The Daintys

Leah has invented a new game we have dubbed "The Bye-Bye Game."  She brings us her shoes to put on.  She brings us her jacket to put on.  She collects ALL the keys she can find.  She straps at least one bag to her person in some way. (Any bag will do: a grocery bag, cosmetics bag, purse, diaper bag, carton of goldfish...)  Then, she marches around the house saying " Buh -Bye!   Buh -Bye!   Buh -Bye!" to everyone, and everything.  She gives bye-bye hugs and kisses.  She pets the dog.  She pretends to put the keys in the lock.  She might bang on the back door a few times.  Then, the game starts alllllll over.  This last Sunday she must have tottered around in her winter coat for a good half hour.  I love it! She also, as you will see, has been quite a ham for the camera lately.  She likes the close-up shots, and then she likes to see the little digital image on the back of the camera and point to herself and laugh.  How funny!   And finally, in case you were wonderin...

Today, the sun was actually shining - the snow on the sidewalks was melting and everything!  It was shining long enough for me to bundle up myself and Leah after school, find Lucy's leash, dig out the jogging stroller, clean off the cobwebs, and go for a little jog/walk with my little friends.  They were both incredibly excited about it.   Leah kept saying, "Nooooo!" when I put the weather guard down so she wouldn't have wind in her face, and giving me the dirtiest looks through the little window on top of the stroller.  She would pull the clear shield to the side and stick her bundled little head out into the breeze.  What a kook!  She loves the snow and wind - a true midwest kiddo.  Then, there was Lucy, who hadn't been in close proximity to a squirrel in a week or so and could barely contain her hunting instincts.  Lucy kept walking into the stroller, because she didn't want to walk in snow and puddles.  (?!)  I honestly thought the tire was going to wear ...

Happy Valentine's Day! A few pictures of our little rascal in her very vintage-looking Snoopy Valentine shirt...she looks like such a rock star. I haven't been able to get video to load lately, but we're working on it, because Leah is chatting up a STORM these days. She says mama, dada, woof-woof, ju (juice), dju-dju! (thank you!), NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!, hmmm?, bye-bye, and a few others here and there. And then there are the conversations we have with her in which we have no idea what she is saying - but she sure does. It's very fun. Anyway, on with the pictures...

Still catching up on the past month and a half, but we are up to 2010 now! Our dear friends Greg and Emily got married on New Years Eve in Ohio. We had so much fun at the wedding. Grandma and Grandpa D. even took Leah back to the hotel and we stayed up past midnight! Here are some pictures from the evening... (This was Leah's pre-wedding nap. Grandma and Grandpa got her dressed while she was still asleep! So cute...)

Clearly, it has been a while since we posted.  We are not still sick.   Computers have been slow, and work has been busy, busy - as has Leah.  And the house, as usual, has been messy, messy.  It's usually clean by Saturday and dirty by Monday.  At least Sundays are quite orderly. Anyway, in no particular order, here are some pictures from our Christmas and New Year's vacation - which turned out to be very nice despite the rough start!