Leaning to the right...

When Elizabeth sits in the chair that her cousin Connor passed down to her every night for dinner, she tends to lean to the right. Grandpa Dave tries to straighten her up, but Daddy liks to leave her that way in hopes that she's actually displaying her political preference for social and financial conservatism. (We love him anyway!)

Good friends...

My mama and daddy are blessed with good friends and I've had the chance to meet some of them recently. Marly and Daddy grew up together and have been good friends for a long time. Hong and Daddy met while they were getting their MBAs - which mama and Lan both say does NOT stand for 'Married But Available'! Evidently that is a common phrase in China where Hong, Lan and their son Alex live. Good thing we're Hoosiers!

Kids these days...

We've heard elder folk say, 'it seems like kids are born knowing how to use computers nowadays'... Well, Elizabeth is proving that to be true! Since she loves anything shiny or bright, the laptop screen is just too much fun. Besides that, we've been experimenting with our webcam to send and stream videos to our family and friends far and wide, so she thinks the computer is all about her! She did sit and type her first letter in Word the other day and managed to open functions and menus that we didn't know existed. Guess she's pretty tech-savvy after all...

Sorry we've been away...

Hi there! Just a note to apologize for the delay in updating our blog! Much is going on here in Indy with busy times at work, the house back on the market and time with family and friends. But thanks for continuing to check up on us... all is well, just crazy busy!

Love lots,
The Downings

Fondue Fun

We enjoyed spending Valentine's Day night with our good friends, the Schwingendorfs, making a fondue dinner. Elizabeth and her good friends Sadie (12 months) and Piper (5 weeks) got to play while their moms and daddys hung out. Are they cute or what?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Elizabeth celebrated her first Valentine's Day with a party at her 'school'. Moms and Dads came and we all had treats and exchanged Valentines. Libby made a Valentines decoration by feeling all different textures - flower petals, fuzzy balls, paper - and putting them inside a heart. Our first craft for the refrigerator door. :) We hope you have a very happy heart day, too!

World-Traveler-To-Be...

Since she's a part of our family, it is probably not surprising to anyone that we got Elizabeth a passport at 3 months old. The application process at the post office was quite an ordeal - 2.5 hours worth - and the woman took her picture about 17 times before she got one that she was happy with (not due to lack of cuteness, of course!). But the documents arrived less than two weeks later, so we assume her background check came out clean... :) So needless to say, she's adorable and an even more fully-initiated member of the family of the traveling Downings!

PS - GreatGrandma Mary - we selected this picture for you... :)

First Day of Day Care!!!

Today was Elizabeth's first day of day care or the "Lilly School" as we're calling it. Though she is only going to attend part time, they really rolled out the red carpet for her. She is one of 6 kids in her room. The whole facility is based on an airplane theme which Jarod is quite fond of! Its right down the road from AnnCatherine's office, so its easy to just walk over and see her. We feel very lucky to have her in such good care... she certainly had a wonderful first day. It appears, however, that napping is going to be a bit of a struggle with all that activity going on. Libby doesn't want to miss anything!

White shoulders...

We have discovered the new fashion accessory of parenting... white shoulders! Even though Elizabeth isn't really a spitter or a drooler, she has become expert in blowing bubbles (thanks, Grandma Ruth!). But intentionally or not, it seems a great percentage of the adult clothes in our house now have little white dots, stripes or blobs on the shoulders. We're choosing to wear them as a badge of honor of our new roles as parents and Grandparents. Until the next load of laundry, of course! :)

The wonderful four-legged girl...

Many people have asked me, "So how is Roamy doing with the baby?". This was a real unknown - it had been just the three of us in the house for the last 7 years and I wasn't sure how Roamy would do. Well - I should never have doubted. After about a month adjustment period when she wasn't quite sure what a baby was, she has become the perfect monitor, consoler and protector. The picture is a pretty accurate summary - in Roamy's eyes, our family has just expanded by two more legs and now we all spend a lot more time on the floor! Every morning Roamy has to sniff Elizabeth and lick the top of her head. (While some may freak at this, I subscribe to the school of thought that no one ever died from a puppy kiss!) If Elizabeth cries, Roamy will run to get someone or will try to give her a kiss of comfort. And bathtime is truly hilarious! When we put Elizabeth in her little tub, Roamy just sits with her head on the big bathtub with this look of sheer sympathy like 'I'm so sorry - they make me do it, too!'. Thankfully Elizabeth enjoys bathtime significantly more than Roamy... But how lucky can you get? Not only do we have one perfect two-legged baby, we have one wonderful four-legged one, too.