Sitting at the table

Sara Beth has decided that she is no old enough to sit at the table without a booster seat.  In part, she will now always ask to sit in Heather's or my lap instead of her seat.  We tell her no because we are mean ... and also because it is messy: her food gets in our laps and my food gets in her hair.  When we offered a compromise, her sitting in a chair with out her booster, she accepted.  Her mouth is about the same height as the table, but she seems to enjoy sitting in a seat just like the adults.

Her hair has grown to the point that it can now be put in a full ponytail.  It is amazing how much more grown up she looks with all her hair pulled back.

My parents came down this weekend and brought presents with them.  Sara Beth has a tendency to tear up books into their component pages, so we have worked hard to emphasize that we need to be careful and not tear pages.  Needless to say, she got confused when we told her it was ok to rip the wrapping paper off.

Once the wrapping paper was off, she got down to business and started looking at all her new books and puzzles.  She helpfully identified the dump truck for Grandpa.

Heather was working outside on the flowerbeds, weeding and cleaning up.  Of course, Sara Beth loved playing outside too. Our yard is rather bumpy and we regularly use fill dirt to even out the yard.  Sara Beth got down and scientifically analyzed one of the larger spots that had fill dirt in it.

Sara Beth Gone Wild

I think the picture speaks for itself.

Anyways, Sara Beth has been getting a lot of gummy bears recently.  Whenever she asks to use the bathroom, then we allow her to get a treat.  And almost every time, she will ask for gummy bears.  I have to quickly re-attach her diaper after she empties her bladder as she as a tendency to hop off of the potty and sprint to the pantry for her treat as soon as she is finished doing her business.   It is a very promising start to the whole potty training thing.

Sara Beth's birthday approaches like a bullet train.  We sent out the invitations this weekend, and by we, I mean Heather.  My Aunt Sue has already sent Sara Beth a gift in the mail.  Sara Beth looked at all the books with interested after tearing through the paper.

And then like any kid, she decided that the wrapping paper was too good to waste, so she brings it over to her table and starts to color pictures on it.

Escalators

Sara Beth loves escalators.  Whenever we are at the mall, she will ask to go on any one that she sees.  And now when we read a book with pictures of alligators, she will point to them and proudly proclaim "escalator," though I think she is being silly as she says it with a silly smile on her face.

We went to "The Taste of Dallas" downtown over the weekend.  Sara Beth sat in wide eyed silence as we took the light-rail down to the event.  She has seen the train from a distance before, but this is the first time she sat on it.  Once we got down there, Sara Beth wanted to be carried the whole time so that she could be above the crowds of people.  I don't know how much she weighs, but the next day, my shoulders were sore.  I think I need to life some heaver weights at the gym.  While down there, there was a setup with some hula hops.  Sara Beth saw some older kids use them and figured that she could get in on the action as well.

She also saw a bear statue so we had to get closer to investigate.

If given the choice between taking a bath or a shower, Sara Beth will always choose the shower.  She loves carrying her towel and shampoo to the master bath where she takes her shower and will get rather upset if one of us carries the items for her. 

So, this picture needs some explanation: first, it was raining outside.  And when it rains out, Sara Beth wants to wear her rain coat, despite the fact that she was not actually going out side.  The mere sight of precipitation sends her scurrying to her closet for the jacket.  And second, she wanted to help me clean up with the dust buster.

Sara Beth tries to be a big "helper" around the house.  I don't know if she does it out of a sense of kindness as she sees Heather or I doing a chore or out of a sense of "that looks like fun, let me do it."  Regardless, in addition to dust busting the floors, she also helps to water the trees in the backyard too.

Fireworks

Initially, we were not planning on watching the fireworks this 4th of July.  Since she is not even 2 years old yet, we figured it would be too late at night.  So we put her to sleep around 8:15 the night of the 4th and settled down to relax for the evening.  Around 10pm, the sound of firecrackers and rockets started to echo around the neighborhood.  People were setting them off.  It was so much noise that Sara Beth woke up and started to get restless.  Since she was already up, Heather and I decided to get her up and show her the fireworks.  We whisked her out of bed and into the car and we drove to the nearest parking lot that had a good view of the Richardson fireworks display.  She loved it.  As soon as it was over, we got back in the car and drove to an empty field that had a good view of some other fireworks displays to the east.  Sara Beth kept pointing to the fireworks, and she would say "Push" and shove her hand in the air towards the horizon, in an attempt to make the fireworks go higher in the air ... or something.   

  The past few days since then, she will continue to mention the "fireworks."  We keep having to explain that they only happen once a year and that she will need to wait until next year to see them again.

You can never have enough purses.  When I asked Sara Beth take out some recycling, she needed to collect all her purses before she could step outside.  Along with Emma Rose, her doll, she is carrying 4 purses.  Also, her cell phone was not in any of them, as it had to be clutched in her right hand.

I am starting up reading "The Lord of the Rings" out loud right before Sara Beth's bed time.  Sara Beth decided she wanted to do more than just sit and listen, so she brought various books of her own to read next to me.  This book was nursery rhymes, and Sara Beth is showing me the actions for "The insey winsey spider" song.

My family was in town this past weekend, including my brother and sister.  Sara Beth asked to get her nails painted.  Then Heather got hers painted.  Jill, my sister, already had hers painted.  We then "helped" John paint his toenails.  It took Heather, Jill, and myself to hold him down long enough to get one foot painted.  This is the picture after the fact.