she's really starting to pose

she's really starting to pose, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Here's that funny, new smile again!

Going solo on the big slide!

Eliza climbing the big slide

climbing the big slide, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Look at this baby girl! She got all brave on us this weekend. Not only did she want to go down the big slide all by herself...she even climbed back up it!

Eliza has a brand new smile!

Eliza has a new smile, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

She's become quite the little entertainer, and now she even flashes a big, toothy grin whenever you say, "smile!" or point a camera in her direction.

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma

IMG_0071, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza has been a real screamer this weekend since she had some more family members to show off around. Grandpa Rocky and Grandma Cathy loved hanging out with this little lady, even if she screamed a lot and kept telling them "bye bye!" all the time.

Eliza's "Parks and Recreation" dance!

Rocking out to Parks & Rec theme, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Tonight we decided to watch our Thursday NBC shows live, rather than catch them on the DVR later when Eliza is fast asleep. I am so glad we did because we witnessed the most awesome thing: "Eliza's Parks and Recreation dance!"

My wife and I were brought to tears, laughing as our girl went berserk for the theme song. I got out the camera, scrolled back the show, and recorded several versions of her going crazy and dancing all over the living room to this song.

This take is my favorite because she amazingly timed out the ending of the song with a big finish. What a little entertainer!

Hunting down birds in the park

Hunting down birds in the park, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza loves chasing after birds, so we went to the park where she had plenty of pigeons to chase after.

Couch potato

Couch potato, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

This kid loves hanging out with her daddy and snuggling on the couch watching "The Office".

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Video: Eliza playing the chimes

Eliza playing the chimes, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza's new best friend

IMG_0217, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

If there's one thing we've learned about this little lady lately, it's this: She absolutely LOVES her Aunt Karey. She always wants to be wherever Karey is at, and will scream at maximum volume to make sure her Aunt is always watching her perform in the living room and at the dinner table.

She wants to dance on stage!

IMG_0195, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza loves music...especially live music. She was having so much fun listening the the fiddle playing, Quebe Sisters that she kept dancing her way up to the stage. Mommy had to keep reeling her back in.

Family and their new hats

IMG_0209, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza isn't the only one wearing funny hats

IMG_0051, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Mommy and Aunt Karey looked great in these pink cowboy hats, but they decided that it just wasn't for them. Though later in the day, Eliza ended up getting her own pink cowboy hat.

Stop putting weird hats on me, Dad

Stop putting weird hats on me, Dad, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

The tradition of putting a funny, new hat each time we go to Target continues today with the Urban Sombrero.
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Eliza's 16 Month Update

She loves putting eggs in the basket at home, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Daddy and E started off Easter weekend by making a visit to the doctor's office on Friday for her routine check-up. Here's her latest stats:

Weight: 24lbs / 7oz - 60%
Height: 32.5" - 90%
FOC (head): 18.5" - 75%

Also, it mayhave been called "Good Friday", but Eliza didn't seem to think so...especially when she got her latest round of shots! Daddy had to take her to KFC for her favorite mashed potatoes as a reward for being a brave, little lady.

The Adventures of Buckethead

The Adventures of Buckethead, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Somehow this crazy kid got her Easter basket on her head and run around acting like quite a character. Since she was looting the kitchen drawers, so I suspect she's more of a supervillain, rather than a defender of good.

Our little Easter bunny

my little Easter bunny, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza had a great time wearing her bunny ears this morning, and hunting around the house for eggs hidden by Mommy. The ears stayed on for a full FOUR HOURS before she remembered they were on and just had to get them off.

Prowling around for some eggs

Mark II video test, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Just a short video showing off our little egg hunter.

Eliza's Easter Egg hunt

On Saturday we went up to the cute neighborhood of Spring Valley to take part in the annual Easter egg hunt. Eliza did a pretty good, although she much rather enjoyed putting the eggs back down on the ground, rather than collecting them in her basket.

beware the Tupperware bandit

beware the Tupperware bandit, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

She loves to put on her plastic helmet and tear apart the kitchen. We would have stopped her sooner, but it's kinda fun to watch.

Go Rockets!

Go Rockets!, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

We went to cheer for the Houston rockets tonight, and *secretly* cheer for their rivals, the Portland Trailblazers. Daddy and Eliza wore matching Yao Ming jerseys and the whole family had an awesome time.

It looks like she's not interested when we took this photo, but really she's just eyeing a plate of nachos that someone was eating in the row behind us.

these two are serious about basketball

these two are serious about basketball, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

[video] trying out the slide

trying out the slide, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

about to go down the big, scary slide

about to go down the big, scary slide, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

she's up to something

she's up to something, originally uploaded by littlelostrobot.

Eliza's 2009 First Quarter Report

The first quarter of 2009 has come to a close, so here's Eliza's first quarter report. She's accomplished a lot in the first three months of the year.



Eliza's had a busy few months. After a snowy Christmas holiday, we returned to the unseasonably warm Houston weather. She started going to "It's Playtime" on a regular basis while mom and dad were busy at work. The nice ladies at the daycare have been teaching E fun stuff like using a fork, snapping her fingers and coloring.

In January, a new President was sworn-in. The photo in front of the Houston Obama mural made it into BET's inaugural coverage. Eliza seemed glad for the excuse to wear her "Obama Baby" onesie. About the same time, Eliza hitched a ride on the 39 News parade float [video] for the MLK day parade.

February was a busy month. Mommy and E went on their first "girl's trip" traveling to PDX to see family and friends. Eliza stayed at Grammy Lew's house. She enjoyed playing with Grammy's dog, Scout. While in Portland, E made it to her pal Charlotte's first birthday party and met her girl cousins Natalie and Isabella.


In March, Eliza finally took her first steps [video]. After months of toddling along the furniture, she let loose and started walking on her own. At first Eliza wasn't sure what to do with her hands, so she held onto her hair kinda like a security blanket. Next thing we knew she was running all over the place. Around the same time that she became insanely mobile, she also figured out how to open the various doors in our home. Mom and Dad launched into lockdown mode purchasing all of the baby door locks at Target - seriously. We know we helped the economy by investing in all of those expensive door locks.


She's got eight teeth right now. Four on bottom and four on top. Two new ones are coming in on either side of her top gum.


Eliza's language skills improve each day. She's up to about ten words that include (in approximate order of those spoken):
1. Dada
2. Mama
3. Uh oh
4. Bye, bye
5. Dog
6. Up
7. No
8. Down
9. Baby
10. Hi

She seems to end each sentence with either an exclamation point or question mark. When asked what a doggy says, E replies "woof". When asked what a cow says, she replies "moo". E utilizes several baby sign language skills to communicate with us. She bumps her fists together to indicate "more" and points to her mouth when she's hungry. In fact, she's pretty good at pointing at whatever it is she wants. And usually we give it to her.

One of the cutest things Eliza does right now is love her babies. She has several baby dolls. She carries them all over the place with her. She likes to squeeze them, rock them, pat them and kiss them. She also feeds them bottles, although she occasionally tries to take a sip off the toy bottles.

She's pretty sweet when it comes to giving love. She showers us with kisses and snuggles. And she's very friendly even to strangers blowing them kisses and waving hi.

On the last day of March, Eliza got a new baby brother. Her birthmother Jerrica gave birth to a little boy, and is happy to be a parent again. We know Eliza will be a loving big sister to the little guy when she meets him this summer. Jerrica and baby Der'ion are in the hospital, but doing well. We wish her family all the best wishes we have to give.

It's now April and we've got lots of adventures planned for the months ahead. Aunt Karey visits in a few weeks, then Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Rocky. After that Grammy Lew is here. Then we go on our cruise. It will be Eliza's first "international" trip using her new passport. We've already stocked up on cute swimsuits and you can be sure we'll take lots of great photos.