This is a picture of Elizabeth doing her latest trick...and let me be clear, this was not an isolated incident. She's doing it every four seconds. I realize that by making her sit there and say "Cheese!" for me that I am just reinforcing the bad behavior...but she's so damn cute. I had to take my chances. She has figured out how to climb up and sit on the dining room chairs, and because that isn't enough, she then climbs up on the table. No amount of "No!" from me, or taking her down, or holding on to the chair so she can't move it in the first place deters this child from moving on and trying to find a new way to accomplish her goal. Determination and fire. That's what this little girl is made of. The fun part was when I discovered that when you move the chairs a couple of feet away from the table, she can get on the chair, but not on the table...and she can't get off the chair! So she's stuck. And then it gets really funny, because she just starts yelling, "Hep! Tuck!" (Translation: "Help! Stuck!") She is talking more and more, and it's definitely one of the coolest stages...you spend the first year learning about each other through basically non-verbal communication (minus the crying) and then, all of a sudden, we are repaid when some of the guesswork is removed and these little beans begin to tell us what they need, want and even what they are thinking about. It is so amazing, and such a reward for all of our hard work. Hard work in the form of...

Next post. Buckle up. The truth about motherhood is about to be revealed. And even those of you who HAVE children already will be ready to give them back when I tell you how I spent my day yesterday.