Happy Birthday, Gramps!

Eliza wants to wish a very happy 75th birthday to her Gramps in New Jersey. She'll be visiting him and Nan this weekend to celebrate and is much looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting the new kitties, Topsy and Turvy.

Sounds like...

We think Eliza has some real words now. She makes the same noise every time she sees the cats and it kinda sounds like "tat." She also makes "da da da" sounds consistently upon seeing either Mac or a dog. Sometimes she even produces a full-fledged "Da-dee" when she sees him or I ask her where he is. There is, of course, still no "mama" in the bunch, not even as babbling. Mac decided this morning that she is going to master every word in the English language and still not say "Mommy."

I can see it now: "Excuse me, primary caregiver, what is your opinion on anthropomorphism? May I have another beverage please?"

Don't ask. Anthropomorphism is just a word you don't get to use much.

Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes

We'd love to say this is her new favorite song, but her version would have to go more like "head, la, la, la, la, TOES." She is learning to point out different body parts when we ask. Toes she can always do. Yesterday she could do head, but today she's lost her head (groan). However, head has been replaced by belly today, so that's exciting. Sometimes she knows tongue, sometimes not. Tongue sounds a lot like toes so she gets confused. Really, when in doubt, point to the toes - that's her motto! Still, it's fun to see and she enjoys the game.

Life otherwise is going on same as usual. These pics are from a couple of weeks ago when we were intending to go to Millennium Park and let her play in the fountain. But then we locked ourselves out of the house and had to resort to calling our cat sitter to find someone with a copy of our keys. She lives down in Lincoln Park, so we trekked down there and ended up lunching at John's Place. It used to be one of our favorite restaurants, but the service lately has been pretty sub-par, so we're less than happy. Still it was a fun lunch and Eliza was feeling very photogenic.

We did end up at Millennium Park last week and she loved the fountain. Of course, we forgot the camera that time. Oh well.

Awwww....

Wonder Twins Power - Activate!

Cutie in a restaurant.

Eliza's first ride on the El.

HOLY %*&#@!!!!

Forgive the (implied) vulgarity in the title of the post, but there is simply no other way to describe the weather that went down here yesterday afternoon. Crazy!

We actually had a doctor appointment scheduled at 4:15. Miss Eliza has been pulling at her ear all week and getting more and more cranky, while sleeping less and less. I figured it was teething, by by the fifth day of it, it seemed like a call to the doc was in order. I only wanted to speak to a nurse to confirm my suspicions, but the receptionist thought we should come in. So we did.

The weather was starting to look ominous around 3, so I checked the radar online and saw the storms heading right for us, approximately the time we would be leaving. I decided we should just leave a bit early, get to the safety of the doc's office and be all set. Well...the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

We set out in the last of the sunshine. Not quite halfway there (it's only a 10 minute drive, if that), the guys on the radio suddenly start screaming about a tornado warning and the storm moving 50 miles per hour and GET UNDER COVER TAKE SHELTER NOW!!!! Sure enough, out of the west came an enormous bank of BLACK clouds and a complete wall of rain. Within about ten seconds, I couldn't see anything and was completely terrified. In the back seat, Eliza had no clue and was happily singing to herself.

I didn't know what to do. Had I reached the point of no return? Should I venture onward or go home? Having no idea what I would find either way, I slogged one more block, then turned east toward home and more major streets, i.e. those with fewer trees that could fall on us. It was scary, like driving in a blizzard scary. I got to our street and there were huge branches down on either side just around our driveway. Mercifully, I could pull in (no idea what I would have done if the driveway had been blocked - had a nervous breakdown, I think) and the big tree over our parking area had not fallen down. Although I was convinced it would do so as soon as I got under it. Obviously it didn't.

We ran inside and I turned on the radio while trying to avoid the huge picture window that makes up the front portion of our living room. Did I mention that Eliza opted out of her second nap so had been awake since 10:30 that morning? So she was feeling all kinds of special. The rain and wind and lightning were intense. But because the storm was moving so quickly, the worst of it was over soon. Right around the time I would have left the house to go to the doctor under normal conditions actually. Of course.

I called the doc to make sure they were all still alive and there. They were and actually seemed to find my question odd, which means they have no windows. We saw a lot of fork lightning as we drove and several downed trees, one of which forced us to improvise a detour. But we made it, waited for almost 45 minutes (which isn't like them), and found out that....she's teething. Even the doctor was annoyed with the receptionist. Oh well. Better to know, right?

Drive home #2 was still challenging, but not as terrifying. Quick dinner for Miss E and then I put her right to bed b/c she was exhausted. Round #2 of the storm rolled in with much lightning and rain. Mac was at the Shedd Aquarium for an event and said it was amazing. We are due to get even more rain, possibly storms today. But we have no plans to go anywhere!

Here are the pics of our street from our balcony:

Immediately after Round 1, before we went to the doctor again.

A close-up of the car under the tree in front. Note how dark it is at 4 in the afternoon!

The scene this morning, after one visit by clean-up crews.

I hope all of you in the Chicagoland area weathered it okay. I promise to post again soon with catch-up on Eliza's other recent adventures!

It had to happen

We had thus far escaped all the toy recalls and were breathing sighs of relief that Eliza is not yet of an age where she cares about Dora or Thomas or even Elmo. But then on Friday night came the news that Toys R Us is pulling all its vinyl bibs off the shelf as a "precaution" since the lead levels exceed their standards....but not, apparently, the standards set by our government. So it's not an official recall, which is actually worse. All the information conflicts, with some sources saying it's fine as long as the bibs aren't torn and others saying no, no, get rid of them all. We have three of these bibs and haven't used them since Friday, but also haven't done anything to dispose of them either. I guess we're waiting for either more information or a sign from the gods. So if anyone is much smarter than we are about this whole lead thing, please give us a clue!

Honestly, the whole thing is enough to make you not want to buy toys again. And I've checked - ALL her toys are made in China. No shock there. Perhaps it's time to go old school and just give her some pots and pans and a wooden spoon or two to play with. Ahhh, the good ol' days.

Also, I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently. We've just been doing the same old same old for the most part. Eliza is getting better at "cruising," which is baby parlance means she can walk around holding onto furniture. She has managed an occasional step on her own and, more importantly, is placing her feet flat on the floor more often instead of tippy-toeing around, which is a sure sign that walking is near. Don't worry - THAT I'll post as soon as it happens! And I'll try to get some more pictures up soon.

I didn't do it!!!

First off, a quick congrats/shout-out to sometimes boyfriend, Connor, who is now walking! Way to go, Connor!!

Next, as Miss E. continues to chug along the developmental track, I thought you would all like to know about her latest "milestone." She has figured out how to point. Not always at the thing she wants, but still she is pointing. This would be great...if she was using the traditional pointing finger, also known as the index finger. She isn't.


I swear I didn't teach her how to do this!!!! Mac disavows himself of any responsibility either. Maybe she crept out in the middle of the night and watched last week's Flight of the Conchords, where Bret and Jemaine learn how to flip the bird. I don't know. But it is the only finger she'll use. Sigh...

Also, hope you all enjoy the new slideshow feature that we added on the left hand side. Fun stuff!

Just for laughs

This is one about me (sort of). We were looking at these pictures a few days ago and they cracked us up. From right before Eliza was born.

From the back...it looks like a normal person.
And then it turns around...GAAAAAHHHHHH!!!


Really, it was amazing I didn't tip over.