This kid is hilarious

Baseball with Daddy and Grampy

River playing with bubbles and trying to get the camera away from mommy.

River's face

Hammin' it up!

Such a hippy!

Zommmbie River!!!

Look at all that blond hair.

Look at it!

Uh oh, we found Vaseline.

Shiny River

Greasy, but shiny

It took me a while to clean her up, but so worth it for the camera opportunity.

Easter face

River's Ramblings...

River showing me where her nose is.

This month is really the kick off of River using language (and sound effects) to convey meaning...she has been building that wide base for quite some time now and it's really starting to take off!

River's words:

Ba (ball)
baaaa (sheep)
woof!
mew mew (cat)
dot (dog)
duduck (duck)
day-doe (or yay-yo)- thank you
buh-buh! (bubble)
babee (baby)
yish, wish (fish)
hi
mommy
dada
buh (boob-as in nursing)
razzing (brprprpr) means either car or airplane
nooooooo ( in a low voice while shaking her head)

On top of that, there is a whole heck of a lot she understands, which no list could possibly contain...but here goes:

River can correctly identify the following things:

Nose, eyes, ears, toes, feet, head, hair, hands, fingers
diaper
ball
dog (lots of kinds, things in the newspaper, by sound, etc.)
water
trashcan
cars and airplanes (the latter usually includes running to me and crying)
shoes
can of baby snacks
Sheep, cows, dogs, cats, birds (in books and the back yard), fish and horses

Can correctly use the following with proficiency for her age:

Hair brush (on mommy, herself and the dog!)
toothbrush
bubble wand
utensiles
volume control on the stereo
smelling candles and flowers
blowing hot things (and cold things)
drinking from cups of varied sizes including water bottles
throwing a ball

The other day someone who hadn't seen me in a while asked me if my baby was pulling up to standing yet...I told her she had joined a track team and was making for the hills...this kid is running! She hikes with us and kicks soccer balls (which she LOVES to watch on tv), dances like a pro and can now drinks from a cup using only one hand and not spilling.

Random anecdote:
The other day we were listening to our Music Together cd and on it they have random tonal or rhythmic patterns to practice repeating. She already has a sense of beat but a few days ago the pattern was some kind of thing like: bah  bah  baba bup bah and I hear her from the backseat going "babababa." So cute.

Things we do:

Visit the aquarium
take walks to the park
Take swim lessons
Gymboree classes
Music Together classes
We also sit on the dog a lot

And like all babies there are places where she is lacking:
Is still having problems with:

Mommy leaving a billion times a week for her 2 jobs
Sleeping more than 2-4 hr. stretches during the night
throwing non-ball items
frustration with not being physically able to do certain things...like opening bags or reaching something

Our well baby check up went very well. Our doctor is really funny. I told him about the Attachment Mamas page I'm part of on facebook and that everyone always recommends After Hours Pediatrics because they don't yell at us for our crazy parenting behaviors. Lol. He checked all the usual things and asked us if we had any concerns with her. Yes, the rash is just from the heat, yes you should keep her, yes her teeth look great. Then he asked:

How is she sleeping? What is she eating?

Can she throw?
Have you taken her swimming?
How was your 4th of July?
Doesn't she have nice skin?


Then he pointed out her bruises she gets from running around like a crazy person outside and said they were a good thing and that they would multiply through the years. Also gave us a heads up on two things:

1. These next 2 years would be hell for her eating as she is going to find other things to do besides eat. So he suggested quality over quantity.

2. He wants to come with us to Canada if there is ever a Zombie Apocalypse. Score, our own medic!

She did about as expected having four shots and we hugged her and took her for ice cream.

4th of July

I know it's the 21st and I'm just getting around to this post but I've been working a lot lately. So here it is.

River woke up pleasant and of course the first thing she wants to see every morning is either daddy, mommy or the dog. She walks up to Tsosie, pulls some tufts of her hair out and walks over to the trash can and throws it all away. Ha ha. She's so funny.

On the morning of the 4th Chris suggested we go to the mountains. Seeing that we live near them and don't go often I thought it was a great idea. Plus River really really loves being outside. If she had her way she would run around naked with shoes on and play outside all day every day.

We drove with the old dog and the young child up to the crest and picked a G rated trail. Tsosie stopped every two seconds to stop and smell something and rest while River vollied back and forth between running and stopping to touch every tree stump. It was awesome. I like hiking that way. She did the same thing in Los Alamos to weekend before.

We hung out and ate while trying to keep the dog from leaving with other families and trying to keep the girl from climbing up onto steep high things. For the rest of our hike River was in the baby backpack (which is super duper awesome).

Then someone told us about the hummingbirds. We had to see it. Behind the cafe/gift shop there are two massive hummingbird feeders with swarms of hummingbirds that have been conditioned to let you hold them. River had a frickin ball. They flew around our heads like we weren't even there. It was surreal.

We left for home and ended up having a lovely 4th of July dinner with Chris' parents and then I had a brief moment to myself up on the roof deck watching all of the fireworks in our tiny big city. They looked like little fairies spritzing across the skyline. Our drive home was beautiful and all in all it was quite a lovely 4th.