Halloween

We put a few pics up on Picasa today from the last week or two (including Ada as a daisy for Halloween). The closeout Halloween rack at Babies R Us is a great place to get a costume, by the way.

So smart!

Ada is talking all the time now.

She says:
Mama
Dada
Papa (always whispered)
Meme
Ghee (Granny, just like her dad used to call his Granny)
Nee (Nana or Nolan)
Meh (Aunt Megan)
Cha (Charlie)
Ta (our roommate Todd)
Chee (Cheerios)
Wa (water)
MMma! (Elmo)
B (blanket, Big Bird, belly button, balloon, or book)
Ba (bottle, ball or bath)
Saa (Sock)
Sues (Shoes)
Wee! (that means she wants to go to the park in the stroller and ride the rides...wee!)
Peas (please)
Da or Oof Oof (dog)
Maow (cat)
Bye Bye! (with a big Texas accent)
Night Night (also with an accent)
after praying with us each night, sometimes she says Amen
when we say "one, two..." she says, Free!
her new favorite, Nu Nu Nu Nu! (No!)

She's not only busy talking, but busy doing as well. She loves to turn the TV on and off. She plays her piano. She watches Sesame Street (Elmo's World is her favorite). When it comes on she dances! And she loves Mr. Rogers and a locally produced show called The Buscuit Brothers. She plays in her sandbox and runs around the yard with Nolan. She'll go into a room and close the door behind her. She loooves books, especially her children's bible. But it's rare that we get to read whole stories before she turns the page. She drags her blanket around behind her with her thumb in her mouth like Linus. Yesterday, she was with Sam and she put her thumb in her mouth, grabbed her blanket and walked into her room. She then walked over to the crib, patted on it and said, "night night." When she wants to go somewhere, she pats on the door and says, "bye bye!" She put her big stuffed Elmo to bed the other day by covering him with a blanket. She is getting quite good at problem solving with her toys.

Basically, our 14 month old daughter is brilliant. We just wanted you all to know.

Walking Talking Ada

We've not posted in a bit. Partly because of busyness, school, or unplanned for travels. But mainly, we've been disorganized and lazy. That should all end soon as Dad has been reading "Getting Things Done" and is now the archnemesis of disorganization and laziness.

A lot of our "free" time has also been spent chasing this toddler around and laughing at her... a lot. We put up a few new videos and pics on Youtube and Picasa, so make sure to check the links on the right. For now, here's some video.

1 Year Old

Ada turned 1 year old on Saturday. We had a party for her at our house that a lot of her friends and their families attended. There were also out of town family members of Ada's present. It was a great day filled with swimming, music, snacks, drinks, homemade ice cream, and of course... cake.

For tons more pictures and video, make sure to check out our Picasa and Youtube pages.

Catching Up

Ada’s just a couple of weeks from her first birthday, and she seems to be doing new things everyday:

-She stands up unsupported for 5-10 seconds.
-She takes one or two steps before needing to sit down.
-She can say “Daddy,” “ma,” “dog,” and has an inquisitive “Huh?” kind of noise when she doesn’t understand.
-She waves, french kisses on the mouth, and as of this morning, blows kisses too.
-She knows the difference in and points to: “Ada’s nose,” “mommy’s nose,” and “daddy’s nose.”
-She grabs her blanket and lays down on it or in it when she is ready for a nap or bed.
-It’s a tad early, but when you ask “How old is Ada?” she holds up one finger.

We had a great time on our first family vacation last month. We’ve put up pics from the last several weeks on Picasa and will soon have new video on Youtube as well.

Her new thing

The photo has nothing to do with what I'm writing about but it should make ya smile!

So Ada has been waving at people for some time now. It used to be a whole arm up and down motion, but now it's just a hand rotating from side to side like a pageant winner. Our little princess...

But yesterday Sam taught her to clap. They watched a local PBS show called the Biscuit Brothers and they sing and teach kids about music. And if there is anything that Ada likes, it's music! The girl is bound to be a musician...or a dancer...or both!

This Always Happens

I've had a few different blogs in the last several years, and it seems like this always happens - long amounts of time between posts. Life just gets busy, and other things always seem to be above blogging (parenting, pastoring, etc...). Still, we are sorry it's been so long and we'll try to do better. We do sometimes put up pics or Youtube videos even when we aren't writing, so remember to check those from time to time.

Here's a video of Ada crawling: