New place

Here are some pictures of our new place. (You can click on it if you want to see it bigger.) It has been perfect for us!

Seattle is fun!

We are very happy living here in Seattle. It has been really fun learning about it and discovering all the little things that make it different and exciting! I just wish I had my camera for everything that we see! Speed bump alternatives, Fifth-floor Target stores, airplane parts that decorate parks, cars parked all along every road, even if it's supposed to be a lane... etc.

Also, everyone that we met here has been so nice! Example: Tonight I found our church building and went to the Relief Society broadcast. I checked ahead of time, and it started at 5. I ended up the only one in the chapel listening to it! On my way out, a lady asked me if I was inside listening to the broadcast. She told me that the whole stake was eating dinner together and was going to listen to the rebroadcast at 7. So she invited me in to have dinner and sit with her. I said, "Oh, but I didn't know about it and I already ate!" She said, "You can eat a little more, come on!" Anyway, I felt so welcome :)

Okay, on to the pictures.

This is a park along the lake that is a five-minute drive from our place, with said decorations:

There, we learned that ducks like to eat apples!

And here is Leah just being cute. She loves her "-tories"!

She pulled all her toys out of her toybox, and then climbed in the box. :)

See-tattle

That's how Leah says the name of our new stomping grounds. We're here, we made it, and we've spent our first full day in our new place! It has been very crazy, but very good and successful. We are still getting organized and settled, so I guess I will wait to post any pictures :)

Three more days in Ridgefield.

In three days, we are moving to Seattle! It seems weird that it is coming up so quickly. We are both excited and sad. Excited for a new adventure in a new place, and sad to leave our families. We have had such a nice time being here with them! We will only be two and a half hours away, so we will still be much closer than we used to be, but much further than we are now.

Also, we have a new family picture (thanks, Dad!). See a tiny version of it to your right. :)

Last week

Last week, my brother (Bryce) and his family (Kathy and Elina and Aaron) all came over! Bryce went with my dad to Alaska, and the rest of us played around here all week long. We had so much fun! Other than playing Farkle, which I have already talked about, we...

...played golf!


...made sushi!


...went to the beach!




...went to a kid's club!


...went to the zoo!




...went on a lot of walks!


...had lots of fun inbetween!


Thanks for coming, everyone!

Farkle

When Bryce and Kathy were in town last week, we played Farkle.

I actually tried to score points, too!

Where's the garbage?

You are looking at Leah's first made-up sentence. She has memorized several small phrases (where-is-it, I-love-you, here-we-go, etc.) and can say "hi" and "bye" to things on her own (hi fan, bye doggy, hi dress, etc.), but her first real made-up sentence came yesterday:

She loves finding pieces of paper and plastic, crumpling them up, saying "garbage", and throwing them away. We were in a room without a garbage can last night, and she found some garbage. I said, "Leah, go put that in the garbage in the other room." She replied, "Where's the... garbage?"

I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW FAST SHE IS GROWING!!

Vacation!

Matthew and I went on a vacation last week! We took a couple days off of work and headed out to the beach. Our parents were soooo wonderful to watch Leah for us so we could get away! I was a little nervous because I had only left Leah for a couple of hours at a time, only a few times, and never overnight. I think I handled it pretty well though. I mean, I think she handled it pretty well, considering.

Anyway, we stayed at a campsite at Cape Lookout and a hotel right on the beach at Lincoln City. It was SO nice and SO fun! We went to four or five different beaches, went to the aquarium, went whale watching, had a campfire, found tidepools and treasures, did a little shopping, ate really good, and went on as many walks as we could! It was perfect!

Leah's latest antics

Leah learns so much, so fast! She picks up 2-3 words or phrases each day, my new favorite being "I love love love you". She knows a few colors and about half the alphabet. Here she is telling me to be quiet, showing me a couple of emotions, and making all sorts of animal sounds :)

Big berry

My dad planted some new blueberry plants this season. Leah calls them "big berries" in the deepest voice she can muster.

Six down, twenty to go...

No, this isn't the latest word in the language I'm creating. It's all the letters that Leah can recognize! Point them out in any order you want, and she can tell you what they all are!


If you're thinking that this is the number of dollars I earn per hour, guess again. It's the rough number of words that Leah knows! My favorites being glasses, oh-no, sorry, pretty, and bicycle.


And this is just the number of degrees I wish it wasn't right now.

Harry Potter :)

Our friend Crystal had two extra tickets to the midnight showing of Harry Potter 6 on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning?) and invited us to go with her and some other friends (Thanks again, Crystal!). We had so much fun! The movie was great! A bit depressing at parts, but fun anyway. I hadn't read the book since it first came out a few years ago, so the story was almost all new for me. When I saw parts I did remember though, they were just as I pictured them!

Anyway, this was the first movie that Matthew and I have been to since Leah was born. We just end up waiting to rent movies when they come out. It was so nice to be able to put Leah down to bed and leave her with my parents so that we could go out (Thanks again, Mom and Dad!). Of course, we got to bed about eight hours after Leah did, and she got us up about three and a half hours later, but we survived in the end and are glad we got to have such a fun night/morning :)

This post brought to you by the number 2...

Leah has a favorite number! This is how I found out:
Me: "Leah! One..."
Leah: "Two!"
Me: "Good job! Three..."
Leah: "Two!"
Me: "Hmm. Five..."
Leah: "Two!"
Me: "... One, two..."
Leah: "Two!"
Me: "Okay. One..."
Leah: "Two!"
Me: "Good job!"

Playing with Malia

Leah's cousin Malia came over to play the other day. I'll let the pictures tell the story :)

Leah's learning to pretend and make up games

Leah put a tupperware container on her head yesterday, turned to me, and said, "Hat!"

Also yesterday, she put some crackers in a cup, put a ball on top of the cup, and asked me, "Where is it?", like she was hiding them for me to find. I said, "I don't know, where is it?" She took the ball off the cup, looked inside, and said "Peekaboo!"

I tell you what... my job is a lot harder than it was when I worked in the office, because I watch Leah at the same time, but it is definitely a lot more fun and entertaining with these little games she plays with me during work :)

Shoes

I never thought Leah would do this, because I'm not really into shoes (though I do own some). But today, all on her own, probably for the same reason she likes to wear tutus, Leah ... well, see for yourself. I guess she's just a girly girl. That, or she just likes to be a big kid :)

Beach Trip

Matthew and I took Leah on her first beach trip on Wednesday. First, we went to Astoria and stopped for lunch. Then we went to the Astoria Column, and then it was off to the beach. As you can see, Leah had lots of fun! (We did, too!) It is interesting to think what it must have been like for her. She had probably never imagined anything like this before--a great expanse of flat, wet, soft stuff, and lots and lots of water moving around on the ground! It was cold and very windy, but she had a good time splashing in the wet sand, and dancing, and running. Afterwards, we went to a couple other lookout places (in Fort Stevens and Hammond) and then headed back for home. We even stopped at Matthew's old mission president's house. He just happens to live about a half hour away from us right now! So we had a very nice day, and hope to be able to have many more days like this in the future.

In case you were wondering, Leah was verrrry good on our trip! We think it helped that we were outside so much. She took two naps in the car, and even ate a lot at lunchtime!

Some updates

Well, not a whole lot is new with Matthew or me (other than going on a real date last night!!), but plenty is new with Leah! Every day there is something new. I love re-discovering things with her... it's almost like everything is brand new as I watch her learn about the big world around her. So, some cute (or maybe just notable) things:

• There is a light waaaaay down at the end of the tunnel. Leah's diaper days are numbered! For the last three days or so, she has said "poo" every time she messed her diaper. On the list of things to get for our new apartment in Seattle: potty training seat.
• Leah is learning her first color! She will point at my jeans and say "boo". Then point at the blue house and say "boo". The the blue car and say "boo". Don't try to trick her yet though... she may just get confused and call everything blue.
• She can tell my parents' two black labs apart, and call each by name.
• Her newest word is "owie". She sliced her little thumb yesterday with a tape measure (didn't know those were so dangerous) and got a bandaid. Since then, even today, she will hold up her thumb and say "Owie, owie, owie, owie, owie..." I think she is better though.
• Yesterday, Leah picked me a Leah-sized bouquet of dandelions. Then she proceeded to pick a couple dozen more, tear them to pieces, and throw them to the ground while saying "Doh!!"
• She says "weeeee" when something is fun! Example: hills.
• Long ago, Leah learned how to draw. She is still learning what to draw on. Paper, yes; bananas, no.
• Once she was drawing on a piece of paper with Grandma and me. Whenever one of us would draw something for her, Leah would take the pen and scribble right over it! Every time. Either she is grasping the concept of coloring, or she is trying to enhance our little drawings. Or she just thinks we do a bad job.
• Whenever she hears music, or the word "dance", she dances!
• Leah loves big chairs. She doesn't so much love her high chair.
• Her favorite food might be rice. It might be green beans or bananas or grapes or crackers. It might rotate.
• The most impressive animal she knows is a squirrel.
• She has a verrrry good memory. You can tell her what something is once or twice, and she'll remember it a few days later.
• Today Leah hid her face, said "Where is she?", unhid her face, and said "Peekaboo!"
• She is starting to combine words, such as "Bye, doggy."
• She will sometimes stick her finger in her mouth and say "Sshhhh..." if you try to get her to whisper.
• Her pronunciation couldn't be cuter!
• When Leah wants something, she will point and say "day-go"/thank you. When it is not clear what she wants, I'll say "What?" and try to hand her something. If I'm wrong, she'll say "no", I'll say "What?", and we'll get a little game going. Sometimes she'll try to play by herself, saying "Day-go. Wat? Day-go. Wat? Day-go." :)
• Leah knows what letters are. We have letter magnets and try to tell her what letters they are. For the last few weeks, she has pointed at letters (even just on a page or a sign) and made letter-like sounds. One time, we were out for dinner, and there were numbers on the side of the table in front of her high chair. She started trying to name those off, too!

Grandma's Necklaces

Leah loooooves to play with Grandma's necklaces. The more, the better. She would also like to apologize to Grandma for the ones she has broken :(

Walk Pictures

Here is a little visual to go along with my last post.


"Bee!"


Walking out to the dogs ("Dah-gee! Wuff!").


"Sha-tah! Taow!"


Just walkin' through the grass.


Picking flowers.


This has become Leah's "spot". She will sit down right here every time we go for a walk. She won't sit anywhere else.


Picking grass.