March 30

Just a quick update from the weekend - Lizzie loves to read this tugboat book - she brings it over to me and plops into my lap to look at the pictures.

March 21

Here is a quick photo update. The fire department does a controlled burn in the field behind our house - they started right before bedtime, so we brought Lizzie outside to show her (the fire truck parks in the driveway, so she had some idea something was happening).
Here is Lizzie sporting a new hairdo - these are flat twists ending in two strand twists at the back - we are still learning, but this seemed to work well (we have been watching a lot of youtube videos - there are lots of directional/informational videos on there if you can find them).

This is Lizzie coloring - she really enjoyed doing this and seems pretty concentrated (she likes to draw the letters E and i (with help) and the moon, if she can). I think her hair is in double strand box-y things here. She is very patient (mostly) when we do her hair - it seems to be a nice time to talk together - hopefully that will be true as she gets older. Lizzie is just under 23 months right now - wow! That also means Happy Birthday tomorrow to Aunt Angi!

Maple syrup

We eat a lot of maple syrup around our house. This year, we are jumping in and tapping some trees to make our own syrup. Here Lizzie is helping Ryan read all about how we should boil down the syrup.
With the beautiful weather this month, we have been spending more time outside. In this picture, Aunt Kate is pulling Lizzie down to some maple trees where Ryan is setting up the sap buckets. Lizzie was very nap ready here, but we decided a nice walk (or wagon ride) outside would come first.

Here she is venturing out of her wagon. She is wearing her new green boots -perfect for this time of year!

Lizzie post

We have more than made up for the lack of pictures in our last post here today. This first picture is Lizzie giving Ryan "thumbs up" in the co-op. She lifts her thumbs (and fingers as you can see) up into the air (meeting the "up" requirement):
Today Ryan and Lizzie met Emily and Jonas at the Children's Museum. I think Lizzie likes the aquarium (I think mostly reptiles in there, I am not sure how she feels about reptiles):

When I got home from work today, Lizzie told me that Ryan had "No Beard" (he cut it to a goatee last week and this week finished the job). Then she took a book and told me "library". Lastly, she started rocking on her rocking horse and singing to her self ("rock, rock" and "tree-top" were the favorites). What a big girl!

CSA Fair

This past weekend was the Bangor CSA fair - here are Ryan and Lizzie in front of Ryan's (first class) display. Notice his Parker Produce t-shirt as well - these are hot off the presses! He helped to organize the event and they had a wonderful turnout! He was interviewed on the news and was able to get the event promoted through print, radio and television (which explains the great turnout, I think). Lizzie and I helped out a little (mostly by playing with the other farmers and their children) and then headed out for an afternoon together.
I don't have any other new pics right now - I am hoping to take a few tomorrow if I can remember to break out the camera. Lizzie went swimming in a pool today with her Aunt Kate - she is always talking about swimming and understands it will be summer time before we can swim in the lake again (and use the hammock she tells me - and then she says swing swing!). Spring is just around the corner, hopefully lake swimming will not be far behind.

22 months!

We now have a 22 month old! Lizzie is so much fun and growing and changing so quickly! But first, some more before and after shots - this is what Ryan and I have been working on these days. First is my project - our dining room floor has (had!) ugly avocado speckled vinyl tile which we decided to paint (we couldn't leave it the way it was - to ugly - and didn't want to buy new flooring at this point). I forgot to get a real before shot, so just pretend I hadn't started the base coat yet in this picture.



And above is the "after" shot. After many coats and several late nights painting (so it would be dry when we needed to walk on it in the morning). While missing some of the beauty a whole new floor might have, it definitely takes away much of the ugliness of the old floor. The next project was Ryan's - sprucing up the porch. When we bought this place it came with this porch - sort of screened in through use of several old and mis-matched sliding glass doors. Ryan replaced the roof a year or two ago, and this weekend he fixed the front. We decided a regular railing would be the easiest and the most attractive change.

Above is the after shot - I think we are going to paint it white one of these days (if we get a good stretch of warmish weather and if I have the chance to paint it during daylight hours - a lot of "ifs", so we shall see when it gets done!) Also, Ryan has celebrated a very important birthday! I didn't get many pics, though my mom has a few more on her blog (link above).

Last but very not least, here is the star of the show. Ryan and I were having a conversation and we both looked over at Lizzie at the same time and found her in this position. I know Ti-ti (Auntie Kate) has been trying to teach her how to do a back bend, so maybe she was practicing on her own? She stayed like this for at least 30 seconds - Ryan and I just looked at each other, trying not to burst out laughing. What a cutie!

Harmonica

Lizzie loves playing the harmonica - she is really getting good at it too! She is prone to dancing while playing - she has a great sense of rhythm already (much to Ryan's joy). Here she is playing for us while we are making dinner (or, Ryan is making dinner and I am just coming home from work.