Sunny Day

We finally had a hot and sunny day today - I personally like it about 15 degrees cooler than the 90 degrees it was today, but after all the rain, I have decided to be satisfied. This first picture is a small corner of Ryan's garden. The garden is doing well again this year (though the rain hasn't helped some of the crops). As a gardener by trade, the garden is where he spends a lot of his time. I know he loves it, and I like this particular shot because it reminds me of a jungle gym. The garden is a serious job for Ryan, but I also think it is a kind of playground to him too (lucky him!).
During dinner tonight, Lizzie decided to drink her yogurt - no more spoon, it wastes too much time. The yogurt mustache was too cute to miss.

Lizzie knows how to appreciate a sunny day (and she knows she looks good in sunglasses - she has the same satisfied smile every time she has them on).

We have all been excited about the stellar raspberry crop this year - we are a family of many jam makers (well at least two or three of us, but many others participate by picking and eating). I think the raspberry jam count will be low this year as Lizzie consumes most of the ready berries when we do the picking. She loves to pick berries with Grampy John!

This is how the raspberry picking episode usually starts - just another ride to feed the pigs, somehow this turns into eating berries by the fistfull.

Lizzie continues to be very assertive and self-assured these days. She fully understands the word "no" (at least when she uses it) and is very quick to help you figure out what she needs and wants.

July 22

Lizzie is 15 months today! I can't believe she is already 15 months! We had her doctor checkup yesterday - she continues to do well and is tracking on the same growth curve as in the past (read: 90 % height, 45% weight, etc - a great trend according to the doctor). She doesn't love being examined by the doctor, but she does pretty well overall. I haven't taken many pictures since my last post, so I am leaving you with a swimming series:

Summer days

Sunny summer has finally arrived! Here are some of the latest pictures of our Lizzie. I found this wagon at a yard sale (I love finding used kids stuff - especially the plastic stuff). Because of the rain, we haven't had much opportunity to use it. Here she is going for a ride with Ryan:

As you can see below, this particular ride didn't last very long. She does like the wagon though and we haven't had to carry her and pull the wagon since:

Lizzie has also had her first ice cream! She really enjoyed it - the cone especially.

Here is Lizzie enjoying her own chair (thanks Mimi and Grampy Gary!). Ryan is laying on the grass in front of her - she crossed her legs after he crossed his. She likes to pretend that she is in a rocking chair, so we stay close to her when she is sitting in it.

Last Friday, Lizzie and I met some other Moms and kids at a local playground. I should have gotten pictures of the kids together, but they were all scattered around the equipment. Lizzie's favorite part of the playground is the rocks that are on the ground - she loves picking them up and I spent a lot of time taking them out of her mouth!

Pics of July 4

Kate and John were kind enough to open up camp for the Dicken's family on the fourth of July once again. We had lots of family, lots of dogs (5 - I guess we are a family of dog lovers as every car came with a dog) and lots and lots of food to share. I didn't get as many pictures as I would like, but here are a few snaps from the day. Here are Aunt Char, Grammy Susie and cousin Mark in the background:

I love that I caught Lizzie biting her bathing suit - I think this is the first time she has actually worn the suit and she wasn't in it for long - too cold for much swimming! Lizzie also began walking up and down stairs with help on the fourth as well. Yesterday she learned how to get up stairs on her own without help - she isn't quite ready for going down stairs on her own, but it is exciting that she is learning so much about her body right now!

Lizzie and I stayed close to home today - she kept asking to go outside so I would take her out and she realized it was raining so we would go back in - over and over again! Finally, I put her in some crocs, some warm clothes and put on her rain coat and we played outside in the light rain until Ryan got home. Just like her Daddy, a little rain will not stop her from being outside!

July 4

We were fortunate to attend Brian and Caitlin's wedding in Camden last weekend. If you look closely, you can see that Lizzie's Uncle Dan is one of the groomsmen. The ladies were beautiful and the men were handsome!
The three of us watched from a distance while Lizzie practiced her walking. She loves these red shoes - she kept lifting her feet up to look at them:

I also included these two random pictures of Lizzie - one to show how much she loves corn bread and another to show how cute she is in orange. Have a great fourth of July!