Fear Factor

If the producers of that show Fear Factor were thinking of calling me to invite me on the show--tell them they can save their quarter. It seems I am living my own version of Fear Factor as I watch Elizabeth develop new (read dangerous) skills everyday.

From climbing (and jumping) on chairs and couches (which of course we are trying to train her not to do) to running and falling and banging into everything imaginable--my nerves are somewhat shot.

Don't get me wrong--she is a dreamboat baby and a lot of fun to be around. But when you spend 12 hours a day with a developing toddler--things can get a little crazy.

Here is a little sequence of photos I took the first day Elizabeth learned to climb onto the chair in her room--all by herself.
Heaven help us. So much for letting her play in her room without constant supervision now. Her room was pretty much babyproofed before--but since she has converted the chair into her own personal diving board--we will have to rethink that.

Elizabeth's New Chair

So here she is with her new chair direct from Pottery Barn for Kids. She really loves the chair as you can see. Marty asked why the heck I took pictures of her with the bottle in her mouth and as you can see I did try to get take the bottle away--which resulted in a serious tear fest.

Once she got the bottle back, however, she returned to her happy little girl self.

Watch out Kobe...

There are times when Elizabeth looks so dainty and delicate. And then there are the times she looks as if she might be able to take Shaquille O'Neal's old spot on the Lakers. Here are a few photos that give you a glimpse of her trying out for the team. If she takes after mama she won't know the difference between a football and a softball...but I do think she is showing some signs of athletic prowess--something I never had.

Oh, and the last photo shows a bit of her "obsessive compulsiveness" (yeah, she takes after me after all). She is making sure that the tray on her stroller is closed before she walks away. She does that with everything. She has to close every drawer that might be open, has to have her stroller all closed up, and even signals for me to turn the light out when we leave the room. How funny is that?

Happy Sunday

Just Elizabeth popping in to say she hopes you had a nice weekend.

Elizabeth on the Slide

Here is Elizabeth taking a ride down the slide with her friend Emma.

High Hopes for the Zebra Toy

So...I promised that I wouldn't let Elizabeth have more than two toys out at one time. Cough, cough.

Well, let's just say that our so called "model" home is starting to resemble, once again, an explosion at FAO Schwarz. But I am going to get a handle on it and rotate some of her toys. It makes sense, in any case, since it becomes overload if there are just too many toys around. And I think it is true that a kid has more fun with a pot and soap dish than she does with a lot of the extravagant toys you can buy these days.

That being said, I had to get her the "bouncing zebra" after I read so many reviews that said their kids played on it for hours. Sounds good to me!

Elizabeth was funny when she first saw it-- she circled it as if it were a used car she was considering buying. She kind of walked around it sizing it up and in the third photo below you can even see her version of "kicking the tires!"

So far she seems to really like it...although she hasn't stayed on it for more than a few minutes. I mean why should you ride a plastic zebra when you can follow mama and dada all over the house and jump all over them? Can you say black and blue?

Well, here is hoping she comes to love her zebra as much as the other kiddos!

Wiggles

Here is Elizabeth watching one of her two T.V. shows.

She loves Sesame Street--and especially Elmo (whom she refers to as "mama") and then for "active" T.V. watching she loves to watch wiggles with her DaDa (whom she also calls "mama"). She usually dances around and imitates the Wigglers. If you haven't seen Wiggles, just imagine a group of five very fit Australian men in their late thirties--dressed in neon bright primary colors dancing around with all sorts of characters and cars and often against the background of Sydney Harbor. Who would have thunk it--but she LOVES it. It is also her bonding time with dada.







There are times I wonder whether Marty loves Wiggles more than Elizabeth does.

Elizabeth Plays

Here is a little view of Elizabeth in free play in her room. Hey somebody, put some clothes on that girl!

Cinderella

So...here is the little princess in work mode!

Actually it was so cute--the other day Elizabeth was following me around while I was sweeping and I was starting to get a little annoyed as she kept trying to grab the broom. I thought she was just making her usual trouble but when I finally relented and let her have the broom and dustpan she surprised me by actually trying to sweep.

It was the cutest thing. Heck if I knew she was willing to work I would have given her the broom right away!

A Wild Crazy Girl

Elizabeth just wanted to send you a wild crazy "hello" and say "Happy Sunday"