Pootcakes and Sunshine

Ada is talking more and more every day. She uses complete sentences a lot of times and is very good at communicating what she wants. One of her best words is "pootcakes." She normally imitates words pretty clearly but for some reason, pancakes are pootcakes. This morning, as we were sitting at the breakfast table eating pootcakes, she saw Nolan down in our roommate's living area. She said, "No Nolan! Tum outta der. Jaime and Todd's room!" She continues to amaze us.

The other day Sam used the word Republican in a conversation with me and from the back of the car Ada started yelling, "Obama!" How she knew that both of those words are political and belong in the same conversation, I have no idea. She also started yelling, "Obama presdident!" at the front of the communion line at church this week. Bad timing. She doesn't know that we don't talk about politics in church :) I think it's just a fun word to say.

I was talking with her on the phone while she was at my parent's house. I asked her what her favorite color is and she said, "orange." I said, "you're a little Longhorn, aren't you?" She said, "Papa's pen!" and ran over to grab an orange Longhorn pen of my dad's that plays the Eyes of Texas. We realize we have to be very careful with what we say at this point cause this little genius doesn't miss much.

I always tell Ada that I love her. I say, "I love you SO MUCH." A couple of weeks ago, Sam was changing her diaper and she grabbed his hand and looked up to him and said, "Daddy...so much." I thought Sam was going to eat her up.

One of our favorite things that she does now is ask us to sing to her before we put her down for a nap or bed. First, she asks us to rock her. "Mommy rock!" And then she'll look up at whoever is holding her and rocking her and say, "Daddy...sunshine." And Daddy will sing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

We love you, sunshine! SO MUCH!

Happy Eatso!

That's how Ada says, "Happy Easter!" She has called all of her grandparents this morning to tell them, "Happy Eatso!" She first learned the phrase with her Aunt Megan (Meh) and Uncle Clayton (Ta Ta), so she has been saying, "Meh, Ta Ta, Happy Eatso!" Her daddy has been trying to teach her, "Christ is Risen," but I think that one's going to have to wait until next year. I can't believe that it's been a whole year since my baby was dedicated! Time sure does fly by when you're hanging out with a toddler.

Ada Loves Noles

Ada was watching Sesame Street the other day and Nolan jumped up there to join her. They have become best friends and he puts up with her sitting on his back because she also feeds him from the table. He never had people food until Ada came along. She talks about him all of the time. She calls him, "Noles."

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.