The Topliff house (and most of our neighbors) were alive with peals of delight this morning, when Hazy’s dry diaper led to a first successful potty-training attempt. Mommy screamed, Daddy clapped and snapped pictures, Grace asked us to keep it down, Lincoln ignored us and Hazel looked into the toilet with the wisdom of a 21-and-a-half month-old and declared, “Agua!”.
Can I get a Hallelujah?! Can I hear an Amen!? I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a miracle but after months of saying “mommy”, “dada” and even something meant to mean “Lincoln”, Hazy finally gave her big sister a shout out. “Grace” or “race” has quickly moved up through her Top 40 words (does she even have 40?) to settle in near “wuvey” and “doggie” at the top of the list.
When Auntie Julie is in charge, everyone gets to wear something fun. Even Grammie and Papa got into the game, though Papa-sized tutus are clearly hard to find. Crowns, glasses, frills and smiles were everywhere to help Julie turn 29 again.
It is all too rare for all the cousins to be in the same place, at the same time AND be willing to stand still for a photo. This one happened a couple months ago when the Hannemanns ventured north into Topliff territory. Cousin Ryan stayed with us and the girls were in cousin-heaven. Next month we will go south and let the girls get their family fill as Mommy and Daddy head to Palm Springs to enjoy the reunion by text and email.
I’ve been so busy with work and travel that I just checked the blog and realized how many things I have neglected to post. Now I know that I have no right to deprive those of you who love keeping up with us of these things. I am working on some ways to make it happen. In the meantime, I will be posting a series of pictures and videos that have happened since my last post almost 4 weeks ago.
First up is this one that I thought was lost in an iPhone crash. It miraculously reappeared with just a little glitch at the end that self-edited Linus’s gentle request that Hazel stop using him as a chair. This is probably for the best as it looked more traumatizing than it was. Hazel continued chasing him around the house declaring his doggie-ness for the rest of Nana and Poppy’s visit.
doggie! from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
In a world where Grace’s secrets are usually something along the lines of “fairy car headband” followed by a bunch of giggles and her best jokes include “You are a daddy goof” followed by similar giggles, it is nice to hear her enjoy a joke that is a bit more audience-friendly.
If my nephews are any gauge, the second step in the humor evolution is the Knock Knock joke, followed by the puns and the riddles (and eventually Poppy’s favorite—the dirty limerick!). Though a random series of words still gets her giggling, she has started to bust out a solid Knock Knock from time to time. Here are her two current favorites from this morning followed by an outtake containing inevitable hybrid joke made of part Knock Knock and part word mish-mash that indicate the end of her set. Daddy now has to find 3-year-old friendly material to keep her act fresh and the laughs rolling in.
Hatch:
Knock Knock 1 from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
Ice Cream:
Knock Knock 2 from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
Outtake:
Knock Knock 3 from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
We just received the incredibly sad news that our friend Rebecca Dale passed away this morning. We were incredibly fortunate to have been able to spend a few minutes with her on Wednesday and she still wore the smile that I can’t help consider her signature look. Though she is not wearing that smile in this picture from our Wedding (her husband Andy is clearly saying something grave and inappropriate for the festive occasion), she still has that loving sparkle that we loved so much (see more below). Rebecca’s battle with cancer was over several years and she faced each new challenge with courage and humor that seems almost unfathomable to me. Fortunately, there were a lot of good years in that time. We will miss her everyday. If there is a place to perch and watch us all, Rebecca will have a front row seat to watch her children, Andy and all the rest of her family and friends with that smile on her face.
We love you!
NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS HARD TO WATCH (if you didn’t already get that from the headline of the post)
You are going to watch two little girls who would like to be anywhere but the wet crappy place that their parents made them go to. First Grace gets poked in the head as she struggles for the side of the pool. Then our littlest baby clings to the side SCREAMING…until her little fingers give out and she falls into the water. Eventually the bad man making them do this pushes her into the wall and she pulls herself out…heart-wrenching.
BEFORE:
100 0102 from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
I didn’t know it would be exactly like this to start swimming lessons, but I suspected it would not be fun. That is why I embraced our 5pm start time as something I would be unlikely to make. Sadly (for me) the time changed to 5:45 and my excuse was left gasping for air.
You will be happy to learn that I survived. I might have spent some time out of earshot and I might not have been able to actually watch all of it. But I made it to the end where Grace was BEGGING to go back to the pool and Hazy could tolerate it. Even Jenn joined in and proved to be a better in-pool swim parent than I did. Girls win!
AFTER:
MVI 3390 from Brad Topliff on Vimeo.
When Auntie Julie comes over we are guaranteed a lot of new pictures for the blog…
A pediatric update to Hazel’s first year and a half…
First, the official medical opinion is that Hazel is adorable! We don’t need a doctor to tell us that (and we won’t be seeking a second opinion).
Second, Hazel is a BIG baby. She tops the charts at 100th percentile in height and 95th percentile in weight. That is 28.8 lbs of back breaking cuteness.
Finally, the pacifier has been outlawed as a prime cause of wordlessness. Sadly, it is also our prime remedy for screaminess but we will survive, even if the crystal doesn’t.
