Leslie Got Married

Leslie and Charles had a lovely wedding the first weekend in August. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony and super fun reception. I think she's found a great partner in life, and I'm so happy for her!

Warm(ish) Days

Our hot summer days were few and far between this year. We brought out our pool just twice! Even then, it was pushing it. I had to warm the water and still the little lady didn't want to sit down in it. She had fun watering the plants with the pool water, however!

Amma Good and Papa Good

Another weekend spent in Gig Harbor--we are taking advantage of our short months with Grandma and Grandpa Good. Laine now deciphers between her Grandparent's names. Amma Good, Papa Good, Amma Beekle, Papa Beekle, and of course her own name: Yaine Beekle.

This photo makes me feel as if I know what Laine will look like as a teenager.

Lots of book reading...

Morning tea on the deck with Grandma.

Auntie Turns 30!

Auntie's birthday kicked off the long string of summer birthdays. Once again, Laine dictated how things will go...due to her love of a silly book called "My Birthday." It's a phonics book (about "ir" words such as "birthday," "circus," and "bird,") and Laine loves it. Loves it--as in, we couldn't leave the house without it for a week or so this past summer. She's learned that birthdays involve hats, balloons, candles, and "happy cake," as she calls it.
We made sure there were hats and balloons on hand, and Auntie even got Laine a gift! It was a play cake, with plates, forks, candles, and a silver cake server. Laine spent the afternoon passing out cake to all of us--very carefully scooping up slices and walking very slowly across the room, so as not to lose her dessert. We hope Auntie had a great day--we sure did!

Around the House

While Daddy played golf with Grandpa one weekend, Laine and I read lots of books.
Then Laine and Daddy washed the car...

Our little helper.

Holding the hose is an important job.

Then Laine watered the plants. And herself. Her skirt weighed about five pounds by the time she was done.

Gardening

We didn't have much of a vegetable garden this year. Back in April when I planted things, I pictured us moving in August and I didn't want to leave amazing produce behind for someone else. We planted some flowers and some onions, and two pumpkin plants. Oddly, the pumpkins didn't take off, so most of one of the beds was just dirt. Laine sure doesn't mind! Plants would get in the way of her dirt scooping and transfer from one bed to another.
At least we have our perennial chive plant, which Laine has thoroughly enjoyed. We visit the garden at least daily, sometimes multiple times a morning, for her to pick a "chibe" and nibble on it like a bunny.

Ferry Princess

We'd been meaning to take a ferry ride SOMEWHERE for a long time, and the second week in July we finally got around to it. Laine loves boats, and points them out wherever we go, so we thought she might enjoy riding on one. Instead of the typical ONE hour trip to Gig Harbor to see my parents, we rushed around to make a morning ferry, waited in line in the car, braved the unpleasant fall-ish weather, and made the trip in TWO hours in order to please our favorite girl. Turns out, she could have cared less about being on a boat!

We did see other boats, and some seagulls, however!

No Excuses

It's been a long while since my last post. I won't go into a big song and dance with excuses why...there's nothing to blame. That being said, it's all the house's fault. After passing on two (low) offers within the first 9 days, this dang house is still on the market. I've spent all my time running around after a little busybody, cleaning things up. As you can imagine, it's been exhausting straightening every little thing each time we leave the house--and for that reason we didn't do as much this summer as I would have liked. Turns out, it's easier to hang around the house and keep things moderately clean, then scramble before a showing. (Which, to be honest, there haven't been many in the last two weeks.)
The list I have of Laine's words seems ridiculous now. It's months old, and instead of just words, she currently rattles off 5 or 6 word sentences. I feel rather guilty not having documented this AMAZING time in her development, but I calm myself by knowing how much we've enjoyed it.

The following is an untimely list of her words before and around the 4th of July. Dirty, sweep, diaper (die-py), bite, pat, bear, truck, lamp, noodle, pasta, hockey, run, clock, yellow, blue, cocoa (hot cocoa), chalk, pie, eggroll, wipe, onion, coffee, other (uses correctly), spoon, fork, knife, cracker, jean, strawberry, weak, zipper, work, wet, boss (as in, "who's the boss?" "Laine boss!") bumbum, out, animal, pirate, eat, light, cookie, on, comb, heart, (knows the shape), mouse, bunny, bone, peek, hand, poke, naked, two (uses correctly but now uses for anything other than one!) shirt, sheet, cup, kitty, mommy room, ride bike, remote, towel, pillow, pat and pet, tap, blow.

A few funnies and things:

For awhile, everything was "yeah yeah." Not just one affirmation, but always two.

She called everything yellow for a while, and just as I was thinking she'd never know her colors, she shocked me by knowing them all. In an instant.

She says hello to everything. Dogs, rocks, her feet. One night at dinner, she said, "Hello, knife!"

For awhile, her most common phrase was "Mama read it!"

She knows a lot of her books by name. Her words: "I Yove Trucks," "I a Bunny," "Goodnigh Moon," "Runny Bunny" "Yamberry," and "Daddy Cozy Hug" among many others.

She's big on order and doing things the same way every time. She and I snuggle and watch a little Sesame Street in the morning, and she tells me repeatedly as I drink my daily caffeine, "Mama coffee. Mama hot cocoa." (I have hot cocoa in my coffee.) If I don't have it, she wonders where it is.

She can say and do "Pat-a-cake," "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes," "Where is Thumbkin?" and sing a number of Wiggles songs, including "Rockabye Your Bear" and "Hot Potato."

She's always wanting us to do what she does. "Mama do dat!" "Daddy do dat!" (As she lays on her tummy naked in the tub. Um, not gonna do dat. My favorite sentence of hers for awhile was "Mama do dat float on tummy!")

If she hears a car coming into our cul-de-sac, she runs onto the grass and says, "Car coming!" If it is a louder sound, she says, "Truck coming!"