Reading (and chewing on) books

With all the cold weather and blizzard activity outside, Elsie has been enjoying reading in her sunny nursery more than ever.



She especially likes her Christmas present books (thanks, Uncles Matt and Adam, and Aunts Manda and Ellen), though sometimes she spends more time trying to open them and chew on them than she spends actually reading them.



Elmo's googly eyes and his ability to move his arms (he's a puppet book) confounds Elsie daily. The teething pretzel that came with E and A's book is really getting a workout, though I am concerned that the copious amounts of drool that the pretzel chewing produces will seriously decrease the lifespan of the book...

Bouncing!

Elsie now likes to jump a bit- especially when mom or dad jump with her! 

Thursday play date!

Some pictures of my playdate with Noah, Adah, and Henry!

Playing in the snow with Mama!

On Monday a snowstorm came to town, so Mama and I went for a walk, then played in the backyard. I LOVE snow, especially when it is still falling and I can watch the flakes drop.



After practicing sitting in a big kid chair and doing some tummy time in the snow, Mama had a new project for me.



It was time to learn how to make snow angels! I am a natural, and Mama only had to show me once before I was flapping my arms and legs on my own. Scroll down fast to see me "in motion"!







Every once in a while a would get snow in my face, which I didn't like, but overall I though snow angel making was great fun. Here's a picture of my snow angel, right next to Mama's big one!

Seven months old!

Health and Growth

Elsie now weighs 14 lbs, 11 oz (8%) and stretches to 27 inches (62%!). She is finally consistent in her weight growth, and is gaining percentiles for height. Hooray! We attribute this to her mom's dairy-, soy-, and gluten-free diet. In other weight news, Elsie is no longer the smallest person in the house- Elsie's new growth and Ping's new diet mean that Elsie finally outweighs Ping! It will be quite a while before Elsie catches up to Pongo, though :)

Elsie consistently sleeps 2-3 hours at a time at night, with a few 4-hour chunks thrown in, too. She usually takes two naps a day, one lasting 30 minutes and one lasting 45 minutes.

Her hair is starting to really grow in, and appears to be a curly, coppery light brown. Her teeth also seem to be coming in- nothing official to report yet, but she has started rubbing her gums on anything she can get her hands on, so we don't think it will be long before the first one erupts.

Activities

Elsie's days consist of something like this:
Wake up between 7 and 9
Play with mom and listen to music
Jump in the jumperoo
Play with friends, go to baby class, or go to storytime at the library
First nap (25-60 minutes)
First meal
Go for a walk with mom
Second nap (25-60 minutes)
Second meal
Play with mom downstairs
Practice crawling on the bed upstairs
Play with dad when he gets home
Go to bed between 7 and 10

We sometimes mix it up with cooking in the kitchen, a third meal, chasing/petting cats, or playing outside in the snow. Not a bad life, huh?

Playing

Elsie's favorite thing to do these days is...whatever mom is doing. If mom is eating bread, she cries until she gets some, too. If mom is drinking coffee, she wants to drink out of her sippy cup. When mom talks on her cell phone, Elsie wants it on the speaker setting so that she can "talk" and listen, too. When mom brushes her teeth at night, Elsie wants to chew on her baby toothbrush. Mom and dad are getting very good at hiding the consumption of any food that Elsie can't have. They are also getting good at distracting Elsie while they use the computer, read big people books, and do other things babies can't participate in (Elsie has, however, figured out how to "pause" and "play" videos on the laptop already).

Other things Elsie enjoys are stacking toys, stuffed animals, mirrors, Tupperware, and Sophie the Giraffe. She loves dancing to music (Raffi and Jason Mraz are her favorites), and watching short clips of Sesame Street music videos when she gets fussy. She will spend hours pulling toys out of a basket (as long as mom keeps refilling it), and she is becoming an advanced peek-a-boo player, pulling the blanket off her head herself. Elsie also enjoys working on "walking" while holding mom or dad's hands. It won't be long now until she can chase the cats herself!


Comparison Photos:
One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months


Five Months


Six Months


Seven Months

Uncle Gbert

This is a picture of me with my Uncle Gbert. I don't remember seeing him much when I was little, but he's been hanging around a lot lately. Daddy explained that that's because he used to be a Southerner and drink Sweet Tea and only run outside when it was above 50 degrees. Now he lives close by because he moved to Madison. I guess that makes sense. Anyway, he's a lot of fun, so I am happy that he likes to come over and play with me!

Listen to josiemalaehjohnsons Playlist

Visiting with the Johnsons!

Papa Todd and Grandma Julie came to visit me this weekend! Ladybug hadn't met them yet, so I spent Saturday morning telling her all about my grandparents while I waited for them to arrive.


When they finally came, we had lots of fun! Papa Todd is really good at singing the "Ant Song," and we sang it a lot. All that marching and counting made me tired, though; I even fell asleep once when he was singing it to me. Or maybe it was because the big fuzzy hat Grandma Julie made for me made my head too heavy to hold up...


On Sunday all five of us went for a nice long walk in the (cold) sunshine. It was great! Grandma Julie and I both wore our sunglasses and I wore my fleece bear suit, but Papa didn't even need mittens! People must just be warmer when they grow so tall. When we got back to the house, I snuggled with Grandma Julie for a little while.



Papa Todd is also really good at reading books. He does all the voices and everything! We could pass a whole day just laying in the sun room, turning pages. I hope he and Grandma Julie can come back again soon!

Makin' soup with Daddy

Since Mommy can't have dairy, soy, or gluten any more, Daddy made us a big pot of homemade chicken rice soup on Sunday.


And when I say big, I mean big! He used two whole chickens, and filled up the stock pot! Luckily, uncle Gbert came over to help us eat it.


I was pretty excited about the yummy smells in the house while it cooked. It took a long time to make, though, so Daddy gave me a celery stick to chew on until the soup was done. Yummy! Celery is my new favorite food!

The new year

A lot of things have happened in the days between Christmas and New Years, but since nothing is really newsworthy, I thought I would just show you some pictures that Mom and Dad have taken. Tomorrow I will tell you all about helping my Dad make soup.

My Pongo Friend

Pongo and I are pretty good friends. He likes to cuddle, and I like to pet him, so we make a pretty good pair.


Sometimes I cry and he gets scared, but usually he just jumps up on the bed with me and takes a nap next to whatever toy I am playing with.


I'd like to be able to play with Pongo more, but since I can't really crawl yet I have to wait until he comes to me. Pretty soon I will be able to scoot around with him and we can have adventures all over the house together! I can't wait!

Learning to crawl...

is a lot of hard work. Mostly I have been working on my lower body strength...I like to put my bum in the air, plant my face in the floor, and scoot "plow style." The only downside to this is that I get rug burn on my face (see below picture). Mom says that if I used my arms a little bit more, that wouldn't happen, and I would go farther, but for now I'm just happy to be getting anywhere at all.


This is the look I gave my Mommy when she asked me how I got the rug burn on my face.

Christmas at the Cooper Grandparent's

Christmas was a lot of fun! I liked playing with the Hoyer cousins- Claire even told me that I was her "favorite toy." I didn't like church very much, though...it was loud and full of smelly stuff (dad calls it "incense"), plus it was past my bedtime. I decided that I really like Christmas trees, though! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

My cousins give LOTS of hugs...



Playing with my bunny friend (softer than Pongo, but harder to catch)


And some pictures by the Christmas tree (So shiny! So many things to look at!)