hanging out in the yard

the neighbors who live behind us have a little girl, Lula, who is a few months younger than Vera. They've been enjoying talking to each other this spring.

and hanging out with dad is always a good time

polka dots

vera in her polka dot raincoat and galoshes....

too cool

ok, so my family has already seen these pictures on sarah's blog, but they are so stinking cute that i needed to save them on vera's blog, and share with those of you who don't read my sister's blog!

vera, fashion goddess, and she knows it.

teeth brushing

vera brushes her teeth like a big girl.

at the park

Vera is a steward of the environment. everywhere we go, she picks up the trash off the ground and looks for the nearest trash can. it's kind of gross.

she also yells at us for leaving rooms and not turning out the lights. i feel like i'm living with my father again ;)

picture of the steward throwing out trash at the park. and then some shots playing at the park.

st pats video

a little video of vera watching one of the bands at the parade....




http://youtu.be/zWmarisKkNw

st pats parade

Vera and i went to the st pat's parade with aunt sarah last weekend. she had a great time - the bag pipes were a big hit!

backyard fun

we've been enjoying the mild winter we've been having! last weekend, fun in the backyard. and what is a picture blog if you can't make a little fun at your childrens' expense? Dad forgot to fasten Vera's onesie before putting her pants on, then mom just lazily buttoned it over her pants. so we laughed at her outfit all afternoon. now, you can laugh too. (although you can really only see how funny it looks in the first picture)

valentines day dance

i didn't post much in february...
but here's some pictures of Vera at the valentine's day dance - a kids party at the newark country club. Vera had a good time dancing with the other kids, and had her first lollipop - very sticky!

vera video

Vera recently discovered the comedy of slapstick. i took this quick video after she had spent at least 10 minutes laughing her head off at dad repeatedly pretending to hurt himself on the playground set. good times (it starts out sideways, but soon rotates to face the right direction, and phones don't make the best recording devices, but still fun in my opinion anyway)

Vera at 20 months

I haven't posted any pictures in a while, but wanted to write down and document a few things about Vera at this age. She's almost 20 months now. Her vocabulary is growing every day! Right now she is saying:

• Abby = Mommy (?)


• Abby = Daddy (???)


• Aggy = Nellie


• Aggy = Bugsy


• Uggggsyyyyyyy = Bugsy


• Aggy = dog (any dog, sometimes goats or cats or other medium sized animals are also called aggies). John Paul claims that Bugsy and Nellie are also called Abby sometimes. I disagree however and think there is a clear distinction between Abby and Aggy.


• Duh = duck


• Ow = owl


• Bippo = hippo


• Mama = Grandma


• Papa = Grandpa (not sure how Grandma and Grandpa lucked out with these names while John Paul and I both remain "Abby")


• Babeeeeeeee = Baby


• Ot = Hot


• At = Hat


• Aww-dun = all done


• Uh = up


• Uh-oh bidee = sing song for fun – sung to the notes FCGC


• Aaaaaaaahhh refruberuwubyug = Aaaaaaah refreshing


• Bye Bye = Goodbye, good night, I’ve had enough of you being here, I’ve had enough of being here


• MAH MONEY!!!!!! = who knows what this means, but she is running around saying this all the time these days, and it doesn't seem to be related to Mommy or a lost treasure.


• Eh! = Again, moon, goldfish, milk, let me up, put me down, hand me my toy, take my toy, where’s my shoes, I hate those socks. You get the idea.


• Hahahaheheheheeheeheeheehee = Daddy is the best. (another claim by John Paul, not sure I agree with it, haha)

Other words she says that if other people heard, they would probably understand her = hello, hi, ball, yeah, uh-oh. Probably some others that we can't remember right now.

She also knows the sounds of the following animals: cow, donkey, horse, monkey, cat, kitten, sheep, dog, and zombie (that counts as an animal, right? haha)

Vera loves painting, going down slides at the park, dancing, eating (OMG this girl eats alllll day long), pretending to eat (having tea parties with mom, etc), picking out her shoes for the day, feeding the dogs, loading and starting the dishwasher, carrying around Baby, playing catch/ball, reading books, and pretending to drive mom's car.

and I think all the readers of this blog are aware already, but Vera is going to be a big sister this July! here is an u/s picture from January. I wonder if I should change the blog name. I will NOT be starting a second blog, and seems like Baby #2 could get a complex if this blog name continues to be named "Vera Updates". ha

daddy-daughter pic

crate pictures

i put these on facebook a while back, so some of you may have seen it already... but vera has evicted bugsy and taken over...

daredevil

vera likes going down the tube slide head first at the park. brave little girl!

coloring

vera is a big fan of coloring these days...

christmas at grandma's

next stop of the day was grandma's. of course there was some ring around the rosie.

and sharing with cousin caroline.

and a big hug for cousin andrew.

christmas eve dress

so it looks like we didn't really take many pictures on christmas eve. but vera was wearing a pretty dress, and i wanted to at least get it documented on here. even if the picture is kinda lame...

vera's christmas eve church dress:

christmas at nana's

we visited nana's house on christmas, and vera got a new baby she was quite smitten with.

opening other presents with dad...

then headed to great-grandma's

everyone seems very interested in this empty box. i forget what was actually in it? but there are like ten people standing around looking at it, haha

miss vera is super tired, it's been a long day already...

christmas morning

how have i not posted any christmas pictures yet? bad mom!

here's Vera christmas morning at our house. her 'big' presents included an easel, kids table and chairs, and a play kitchen that her dad and i worked hard on - still painting it christmas eve. that is what parents have to do, right? work late on christmas eve putting together bikes, etc for the perfect christmas morning. i just didn't think it'd start so young... i'll put up some more pictures from later in the day soon. promise