Check one

Rather than going in to rambling detail regarding my obvious lack of blog posting I'm going to skip ahead to what's going on now.

Leia is now a year and five months old. Within the last two or three weeks she learned to say no. With that simple word she has realized that she can disagree with anything we ask of her.At first it was a poorly enunciated "nuh", but now she's got the pronunciation down and even does a sassy head turn when she's shutting you down. Ask her "Leia, may I have a hug" and you'll more likely than not get a "No" response as she turns away from you.

Almost overnight I've been left wondering where this sassy toddler came from. I think she likes to say no just to see how we will react. Maybe her 13 year old sister has something to do with it, because she sure enjoys talking back. I can only imagine what it will be like when she decides to ask "Why?" She's recently started saying "uh oh" too.

She's very observant which is pretty neat to watch. I'll be doing something and assume that she's not paying attention at all, but when I'm done she'll be over trying to do the exact same thing. She loves to unscrew or open bottles and containers. Also, all buttons must be pressed. It doesn't matter what the buttons do or what they're attached to, if they can be pressed they will be pressed. Also, she loves her shoes. I'm told this should not be a surprise, but I'll save that discussion for later.

I haven't been taking as many photos of Leia as I used to. She's always on the move which makes it hard to get good pictures. I'm looking forward to when she realizes that the camera takes pictures that are fun to look at. Maybe then she will stand still and smile for me. Speaking of pictures, she loves to sit on Tamara's lap and look at Flickr. Tamara pulls up pictures of dogs, other animals, and kids and Leia happily chatters away about what's on the screen.

We're getting ready to head to Arkansas for our annual summer visit with Tamara's family. From Herndon to Hardy, AR is right around 1000 miles so we make it a two day drive. I booked a room at a hotel in Cookeville, TN this year which is a change from years past. We're leaving on Sunday and should be in Hardy by Monday evening at the latest. We used to drive until it was dark and we were tired and then look for a place to stay. Last year that didn't work so well as we had to go to four or five hotels before we found one with an available room. My Dad and Vicki are flying out to visit with us so that should be fun.