "First words" type books, she can say what pretty much every picture is. It's so cute!

Her favorite stuffed animals are her hop (she named her bunny Hop), her frog, her duck, her puppy, and her baby doll. She wants to sleep in a crib full of animals all the time.


She loves to go on stroller rides. (We call them rambles). We take a ride around the neighborhood and see all kinds of animals. Horses, donkeys, chickens, lots of dogs, turkeys, and goats. Elizabeth likes the goats best. Nathan likes to come along for the ride too. They eat snacks and I get a little extra exercise!

She's finally starting to like listening to books! They have to be short books. However, if she's stalling for bed, she'll listen to the long book that I'm reading to Nathan. That's pretty funny. She's a smart little thing!


Running around is become a popular activity as well. Just a few weeks ago, she wanted to be carried around all the time. She's becoming more independent!

Nathan's hard hat

Nathan has his OWN real hard hat!

A few weeks ago, Avista came to do some work. They brought a backhoe and parked it right in front of our house! The kids loved watching them unload the equipment.

Nathan and Jeremy walked down the road to see what they were walking on. The Avista guys gave Nathan one of their hard hats!

It made Nathan's day. Plus, he loves big equipment so playing around near a backhoe was quite exciting!

Elizabeth's figuring out that being cute is an advantage

Elizabeth did something really cute today. She tried to use her cuteness to her advantage!

This happened just as it was time to come inside for her bath.

Elizabeth: "Swing?"

Jeremy: "No. Bathtime."

Elizabeth: "Swing?"

Jeremy: "No. Time to go in."

Elizabeth: "Hug?" She then gave Jeremy a big hug.

Elizabeth (while hugging and being cute): "Swing?"

She knew that if she was cute, it might get her time to swing. Amazing how she's figured out how to use being cute to her advantage.

However, Jeremy did not cave. She still had to come in for her bath. She can swing tomorrow!

August Videos

 

The joys of figuring out how an MP3 player works

I know you get music out of this thing somehow. But it doesn't seem to be working.



Wait, what are these? It appears there is one for each ear. I will try to put these in my ears.


Woah! It worked! And it's kind of loud.


I like music!

August Videos

 

Nathan's 4th Birthday Party!

Nathan had a great birthday party! Every grandparent was there and so were Uncle Brian and Auntie Laura. It was a beautiful day, so there were many fun things to do outside.

Nathan got to show everyone his bouncy castle and his fort. After he opened his presents, he got to shoot rockets at Uncle Brian and practice hitting off his new tee.

Jeremy barbequed burgers and hotdogs. Papa Norm and Grandma Jane brought watermelon, cantelope, fresh corn, AND cherries. They always bring the best produce.

Grandma Jane is the queen of making Nathan safe cupcakes. This year, she put Skittles on top to make them special. The skittles were primary colors. Thanks for making those Grandma!

Nathan picked out "large equipment" plates and napkins.

He got such wonderful presents!

He got his "Day of Fun" with Auntie Laura. She also got him some Thomas puzzles today.

He got a great lunchbox with neat new water bottle, a puzzle, and a window toy that was a great hit!

Now he has Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. He also got a super neat Thomas the train kit to play with.

More playdough, a big Case tractor, some puzzles and a t-ball set were some great presents he got for this birthday.

We got him a Stomp Rocket and it was a BIG hit. I highly recommend this present for any preschooler.

Too much roughhousing

I like to roughhouse with the kids. They love it.

However, I get injured a lot! I had to post this photo because this was the damage done to me in an hour of playing. They don't mean to turn me into one huge bruise, but sometimes I feel like a big bruise! 3 bruises in about 20 minutes. That must be a new record!

In fact, it looks like Elizabeth is about to bang into my leg with a sippy cup. Perhaps bruise #4 will be appearing soon!

More Outdoor Play Pictures!

We've been spending a LOT of time playing outside! Here are some more pictures.


Soccer



Nathan swinging with his friend Eli


Nathan loves to have Jeremy chase him around in the sprinklers


Nathan loves to get SOAKED.


This is what happens to your hair when you take our your ponytails.


This is what happens when you step in bark without your sandals on. Then, you say "Coco!" (Coco means "Pick me up and carry me!")

All Things WSU

Here's a WSU themed picture post.



Nathan with Butch Cougar ( I don't think Uncle Brian will appreciate the choking action).



Elizabeth with Butch Cougar


Playing downstairs in cougar clothes!

August Videos

 

Miss Jenny

Nathan has an imaginary friend that he talks about constantly.

Her name is Miss Jenny.

Miss Jenny is a character on the Thomas videos. She is the supervisor of the construction equipment.

Here at our house, she is around all day. She does everything we do....but better! She goes everywhere we go, but always gets there faster.

She is quite the one upper. It makes us laugh. Here's an example of something said the other day.

Nathan: "I like your new Cougar shirt!"
Jeremy: "Thanks, me too!"
Nathan: "Miss Jenny has 3 Cougar shirts. She got 2 this year and 1 last year."

Papa Norm: "I caught 2 gophers today!"
Nathan: Miss Jenny caught 8190 gophers. "(8190 is Nathan's favorite number.)

Miss Jenny likes to build imaginary parks at our house. She also likes to invent different kinds of equipment which she charges enormous prices for.

She's invented an apple combine, a gopher crusher, and a cat poop squasher.

We're glad we have Miss Jenny!