Closing doors....

Elsie's new favorite game is closing doors, then opening them...and closing them...and opening them...repeat. A million times a day. Here she is, showing off her "opening and closing while standing" skills!

Cooper Family Visit

The Cooper family came to visit last weekend. I like my Kristin friend's hair A LOT! She let me touch it while Grandma Ann held me.


I led Grandma Ann on a tour of the kitchen. It was pretty fun.


Uncle G spent some time cuddling with my Isiah Kitty. He is so sweet- I hope no one adopts him!

Dinner with the Albrecht friends!

When I was little, Mama and Daddy played with the Albrechts a lot. I liked going to their house and being licked by their silly puppies. Then I forgot how to sleep for a few months, so we stayed home more and didn't get to see them very often.

Then baby Simon came along. And I kind of remembered how to sleep at night (kind of). So now we get to do lots more fun stuff during the day, like have cookouts with our friends. It's fun to have a friend who isn't only younger than me, but is smaller than me, too!


I tried to show Simon how to crawl, but he wasn't impressed (I think Abby was, though!).


Simon's daddy, Alex, held him while Daddy held me and Mama took a picture. I tried to hold Simon's hand, but he wouldn't let me. He said I would give him cooties- I think his daddy told him to say that, though.



Isn't he a cutie? I can't wait until he starts crawling and we can chase his puppies together!

11 months old!

Elsie now weighs 16lbs, 12oz (4%) and stretches to 27.5 inches (12%). That means she hasn't done a lot of growing this month, and her percentiles have dropped a little. We aren't worried, though- what she lacks in growth, she more than made up for in development this month. She is moving- crawling, walking, dancing, scooting- ALL THE TIME- no wonder she can't put on much weight! We expect another growth spurt soon, as most children usually have one around 12 months.

Elsie has added FOUR teeth to the count since last month, making the grand total seven. Sleep has been a little sketchy these last few weeks, and we are hoping the teeth are to blame and things will go back to normal soon.

Communication

Signs Elsie does: milk, good-bye and hello (waving), no (shaking head), all done (she "high 5's now, too, but that's not really a sign)
Signs and words Elsie recognizes: more, kitty, duck, bird, cow, horse, diaper change, poop, food, water

Elsie loves to take baths, but her bathing has recently become rather hazardous since she insists on trying to stand in the tub. Yesterday the bath went something like this:

Elsie tries to stand.
I say "No, Elsie, we sit in the tub!"
Elsie shakes her head, sits down, grins at me, then immediately tries to stand again.

After about the tenth rendition of this act, I once again said, "No, Elsie, it's slippery and dangerous- we sit in the tub! No standing!" Elsie looked at me, grinned mischievously, and very clearly said "YES!". Communication? I truly don't think she knew what she was saying, but she started to giggle very loudly afterwards, so I do wonder. She may just have a better grasp of humor (and language!) than we previously thought :)

Activities

Elsie is becoming a good kitty petter...she (usually) pets them gently instead of grabbing fur like she used to. This makes the cats very happy- Pongo in particular is usually content to let himself be petted for a few minutes before he makes his escape. Speaking of escapes, Elsie is improving her chasing skills and has mastered the art of "cornering" the cats in order to maximize her petting time. What a smarty!

Watch Elsie Grow!
Comparison Photos:

One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months


Five Months


Six Months


Seven Months


Eight Months


Nine Months


Ten Months


Eleven Months

Eating the Rainbow

Now that Elsie is eating so much big-person food, I've been struggling with how to make sure she is getting a balanced diet. After a few months, I've gone back to a diet I used in college (and by "diet" I mean "system of eating" not "restrictive meal plan"). Called the "Rainbow Diet," it basically means that we try to eat every color of the rainbow at every meal (or at least every day). Strangely, this works because foods of similar colors tend to have the same unique chemical/vitamin composition. Easy enough, right? For instance, today Elsie's lunch consisted of this:



Red (strawberries and red peppers)
Orange (-)
Yellow (pineapple and pear)
Green (asparagus and green pepper)
Blue/Purple (-)
White/Brown (potatoes and grilled chicken)

We missed two colors at this meal, but had them for breakfast [blueberries (blue/purple) and clementines (orange)]. Not bad! And it's easier for me to remember what colors we missed, thus what I need to serve at the next meal, than to remember (for instance) that Elsie still needs more vitamin C and antioxidants for the day. Most importantly, Elsie is gaining weight like a champ, is learning to love a variety of foods of various flavors and textures, and is learning that mealtime is fun!

Playing at Papa Todd's

On Mother's day, Mama, Daddy, Auntie Manda, Campbell and I went to Papa Todd's to play with him and Grandma Julie. They had lots of great toys! Papa helped Campbell and me play with the dollhouse my great uncle Kim gave me.



Daddy helped me ride on all the big fuzzy animals. I wasn't sure about the dinosaur, but I loved the big froggy. It was so much fun!




And even though it was Mama's first Mother's Day, it appears that we only took pictures of me with Daddy. Whoops.

Playing with Grandma RJ and cousin Campbell

This is my cousin Campbell. He is only six months old, but he weights more than me. That was a problem when we took this picture, because he kept leaning and trying to push me off the chair. I'm taller, though, so it evened out alright.

I spent a long weekend with him, playing and drooling and teaching him the ropes about sitting, teething, and other big kid stuff. I can't wait until he is bigger and we can cause all kinds of mischief together.


On Saturday, I wouldn't go to sleep so my David friend held me and we chilled out on the couch. He taught me all about football. It looks kind of dangerous! I wonder if Campbell wears that cool helmet because he is a football player? I'll have to ask him the next time I see him.

On Sunday morning, I got up early with Mama and we snuggled with Grandma RJ, Campbell, and Auntie Manda on the bed. Campbell even let me borrow his frog baby, Ribbit. What a great way to wake up!

Ten-month randomness

Maracas and egg shakers- Elsie's favorite toys!


At the zoo with Elsie's friend, Dexter, who loves to push things (even when he is being carried).


"Yes, I WAS just playing with the winter hats in my hat basket! How did you know?"


Wonderful table manners- peas on her shirt and a cheerio on her head :)


Elsie's new favorite game: water sensory time on the porch.

When the weather gets hot and steamy...

...Elsie's hair gets really curly, just like her mom's!

More arboretum pics!

These were taken by my good photographer friend Lea, so enjoy but please don't steal copies :)

Springtime in the Arboretum