Update and Birthday Information

Life continues here, as it tends to do, with eating, sleeping, some conversation, and the odd tantrum over wearing pants.

Yesterday was one of those rare extra-good days. Gaz communicated more effectively than she ever has, using words appropriately and being more patient with her thick-skulled mama. She was also very good about playing (both alone and with me) and only got a little frustrated with a bowl. I still don't know what she was wanting it to do with it. I doubt she really knew either.

New word tricks involve instant apologies or apologetic hugs for things ranging from not listening to stepping on the cat to throwing food on the floor to lifting up my shirt. She's also been grabbing my hair today and saying "nice cut!" (I got my hair cut last month). Just a moment ago, she said "nice shirt!" tried to identify the color (she was pretty close), and asked if I liked her shirt. Colors and shapes are slowly being learned. Sometimes she's stubborn about colors. I'm sure there's a reason why red is sometimes "buh-loo" but I sure don't know what it is. It's hard to recall as I type exactly how she's been progressing because it's much less remarkable to hear proper English than it is to hear things like "pocky" and "bankie" and "bocky." I promise that the next time you see/hear her you will be suitably impressed.

Now for the birthday information: the local shindig will be on August 18th around noon. If you are interested, email me and I will get you to details. It'll be a barbecue sorta affair, and presents are optional. Mostly we want to have a good time with our nearest and dearest.

If you are in the gifting mood, however, keep you eyes peeled for an update to Gaz's Amazon Wish List (which hasn't happened yet, but will soonish). She's also really into Dragon Tales, and anything you can find for that show, be it books or toys, would be seriously appreciated. Of course, all that stuff is not currently in production, so any such items would be found on eBay. She also loves Thomas the Tank Engine, but since many of those toys have been recalled, I would suggest going with books if you're in a train mood. We have seriously had more than enough of lead worries in this house.

She's getting a bit better about book annihilation, so things like the Little Golden Books are okay now. We've got a TON of Dr. Seuss books already, so ask us before you buy any of those. We're still slowly easing into the longer books, which is kinda hit-or-miss. Sometimes she's patient, sometimes she's not. So shorter is still better, and board books would not be frowned upon, especially if the board books were of the Olivia variety.

It looks like it's time for a snack now, so I'm off.

Literality

Gaz sits in her rocking chair playing her toy accordion.
Mommy: I like that song you're playing. Does your song have any words?
Gaz: YEAH!
Gaz turns the accordion over and points to the label on the back: "Made in China"
Mommy falls over laughing.

Ketchup

Ketchup = "red sauce" in Gazspeak = her new favorite food, all by itself. No bread or anything necessary.

Lots of pictures on Flickr, so go clicky over there =====>

It's been a while, I see. Gaz has not been slacking, let me assure you. She's been wearing us out!

We've had a trip to visit my folks, Mark's folks have come up for a visit, Gaz has been to the zoo a few times and also to various parks. Wiggleworms is over for the session and we're taking a session off--teething and other assorted grumpinesses was making it difficult to make it through a whole class there toward the end, although Gaz was getting much more interactive when she was in the mood. She pretends to read "Sweater," she can sit through all of "Hop on Pop" and asks me to read an Easter bunny story over and over and over again (one of those Little Golden Books), and she continues to be obsessed with They Might Be Giants's "Here Come the ABC's." She's also nuts about "Dragon Tales" and "Thomas the Tank Engine." I don't know what I would do without PBS.

In short, her brain is growing by leaps and bounds. Her vocabulary continues to amaze people. Even I have to note that she's picking up words completely after hearing them just once or twice. Her sentences keep getting more complex, and her imagination is . . . unstoppable. We had a tantrum yesterday because she wanted to play with the animals in the kitchen.

There's not much specific stuff to tell y'all about. It's the little things that have been going on that continue to accrue for the most part.

The only piece of unique newsishness we've got is that we're going to be having our local birthday party around mid-August, in the form of a barbecue. Our summers are just always completely bonkers. Details will emerge as we get closer. I am historically bad at doing that in a timely fashion (the 2006 Christmas cards are *still* sitting here on the shelf), but I endeavor to do better this year than I did last year.

identity and blues

One of Gaz's very favorite things to do right now is yell her name over and over and over. I mean, it's a pretty cool accomplishment to master a three-syllable name, but after a while you start wondering how long it will take for one word to get old to her. It turns out that yelling out a single word over and over and over again never gets old. Or at least it probably won't for another few years. Some days it's a bit grating to the nerves, but I try to keep it in perspective. She isn't, after all, rubbing tofu into the carpet repeatedly (and anyone who suggests that to her will be savagely beaten).

Yesterday we went down to the Blues Fest, and while she was totally into the music and having that whole field thing to run around in, she's really bad at staying out of people's ways (she almost walked right into a number of people and bicycles, even though she was looking right at them) and also not so good at coping with the crowds-and-heat combo of the day. She did get her groove on quite a bit though, and today she said she had a good time, so I think it was a successful trip. It'll definitely take some working up to taking her to something like the Warped Tour.

We are all exhausted but satisfied with the visiting that we accomplished this weekend. Auntie Llydie (aka Auntie Heather) and Auntie Maude (aka Auntie Amanda) got to spend some quality time with Gaz, and we also got in some good social time with Auntie Sarah and Uncle Dave. But now it's time to take a day off or so and rest up for our impending Evansville trip.

Memorial Day Pix

Originally uploaded by georgiegrrrrl

I've uploaded (but not sorted or labeled) our Memorial Day pictures. We went up to Rogers Park to hit the beach with Uncle Greg (who officiated Gaz's christening last summer) and some of Greg's friends. It was a hoot and Gaz, of course, got soaked. We didn't think to bring additional clothes for her, so it was a barrel of laughs. Acutally, it *was* a barrel of laughs, after we realized that we had a jacket for her to run around in while her clothes were drying off.

Additional photos of the day can be found at Greg's Flickr site.