A tea party with Dexter!

Last week my pal Dexter came over to play. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to invite him onto the deck for my first Garden Tea Party. We got out all my "food" from my play kitchen, then sat down to "tea" at my picnic table from David. Dexter even indulged me by wearing one of my fancy sun hats (proper tea party attire, though Mama told him he had to wear it so he didn't get sunburned). After the party, Dexter played in the sandbox while I cleaned up and swept off the deck, then we ran around the yard collecting leaves in my watering can. I am so lucky to have such a nice place to host tea parties, and such great friends to play with!

My first painting

I was channeling Paul Jackson Pollock while I painted...I'm pretty sure he used his fingers instead of a brush for most of his work, too!

Little Miss Independant

I'm not scared of much. Yesterday Mama took me to the park, and while I was on top of one of the playground towers I noticed a bunch of college boys playing flag football in the field next to the park. I scooted down the tower and ran onto the field to join the game. Unfortunately, Mama was right behind me and scooped me up. She said I was too little to play with the big boys...I think she was just worried I would embarrass them with my mad ball skills. To demonstrate my independence, Mama took this video of me playing at the same park later that day. Watch me climb, then scoot right pass Mama on my way up the ramp to the slide!

Always Have an Exit Strategy (and Other Life Lessons)

A post from Josie:

When I was little, I went through a phase where I loved those "Disaster" books. You know the ones..."How to Survive a Plane Crash and 100 other emergencies", "How to Survive Anytime, Anywhere", etc. My family used to tease me because I was always carrying around a huge backpack, and would have the most random things with me when they were needed (toothpick, fingernail clippers, sewing kit, scotch tape).

Unfortunately, I never read a section about "How To Survive a Bouncy House Deflation". I was wholly unprepared today when the bouncy house a friend and I and our two bambinos were in collapsed on us. Luckily, mothering instinct kicked in, and I was able to find the door and scoot the babes out to safety while my (very tall!) friend tried in vain to hold up the ceiling. Let me tell you from experience, those houses collapse in a matter of seconds (literally about three seconds before we were completely trapped and on the ground), and they are really oppressively heavy when they do collapse! Everything worked out fine, though, since we were the only ones in the house and all got out safely. I am so thankful that we were in there with the kids, and didn't let them jump by themselves. I am also glad that it was a quiet day at the center, and the house wasn't filled with five or six kids like it usually is.

Now before you start making jokes about us Mamas being too large for the bounce house (it's rated to 600 lbs, which I assure you we did not exceed!) I will let you know that after a brief investigation, the staff worker determined that the fan's hose had not been attached properly to the house that morning and we were not to blame for the accident. She assured us that another collapse was not imminent; nevertheless, we stuck with basketball and balloon-throwing games for the rest of our time at the sports complex.

And for all you people who teased me as a child, I feel the need to tell you that I have never been happier to know that the key chain in my pocket had a freshly sharpened Swiss army knife on it, just in case we hadn't been able to find the door and we needed an emergency exit. :)

Columbus Day Celebration?

Not in our house. I would sooner celebrate Hitler Day- at least we are (mostly) honest about his character and intentions.

Toys, toys everywhere!

Now that I am a big kid, I find toys EVERYWHERE! Mama and Daddy are pretty confused most of the time, looking all over the house for their things that I deemed "toy" and moved elsewhere. One of my favorite things to do is stack. I can stack lots of things...recently I discovered that the cans in the kitchen cupboard stack even better than my blocks!


Sometimes when I am playing outside, my Isiah friend sneaks out to play with me. I am always sure to give him a big hug when I help Mama round him up and bring him back inside the house.


Our neighbor kid outgrew this cool wheelbarrow, so I've been spending a lot of time wheeling my toys around the deck.


And if all those toys weren't enough, Daddy ordered this cool Gentle Giraffe for me when he bought our camera online. He has four buttons on his back, and I can press them to make him play dancing music, insect noises, waterfall noises, or a heartbeat sound. I love playing with him! I carry him wherever I go, and like to sleep with him, too. Mama and daddy laugh when I fall asleep to the dancing music instead of the rain sounds.

Eplegaarden, year 2!

It's October again, and that means that it is time for the family to take our annual trip to the orchard with the Albrechts. The big change was that this year we took Baby Simon with us! How fun!



I showed him how to eat apples like a big kid, and then I shared my milk with him.




We rode on our daddys' shoulders.



Mama wanted me to take a picture in front of the "How tall this fall" sign like we did last year. I wasn't interested, though, so Daddy had to stand with me (here's the pic from last year, too!).




I got to look at goats and horses.





We even walked through the pumpkin patch and picked out a pumpkin for my first jack-o-lantern.




What a great day! Can't wait for my first taste of Mama's apple pie tomorrow at Uncle G's!

Elsie blows me away!

Once Elsie started talking, I feel as if every day brings something new. Today we were at the park and Elsie was climbing a tall staircase to get to the slide. About halfway up, she turned to look at me and said "Stairs, stairs, stairs...the SLIDE!"

Two new words in one sentence! What a big kid!

Tomatoes!

One of the highlights of my days is taking a trek through the garden to check for ripe tomatoes and raspberries. I like to eat them right off the vine- yum! Mama and I are really lucky- we find a handful or two every day. Sometimes I try to eat the green ones, thought, and they don't taste very good.



Here are some pictures Mama took of me tomato hunting. After every good tomato hunt it's nice to take a stroll down the block, so Mama took a few pictures of us doing that, too.

Nico and me at the zoo!

I really like my Nico friend. He is older than me, and always has new words and fun new tricks to teach me when we get together. Plus, he speaks Spanish, which I like to hear! Last week we went to the zoo together and had a great time. Mama still didn't have a camera, so Nico's Mama sent us some pictures she took to share on our blog (thanks, Katy!). The animals were really fun to watch, but Nico and my favorite part of the day was playing peek-a-boo around the zoo sign!

Sliding!

I love to play on my slide on the porch...I am so proud of the way I can climb up by myself that I like to clap every time I reach the top!

Playing my flute!

A few months ago (Christmas, maybe?) Papa Todd brought me a wooden flute. I played with it for awhile, but I could never quite figure out what it was for, and I soon forgot about it. Well, I found it again a few weeks ago, and discovered that when I blow into it, it makes noise! Why didn't anyone tell me that when I first got the flute? Anyway, here's a video of me making some beautiful music!

15 months old!

(Elsie at 15 months, showing off her mittens- she was VERY proud of them!)

This post is a little delayed since we just had Elsie's 15-month check-up this morning, but it was worth the wait- lots of good news!

Elsie only weighs 18lbs, 8oz (2%) but don't worry, her doc says she is really healthy. She has been very busy growing a lot taller, though- she stretches to over 30.5 inches (51%!!!!). Way to break the 50% mark, Elsie! I theorize that she is trying to hurry up and get tall like her "big kid" neighbor friends, Lucy and June.

She is officially in size 12-18 month clothes and wears size 3.5 shoes. Dr. Lo made a point of telling me that he was very impressed with the number of words she says and understands, especially because she comprehends and uses both verbal language and sign language. Apparently her verbal skills are in the 18-24 month range! He was also very surprised when she walked over to the cupboard and opened up the drawers and doors- apparently, the majority of 2-year-olds aren't able to do that yet. Who knew we had such a little genius on our hands? (And yes, I am bragging shamelessly. That's what blogs are for, right?)

Communication

Signs Elsie does: milk, good-bye and hello, more, bath, sorry, please, all done, poop, food

Words Elsie says: Daddy (Dada), Mama, kitty, Grandma (Gamma), no, yes, shoe

Activities

Elsie likes to stay busy. Her favorite things to do are swing, go down (and up) her slide, read books, and play with her shoes/socks/clothes. She loves "pretend" play, and spends a lot of time playing with her doll house and feeding/dressing/changing the diapers on her stuffed animals. She has been known to throw tantrums if we walk by a playground and she doesn't get to try out the swings...

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


Twelve Months


Thirteen Months


Fifteen Months

Elsie kissing her Campbell cousin

Campbell visited Elsie a few weeks ago, and she loved having a baby to play with! We hope he can come back to visit again soon.

My new furniture!

My David friend won a table and chairs for me this summer, and I LOVE them! It is so much fun to sit up to a table like a big kid. I like to climb on them, push them around the porch, and rearrange them before I sit down to eat my snacks- I even put them in the pool this summer and had my snack "on the water" so to speak. I especially like to "wash" them with a towel, making sure they are nice and clean! Here's a short video of me at my table while Auntie Manda, Uncle Matt, and Daddy all enjoy dinner at their table!

Keva Sports Center- photo post!

Today Mama and I went to the Keva Sports Center for Free Play time. We met up with a bunch of my friends, and I made some new friends, too!



I bounced on a trampoline, played with a tennis racket and hula hoops, chased after tons of balls, bounced balloons in the air, and even got to bounce in a bouncy house (I'm not sure if I liked it or not)!



I also played basketball for the first time, but Mama had to lift me up to make baskets. I think I prefer to just chase after the rolling balls.



The best part of the center was that I got to practice running sprints on a real soccer field. Uncle G, watch out...I'm going to be ready to play with you really soon!

(A special thanks to the Murrays, who lent us their flip video camera, and the Albrechts, who loaned us their extra camera!).

Elsie's first sentence!

For anyone who has spent time around Elsie, this shouldn't come as a surprise, given her resistance to all things diaper-change related.

Yesterday after Elsie's bath I carried her into her room with the intention of dressing her in a diaper and pajamas before dinner. I made the fatal mistake of announcing this ("Elsie, let's put on a diaper!"). She took one look at me, clearly said, "No, Mama!", and ran her naked little self out of the nursery and into the kitchen (where I can only assume she thought she would seek her father's protection from my evil diapering plan). So it begins. :)

Wait, how old is Elsie?

This morning I left Elsie in the front hall drinking milk from her sippy cup while I ran into the bedroom to grab something. When I came back, there was a large puddle of milk on the front bench, and Elsie was nowhere to be seen. A few seconds later, Elsie came running back from the kitchen with a dishcloth, which she promptly began to use to mop up the milk.

I'm pretty sure she is only 14 months old, but sometimes I wonder....

A photo-less post

Since our recent break-in we haven't had a a camera to take any pictures, but I thought you might enjoy some stories about the things Elsie is doing these days:

-While reading stories before bedtime with Grandma RJ, Elsie decided she needed some milk and signed as much. Grandma RJ knew I wasn't quite ready to nurse her yet, so she tried to delay her with distraction. Elsie decided that Grandma just wasn't getting it, so she grabbed Grandma's hands and made Grandma RJ sign "milk", too, just to make sure she was getting her point across!
-While I grind the morning coffee, Elsie has learned to cover her ears ("earmuffs"). While visiting the new coffee cart at Andy's office, she heard the barista grinding beans, and promptly did "earmuffs" from across the room.
-Our two fall crops, raspberries and tomatoes, are ripening with great regularity. Every morning Elsie wants to go the raspberry bushes to partake, and every evening she runs to the garden to check for cherry and grape tomatoes. She will happily eat five or six tomatoes in a sitting, if given the chance!
-Elsie is becoming more and more interested in imaginative play. Her dollhouse is a favorite toy of the moment, and she regularly has "tea parties" with her stuffed animals, feeding them all an assortment of Wholey-O's and fake food, and giving them sips from her sippy cup. She is also becoming very interested in dressing and undressing her animals.