July-August 2005

I ate picnic lunches and dinners [left], and I played with balls and the playground equipment. I like the swings, but my favorite toy is the slide. Sometimes I need help to climb the steps to the top, but I can sit down and slide down all by myself [right].  

Eighteen Months, July

This month was the first time that I learned both a Dutch word and an English word for the same concept: outside/buiten. That's because I love being outside. Now I can kick a ball, climb a slide, pour sand or water into cups, splash in my pool, and chase bubbles. 

I like to climb. Mommy and Papa aren't so thrilled about it, especially when I try to climb the kitchen chairs to get onto the table. But I'm not afraid of being up high. In fact, I'm not afraid of much of anything. 

I discovered cherries. Mommy takes the pits out for me, and they're lekker. My favorite meal is pancakes and bacon. I also love pizza, toast, and waffles—I'm a real carbo girl.

I  learned many more words this month. I learned the words for zebra, giraffe ("de-fass"), butterfly, koala, mouse/muis, and bear/beer. I can say shake, kick, sit, window, bubble, truck, moon, train/trein, boat/boot, and coffee/koffie. I learned the Dutch words kop, ananas, hoed, and lamp. I call a telephone an "allo," and when I hurt I say "ow." My word for milk is "mup." I learned the signs for please, cold, all gone, no touch, and I love you. I also say please and thank you, occasionally without even being told.

I also learned the names for some people, including my friend Jo-Jo, Grandma ("Rama"), and Cameron ("Nama"). Best of all, I can say my own name! I call myself "So-fi-SAH!"  

Trip to the Okanogan, August

From August 7th to 13th, I camped with Papa, Mommy, and Cameron in the Chateau op Wielen. 

The actual traveling was my least favorite part, but Mommy or Cameron sat next to me and read to me or entertained me with toys. We stopped for a picnic lunch, and we strolled the boardwalks of Winthrop The first night we spent at the Klipchuck campsite in the Okanogan National Forest just outside Winthrop. 

The next day we arrived at our destination, the Oro Beach Resort on Lake Osoyoos in Eastern Washington, along the Washington/Canadian border. 

I liked the resort. The weather was warm and sunny, the RV was parked just a few hundred feet from the water, the beach was sandy, and the water was warm. The first time I saw it, I wanted to walk right in!

When we played at the beach, I had my own "personal watercraft" to float in [below]. Cameron floated on his inner tube and played bumper boats with me, and Papa pushed me around in the water. Papa also brought a rubber three-man boat to row in, but Mommy was really nervous when I was in it. 

For breakfast we had pancakes and waffles (those are my favorites). For lunches and dinners I ate toast, cheese, grapes, and various baby foods. I don't know what the others ate, but it didn't look very good to me. 

I still had to take my two naps a day. I didn't like thinking that I was missing anything, so I protested a lot. But all that sun and fresh air made me tired, so I suppose I needed a rest. At night, while I fell asleep in my playpen (Papa took the table down and put my bed in its place), Cameron would crawl into his space above the driver's seat, and Mommy and Papa would retreat into their bedroom, and everyone would be super quiet. They couldn't sit outside and stay up late because there wasn't any fire pit or light to read. 

On the way home we stopped for picnic lunches and short walks. We stayed at the Tumwater campground in the Wenatchee National Forest near Leavenworth, where I played in the ice-cold river the last morning.  

"Peep-peeps," August

I visited the zoo a lot this summer, thanks to Mommy and Papa's annual zoo pass. One time I went with Papa, Cameron, and Joseph with his mom and grandmother (Mommy was at work). That day we saw bears and otters, elk, zebras, giraffes, hippos, and even a kookaburra. (They laugh, "Ha-ha-haaa.")