The Timer

As many of you know, Andy and I have, uh, somewhat different time management techniques. I admit to using the timer to give myself some parameters when working on a task. I think I went too far here, though

A Baobao Thanksgiving

We went to our neighbors, the Jelaco's for the holiday. Elizabeth was in fine form. She is coloring a turkey here early in the day- she's working with a mono-colored palette currently.

She scarfed down the stuffing and turkey to the exclusion of everything else, and shouted Yum Yum at the end of the meal. She topped this all off by giving her mother a real kiss - the first one - right before bed. As you can imagine, even the most pragmatic and stolid New Englander would have cried, and so I did.

The next morning, after refueling on leftover pie, she ran around the kitchen saying "E Ar, E Ar, Nee How, Nee How Mama!" which is Mandarin for "One Two One Two Hello Mama." Andy and I were bent over laughing. This was two days after the destruction of my cell phone, which she pile-drived (piledrove?) into the floor of the local grocery store. So now, I have a beautiful new cell phone, my thanksgiving present from the baobao. Andy is seen here recovering from the turkey, his cold, and a week home with the family.

More Action Video for the Far-flung: Walking

We've been meaning to post her first walk for EXS fans who don't live in the vicinity. Finally! Please forgive the shaky video technique.

Action Video: Crawling

We've been meaning to post these especially for EXS fans who live far away. The crawling segment took place August 1 and features George the dog - a bonus!

The rocking segment took place sometime is August. I think - it's all a blur.

Santa Barbara and The Wall: a Short Story

So we decided to spend a week in Santa Barbara and hang out with Andy's dad, step mom, brother and sister. We rented a cottage and all went well for 24 hours until Elizabeth discovered a tiny hole in the drywall in Mama and Dada's bedroom.

"Hmm," she mused, "that hole is the perfect size to push through all the shiny items Mama has left around." Elizabeth staggered around the bedroom in a juice induced frenzy of activity. "Those hair clips - those will fit. So will those pennies." Her eyes lit up as she spied Mama's emerald ring. "Wow," she thought "that will be a tight fit but I bet I can do it."

Just at this point, Mama, who was reading the newspaper and wondering whether the sun would ever some out (it did, whenever Elizabeth was napping), paused and asked Dada "Have you seen the baby? It's awfully quiet." They stared for a moment, called out "Elizabeth" and raced to the bedroom, just in time to see her pushing something into the wall.

Elizabeth pai pai sho'd (clapped her hands) with glee. "Mama, wall!" she cried.

Dada fished out a hair clip and asked "Have you see your ring?"

No ring in sight. Mama asked the baby "Baobao, did you put the ring in the wall?"

Elizabeth replied "Ooo goo" and pointed to her mouth.

Mama persisted. "Elizabeth Xia Shuang" and now the baby listened for Mama only used her whole name when things were dire "did you swallow the ring?"

Elizabeth shook her head no.

Mama asked once more "Can you show Mama where the ring is?" and Elizabeth ran into the bed room and pointed. "My Wall, Mama. My wall!"

You can see the before and after pictures of My Wall here, as well as Mama and the ring.
After that, we went to the park after breakfast every day. The End.

Halloween Roller Derby Queen

We planned to go as the Axis of Evil, but given the current political climate and Saddam's demise, it seemed like bad taste, even for us. So instead, Elizabeth went out as a Rat City Rollergirl. She wasn't entirely sure why she was dressed this way, but liked going around with her little pumpkin. For a kid who went to a dozen houses and stores, she raked in quite a haul! (The bruise is makeup btw)

Red Sox Jensen Nation

Elizabeth and George the dog watched the Series with consternation and confidence. They knew who was going to win!

Fall Photos

She's walking now so we've been BUSY racing after Elizabeth, as she went straight from placidly sitting on the floor to running everywhere with absolutely no fear. She is 16 months old in these snaps. She's napping once a day, after lunch, and sometimes in the car if we get lucky. The middle picture is a good example of "baby stink-eye" which she gives us whenever we attempt to thwart her will.