Daddy's Little Girl

Happy Father's Day! Elizabeth was so excited to give John his gifts this morning, which included a coffee mug with her picture on it and a book about the Navy SEALS (naturally). We had a great day at the Piedmont fountains, going out to lunch, and playing inside and outside.

Father/daughter push ups:




We also spent some time this weekend talking to Elizabeth about the potty. We are now the proud owners of the Pink Princess Potty, which actually plays music when it is utilized. I went to Target with intentions of buying your average, run-of-the-mill potty seat, but when they were out of the one I wanted, and the Pink Princess Potty was on sale and, therefore, the next cheapest option, I went for it. We also purchased a new book titled "A Potty For Me," which has been a big hit this weekend. Personally, I'm just fine with changing diapers and strongly prefer that to dealing with "accidents," but we figured it's probably about time to at least introduce the concept.

Reading about the potty:




Test driving the Pink Princess Potty:


In other news, John and I were looking forward to dinner out on Saturday night with our friends Walt and Ellen. Unfortunately, about thirty minutes before we were supposed to leave, a wild thunderstorm blew through, knocking out our power and knocking over a tree across the street from our house. Since the power was out, we just ran out for a quick dinner so that we could be home before it got dark outside. Our babysitter was a trooper about staying with Elizabeth in a house with no power. Of course, just before we got home, the power came back on.

Here is the house across the street:


We hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend!

Hidden Gem

This weekend was all about Piedmont Park. On Saturday morning, John and Elizabeth had a date at the Botantical Gardens. Elizabeth enjoyed walking through all of the plants and playing in the children's area. Here are a few photos from their outing:





On Sunday, we met up with Jake and his parents for breakfast and more time at the park. Elizabeth and Jake are birthday twins and started at daycare right around the same time. Elizabeth hadn't seen Jake since she left school back in March, so we thought it would be fun to get them back together for a play date.

I had been hearing rumors of a new splash park for kids in Piedmont Park, but had never been able to locate it. We made it our mission this morning to track down the alleged "Piedmont Fountains." During our trek, we came across other parents who had heard of the mysterious fountains but couldn't find them, either. After much searching, we finally found the fountains - and it was worth the effort! Neither of us had swimsuits for the kids with us, but after all of that walking, we couldn't resist letting them just run around in their clothes (not to mention that it was already about 90 degrees by that time of day). Elizabeth and Jake had a blast! We are so excited to have found this hidden gem as I'm sure it will be a favorite activity during the rest of the hot summer.

Here are photos (a mix of iPhone and camera shots) from our outing this morning.

Elizabeth and Jake reunited!


Getting the band back together




Piedmont Fountains:

This and That

I am really bad about remembering to get videos of Elizabeth's new tricks. In my defense, she is now old enough to be aware that I am filming her and typically runs right over to grab the camera out of my hands before I can fully capture the cuteness.

Here is my attempt to be sneaky and film Elizabeth reading books to herself in the glider in her room. You can just barely hear her reading out loud in this one, and she catches me filming her pretty quickly. Nonetheless, I think it's cute.



In April, I signed Elizabeth up for a tumbling class at our community center. Elizabeth was one of the youngest kids in the class, and I quickly realized that one of the developmental milestones she has yet to hit is learning how to jump. By now, she knows what jumping is and tries to do it, but her jumps are more like bounces or frantic stomping. Here is a sample:



In other news, Elizabeth unleashed her first mini-sentence this week: "Dada car." "Car" was a new word last week, and this week, she began to announce "Dada car" when John left for work in the morning and when he would call at night to say he was on his way home. (How smart is that? Toddler genius, I tell you!)

Elizabeth begins her summer camp tomorrow. I'm really excited for her to be around other adults and kids, although after being together with her every day for the past few months, I'm having a little anxiety about dropping her off. But then I just envision having a few toddler-free hours to myself each week, and that calms my nerves a bit. Also, as anyone who has had the misfortune of being within earshot of me this past week has heard, I am miserable in this heat and am running out of ways to entertain Elizabeth indoors. I'm happy to let that be someone else's problem on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

I leave you with Miss Elizabeth bidding you, simultaneously, hello and goodbye.