Splashing on the deck

On hot days, Mama fills my baby tub with water and toys and I get to play outside in my swimsuit. I love it! Putting toys in cups, taking toys out of cups...so much fun! Sometimes the splashing gets a little wild and I get water in my eyes- and sometimes Mama's eyes, too!

Lake Kegonsa State Park

Last week Mama and I went to Lake Kegonsa State Park to help my friend Edie celebrate her first birthday. I was a little apprehensive at first because I was worried that the wild animals might get us. Then Mama gave me this Wild Zebra hat. If the wild animals came to get us, they would just think I was one of them, and would leave us alone. Then I wasn't scared any more!


I had lots of fun playing on the big kid playground with my Nico friend and his Mama, Katy.



I even went down a slide with Mama!


Nico wanted to teach me Spanish- he kept telling me that my Mama's waterbottle was "Agua." I'm not Spanish, but that doesn't sound right to me.


All five of the babies and Mamas went for a hike together- it was lots of fun, but pretty hot!


Back at the campsite, we had a picnic lunch before heading home. I hope we go back again soon!

Earth Day 2011- in which I enter the Guiness Book of World Records.

On Earth Day 2011, I took my place in history as a member of the Guiness World Record Setting Great Cloth Diaper Change team. About fifty parent and kiddo pairs participated with me in Madison, and 6363 pairs participated in 11 countries around the world. Hooray for cloth diapers!


Here I am, all set to get my diaper changed. The Happy Bambino was smart, and gave all us kids an egg shaker to keep our hands busy until the Guiness man said, "GO!".


Mama changed my pants right next to my friend, Adah. She is older than me, and wasn't as content to lay and wait until it was time for the change.


And here is a view of the room- so many babies to play with! What a fun way for Mama and me to celebrate my first Earth Day!

Sunny days are here again!

The kind that are perfect for eating hostas, making silly faces, tasting dandelion fuzz, and just sitting in the sun enjoying a beautiful day!

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