Playing with friends

First priority (like most gatherings with friends): eating.







OK, now let's go play.

Playing outside

Not much of a front yard, but we're at the cul-de-sac end of a very quiet street, so I'll take it.





And some lovely green space out back.



But the best outdoor spot is the lovely Virginia Creeper trail.

"Stroller? No way dudes, I'm walking."






A stop at the great little playground down the road.

Lea-speak glossary

Words she pronounces consistently and obviously knows the meaning of:
Kitty
Duck
Uh-Oh

Words she pronounces consistently, but sometimes in the totally wrong context:
Mama
Dada

A word she created:
Chedduh! (said with emphasis, to mean "I want that!")

Words she doesn't pronounce quite right, but we think we know what she's getting at:
Tatchoo (for "Thank you," although she says it whether she is giving or receiving something, so she might think it just means, "A transaction is taking place.")
Taaaaaaa-ee (for "Tired," in perfect imitation of the drawn-out way we often say, "Oh, Lea, you're tiiiiiiiiired! Let's go have a nap.)
Eeeeeeee-yah, or EeYAH!EeYAH! (for "Lea")


Then there are the times where she babbles what sounds like a perfectly logical sentence. For instance, one time she was throwing food, and I said, "Please don't do that." Her response? "Daddy said I could." Well, no, not really, but it sounded so much like that, I was just dumbstruck. Another time, when she was extra-cranky, I said, exasperated, "Lea, you need to find a way to calm down." She responded with something that sounded very, very much like, "I already did my yoga." Can't argue with that.


(Oh yeah, and she can also point to her nose if you ask her where it is. So cute.)

My new best friend?

Four days ago, I signed up at the Hillary Clinton campaign website to get more information about Bill Clinton's trip to Abingdon that afternoon.

Today, I got an e-mail from Hillary Clinton which opened as follows: "Dear Paige, You and I have taken a remarkable journey together through this entire campaign. Through all the ups and downs, you have been there when I needed you most." Really? Wow!

We only saw a few minutes of Bill Clinton's speech, so I can't say much about the content, but here's something that really bugged me: Clinton referred to Obama as "Hillary's challenger." Maybe I'm being overly nitpicky here, but to me, a two-person race either consists of (a) an incumbent and a challenger or (b) two opponents. This choice of language struck me as one of those sly little ways we are made to feel like Hillary Clinton IS the incumbent, which of course, she is not. Bill also said that he was "so proud of Hillary when she kept fighting even after Senator Kennedy came out against us." Boo, again. Endorsing a candidate, as Ted Kennedy has done, is not about sticking it to another candidate. This primary, in particular, is not about voting against somebody; something like 85% of likely Democratic voters said they'd be content to vote for either Clinton or Obama in November. So really, especially now, the climate is not about who we strike down, but who we choose.

Anyway, last time I heard the whole "if you're not with us, you're against us," bit, George Bush was changing the cafeteria menu at the capitol to "Freedom Fries" because France hadn't committed to send troops to Iraq.

If you haven't seen Lea in pigtails...

Here you go!

The end of the babyfood era

Yeah, this just stopped being fun.