Ned loves car rides. She always wants to be on the go and enjoys the 'getting there' as much as the destination. She is a detail-loving little creature by nature, and nowhere is it more evident than rides in the car. First, if the passenger side seat is unoccupied, Ned always asks, "Put seat down?" so that she can have a full view out the windshield as she travels along. Along the way, I can always count on the identification of several things:
Dogs. Much to Nedy's pleasure, we live in an area of prolific dog walking. She loves calling out the dogs, how big they are, describing their people, etc. For instance, "Mama! Yady walk TWO dogs. One yitto, one big! Yady red shirt...sungasses! See it?!?" or "Mens (men always has an 's' on the end) walking dog! Two mens, one dog...brown! Mens yaughing. See it?!"
Buses. Nedy loves her some buses. And she doesn't stop with just identifying them as 'buses'. Rather, it's 'CITY BUS!' or 'SCHOOL BUS!' or 'SHORT SCHOOL BUS!' yelled out (with tremendous excitement, mind you) as she spots them in all directions. ("SCHOOL BUS!!! Mama! Over der! See it?!?") The kid never misses a bus. And she sees them from such a distance that I often wonder if she has some sort of built-in bus radar. She even told me, "Mama, baby oh-der...bus work. Okay?" Apparently she intends to ride the bus to work someday. Good for her, my little green gal. Hmmm...or maybe she intends to be a bus driver? I should clarify that one...
Overpasses. There are distinctions in overpasses, you know. When we're on the freeway, Ned always points out the overpasses as we approach. "Der 'nother one! Overpass!" But when we approach a metal overpass, she always yells out, "Twain overpass!" And the ones with screening on them? "Pestwian (pedestrian) overpass!"
Race cars. Nedy knows a 'race car' when she sees one. I'm not sure where she got this from, but all VW beetles are 'race cars'. Like buses, she can spot a VW beetle from a mile away and yells out "RACE CAR!" every time with such enthusiasm you'd swear she was seeing a Ferrari. When I asked her why she calls them race cars, she looked at me like I was a complete fool and said, "'Cuz race cars. Willy fasssst." So, there you have it.
Cows and goats. On our way to Nana and Papa's, we drive through an area of farm land. Ned is always on the lookout for horses, cows and goats. In particular, there are two spots that she always remembers to check as we drive past: the dairy farm and the hobby farmers with a goat pen. She tries to predict in advance what the livestock status is on a given day, such as, "Hmmmm... cows...ONE cow 'tside...eat bweakfast!" meaning she predicts there will be one cow at the feeding area that morning. With the goats, it's usually a prediction on their indoor/outdoor status: "Hmmmm...goats...t'day...yitto house." meaning she predicts we won't see them because they'll be inside their little goat shed. Sometimes the goats stand on top of these huge spool-looking things in their pen. Ned tries to warn them about the risky nature of their behavior with something like, "Goats! Get down...tabe-oh! Danger, danger!", complete with waggling finger.
Winkie's. Winkie's is a most adorable 'dime store' type shop in Whitefish Bay, about a 3 minute drive from our house along the lake. Ned thinks the sun rises and sets at Winkie's and she's always up for a gander through their lower level toyland. Funny thing is that Ned is very good with landmarks and when we get close to Winkie's--from any direction--she'll call out "WINKIE'S!", even before she sees the actual store. (And we have this little thing we call "Winkie's hands" which means "fold your hands in front of you"--as in, resist the temptation to touch--that is applicable anywhere we are with lots of breakables.)
Who knew seemingly routine car trips could be such fun?
On this particular day, she informed me in the morning that she wanted to wear "short pants"-- Ned-speak for shorts. I told her I thought it was a tad too chilly for short pants, to which she thoughtfully replied, "Hmmm... Oh, I know! Baby wear short pants and loooong socks!" 
Ned is well trained. Her camera found its way out of her backpack within minutes of our arrival.
Needless to say given the expressions on her face, Ned is smitten. She announced that she will call her baby cousin 'Viv'. (Look at the scrunched nose face--seen only every so often, it's a sure sign of pure joy.)
Listening to Nana talk about Viv. Babies are very exciting creatures.
"Itty bitty fingers...itty bitty thumb," says Ned.
Soft spots are fascinating. We even had to talk about "spot on head" on our drive home.
Viv needs some itty bitty socks on her itty bitty feet!
There is nothing more entertaining than hospital room drapes. Nothing.
For real, is this not the cutest family-at-the-hospital shot in the world?!?!
