At the Cabin on Big Kandiyohi Lake

Last week I stayed here...




















And played here....








Can you guess where I was? It was a wonderful vacation week at the cabin on Big Kandiyohi Lake for Mama and me while Daddy was on a business trip!

I swam in the lake, dug in the sand, went for long walks in the evenings, and spent lots of time being doted on by four women who love me. It was great!

I had so much fun at the cabin! I watched my first sunset with my grandma, great-grandma, great auntie Brenda, and Mama.

I discovered just how much bigger my feet will get when I tried to put my shoes on Great-Gram Dorothy, and I spent a lot of time taking care of Monkey Boy, a new friend who has spent the majority of his short life being locked in a closet. I am so glad I can give him a new home!

Between brushing him and feeding him bananas and trying to bathe him and showing him how to play with all my cousin Evan's cool toys, my days were very busy!

Great-Auntie Brenda set up Evan's pool on the deck for me, so when it was too hot to swim in the lake I could splash in the pool. It's really fun to splash without clothes on!

Mama and I were sad to leave after such a great week with our relatives, but we were happy to zoom back to Madison to help Daddy celebrate his 30th birthday. Happy birthday, Daddy! We love you!

Playing at Grandma RJ's on the way to the cabin

Elsie is 13 months!

Elsie now weighs about 17lbs, 10oz (3%) and stretches to a little over 28.5 inches (25%). Just last month she moved up to size 3 shoes, and now they are almost too small already. Crazy how fast she has grown this month! She is also wearing (and fitting!) most 12-18 month clothes, although 6-12s still fit, too. It helps that she isn't crawling at all anymore, since she can wear longer dresses without "knee-tripping".

Communication

Signs Elsie does: milk, good-bye and hello (waving), no (shaking head), all done, poop

Signs and words Elsie recognizes: more, kitty, duck, bird, cow, horse, diaper change, food, drink

Words Elsie says: Daddy (Dada), Mama (Mamamama), Kitty (Tee-tee), and (new!) Grandma (Gamma)

Activities

As previously documented, Elsie became an expert walker right after her first birthday. Unfortunately, along with her new-found walking (and running!) skills has come a bad case of separation anxiety. I discovered this when I started attending classes at a family yoga center. When I go to class, only a dedicated TEAM of loving mama-caretakers can keep her occupied in the childcare room. Luckily, they are some amazing mamas, and they reassure me after every class that (though she cries a little or a lot, depending on the day), it is beneficial and healthy for BOTH Elsie and me to practice being apart from each other. Plus, since I am just a room away, it is easy for me to step in and cuddle her if she gets too upset.

This month I got sick and was stuck in bed for a few days while Andy stayed home from work to play with Elsie. A cute after-effect of that experience is that Elsie decided that Daddy is REALLY fun to play with and it would be better if he didn't ever go to work again. Now every morning when Daddy tries to leave, Elsie sprints to the door crying "Dada dada dada dada!". If possible, she grabs his lunchbox and tries to get away with it (as if a lack of lunch will keep him at home). If the lunchbox isn't readily available, she'll grab his leg instead. I have to swoop in and hold her up to the window to wave good-bye to Daddy before she will stop crying. While I don't like the fact that Elsie now cries almost every morning, her love of her Daddy is beautiful to see and makes it all worthwhile!

A couple of other big events for Elsie this month were my jury service (she stayed at home with Grandma RJ for two whole days and did GREAT!), and a trip back to MN for a very unexpected funeral (she did not sleep for either of the 3.5 hour car rides- how does she do it???).

One last funny thing about Elsie this month- Elsie has been using the potty for pooping with some regularity these last few months, and has now discovered that the potty is a great place to read. Taking after her father, she has decided that it is really only worth sitting on the potty if she is reading a book the whole time. Sometimes numerous books. What a silly kid!


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

Olivia likes wearing hats. Especially ones that I decide I don't want to wear anymore.

Random 13-month pictures

While playing with Daddy and Amanda at the Children's Museum, Elsie decided it was more fun to stack the rock crayons than to color with them (thanks for the pics, Amanda!).


As Dr. Seuss says, "Big feet, little feet, feet feet feet- oh how many feet you meet!"



Playing with potatoes in the cupboard.


Finishing up a walk with her friends, Baby Simon and Abby.


Hanging out on the deck in the hot weather.

Playing on the deck

It's been a hot week here in Madison- temps in the upper 90's with heat indexes in the 110's. Luckily, Elsie and I are blessed with a beautiful, shady back porch where we can spend our days lounging and playing.

We started the summer with only a little baby swing out there, and have slowly accumulated more (and more, and more!) toys. The pool came first- a Target clearance find- then the turtle sandbox (a birthday gift from G. Ann and G. Brian)- then sand toys from a friend.

A few weeks after her birthday Elsie started climbing on EVERYTHING, so I went ahead and bought the climber/slide off Craigslist for a ridiculously low cost so that she would have a safe place to explore her new skill. And since this picture was taken, we've also incorporated a Little Tykes plastic play kitchen that a neighbor was giving away. Yikes! We are running out of room for the picnic table, but that's okay- it's a great (fun, stimulating, SAFE!) place for Elsie to play on hot summer days!

Elsie likes to "help" around the house...

Lately I keep losing things around the house. It may be a significant lack of sleep, or it may be that Elsie has figured out how to "help" Mama do her chores. When she "helps" by putting away her toys, some of my items often get put away, too. Can you guess which items Elsie "helped" put away in the following photos I took while I was making dinner and doing some baking?