Apparently this is not funny

For the first time, Erika seemed to be aware that mommy was not laughing with her, but at her. Not everyday does Jackie witness a green juice gotee! Anyway, little tiny feelings are indeed percolating up there somewhere.
Erika's language comprehension is rocketing forward and although she cannot carry on an entire conversation, she constantly surprises us. For example, just yesterday she correctly pointed out a saxophone. Suddenly she knows how to say saxophone? This is not a word we have been teaching her! She picked it up from the Baby Einstein Meet the Orchestra DVD. It turns out that she also knows Drums, Cello, Bass, and Basoon. Those will come in handy when she tries out for pre-school I'm sure. Still no piano.

Northshore Gymnastics Center Party

Erika's toddler group had a group birthday party at the Northshore gymnastics center. There were lots of thing for little kids.
Here Erika and Isabella set the standard for not only sharing but also cuteness.


The sea of foam blocks was a big hit. It is about 4 feet deep, so you are just floating on these blocks. Kids must go in bare feet since this thing eats socks like you would not believe.


Back at home, Erika shows how to properly relax while watching TV. Yes, she is suspended between her toy chest and the couch. And for the record, she can reliably count to 4 now. She can also say please, thank you and excuse me among other things related to cats and poopies. I'm not sure how she came up with "excuse me" since we did not try to drill that into her as we were focusing more on the please and thank you concept. Obviously she picked it up somewhere; correctly using it twice as I blocked her flight path.

Meow-meow make the poopies video

Happiness is a giant strawberry in January

The California strawberrys at the grocery store are incredibly good right now. The ones in the summer were cheaper, but not so yummy. So I guess you have to wait for winter to get good fruit? Anyway, these are amazing, and Erika has eaten her weight in Strawberrys since yesterday. "Bigger strawberry" is her request. She will not settle for a small one if there is one bigger.

Freak storm #3 and faux poo

It snowed again. No one knows why.
At least I have a snow shovel this time.
And we have electricity!


Erika, for her part, is taking all this odd weather in stride. In fact, what better time to strip naked and insist on potty training a stuffed cat? In this picture, she appears shy, but that's because is about to stop whatever cute thing she was doing and demand to see the pictures the camera has not yet taken.

Anyway, this is her new potty seat. Tonight she spent an amazingly long time shouting "Meow meow poopies!" at the top of her lungs. She paused only to insist on wearing nothing but her diaper before starting a fresh round of meow meow poopies. It's my job to make the cat produce effort noises. Erika will then deposit faux poo in the bowl. Usually crayons or strings of beads. The cat must then inspect his work and ask daddy to clean the bowl out (Dump!) and start over.
Erika was so enthusiastic, that Jackie was unable to take a brief nap upstairs because of all the scatalogical tom-foolery. She came down to take this picture.

Erika adjusts to being two

Erika has just learned the joy of taking off her clothes. I'm sure this will be quite embarrassing for her as a teenager, so I took lots of pictures and video in anticipation of that day. Just leave the diaper on. Please.


Erika helps daddy build a shelf-like thing. This week we visited our favorite store in the whole world- Ikea. There is no need to pay to go to a children's museum if you have an Ikea. Same efftect. But everything attaches with the L-shaped hexagonal tool. I hate that tool.


Sometimes you just have to drink your carrot soup right from the bowl.