Author: Carrie Spritzer

Say Cheese!

Earlier today I wrote about Miss Leyba’s ever expanding vocabulary and then forgot to post the video I took of her saying “cheese!”

Cheese may be the only word she says on cue.

I love how she scrunches up her nose when she says it. So adorable.

And, yes, she’s wedged herself between the bed and the wall. (We’ve since closed the gap.) That’s our little climber. Always exploring and finding bizarre places to squeeze herself into.

Enjoy.


Video: Cheese! from Carrie on Vimeo.

Our Chatterbox

This post contains a partial list of words she knows, plus a whole lot of pictures.

Miss Leyba has been learning new words every day. Check out the words that she says regularly (and uses in the correct context):

hi
bye
cheese
apple (sometimes she uses it for pear though)
pear
yum
good
yeah
sure
there (in response to “where is mommy?”)
done
up
down
again
more
thank you
book
ball
door
mama
daddy
grandma
pop-pop (her name for Grandpa)
happy (plus phrases happy girl, happy day)
sad
shoes
diaper
dog
cat
trot trot (for the song “trot trot to Boston”)
NO!
baby
pee
purple
blue
mia mia (for Mamma Mia)

She loves to pretend read “Hop on Pop” by Dr. Seuss saying the words:
hop
pop
up
pup
(If we ask her what book it is, she replies “Hop Pop!”)

Animal sounds (when asked what does this animal say?):
baa
moo
honk
bark
meow
cock (for cock-a-doodle-doo!)
quack

Plus signs for more, food, milk, potty

Yep, that’s a whole lotta words for a 16 month old. Yep, she’s a chatterbox. Yep, I still only understand about 10% of the things she says. Yep, we adore her.

Of course, as soon as she heads out into public she’s completely silent unless she meets a kid, baby or dog. Then she starts to chat it up.

Super cute.

And now some photos from this month:


The view from our street. Yep, we see this beautiful, blooming field from our bedroom window!

Sharing David’s chai over breakfast.

She loves wearing my purse. And unloading it too, of course.

We’ve been having so many play dates lately. Miss Leyba is very loving with her friends (giving them hugs and kisses) and so good at sharing her toys (and wearing her friends hats, see above).

I snapped this photo after last weeks Daddy Daughter Date. Yes, her shirt was white when she left. Yes, I received a call from David when they were out warning me (“You’re gonna kill me…”). We’re hoping the tie dye look comes back into fashion soon. We have a whole lot of blackberry bushes in front of our house. We expect a plentiful crop of purple berry juices to complement her strawberry stained shirt. Summertime fun!

Update: Miss Leyba came home covered in chocolate this week. Outings with Daddy aren’t just messy, they are FUN! (And tasty too.)

Friends, music, chickens and cats

This party was over a month ago… I’m not as behind as I thought! (HA!)

We had a bittersweet, yet lovely get together with many of David’s coworkers. We had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing these folks again soon.


She chased after these chickens for hours (literally!).








Thanks to Nancy and Dave for having us over and for most of these photos!

Meet Goose

Miss Leyba found Goose at our local independent bookstore and carried her around with us the whole time we were shopping. A few days later when we went back with friends she did the same thing, but added Goose hugs and kisses into the mix, and it was half price, so we went for it and brought Goose home.

She loves Goose.

She gives her hugs and kisses and makes David and I do the same.

She carries her around the house.

She goes “honk honk.”

Meet Goose, plus witness a whole lot of gobblety-gook and deviant super-cute behavior:

VIDEO: Meet Goose from Carrie on Vimeo.

I am hoping that Miss Leyba starts to cuddle with Goose instead of us at night… wait, what am I saying?! We love cuddling with our daughter. Get this stuffed animal out of our bedroom.

Just kidding, of course.

We think Goose is a wonderful friend for Miss Leyba.

And she hasn’t brought Goose into bed.

Yet.