Pigtails Getting into Trouble

Elinore's hair is finally long enough to put in 'pigtails' -- yay! Now she doesn't have to look like she is sporting a mullet any longer.

Unfortunately, the new 'do doesn't make her more obedient...

"If I can just get my little fingers on some of those buttons..."

"What? A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to listen to some music!"

A Friendship Over the Years...er, the YEAR.

Evelyn & Elinore, a.k.a. E & E:

[Belated] 12 Month Update

My apologies for the belated post, but without further ado, here is Ellie’s 12 month update.

Stats:

• 31.5 in.
• 20 lbs. 12 oz.

For a baby born off the charts in all regards, she is evening out in her “old” age.

Standard Physical Milestones:

• Stands on her own
• Cruises along furniture
• Climbs everything (Our barriers are now ineffective!!)

Language Milestones:

Ellie is very vocal. As I mentioned in the previous post, she has acquired quite a vocabulary for a 13 month old. Here are her spoken words, in no particular order. And for extra credit, see if you can find the pattern:

• Mama/Mum
• Dada (Yay! Jeremy is no longer the same word as “dog.”)
• Ga (“dog”)
• Ka /ke ka (“cat” or Kee-kat)
• Ball
• Bubbles
• Hi
• Bye bye
• Ba ba (“bottle” – she wakes up in the morning by standing up in her crib, taking the paci out of her mouth and clearly saying “Ba ba”…and it had better be to her pronto!)
• Baaaa (“Lamb/sheep”)
• Mmmmm (During mealtimes, especially if it is officially Mom's food)

Ellie is also taking a Sing and Sign class, and she has recently begun signing like crazy. Here are her signed words:

• Hello
• Goodbye
• Bubbles
• Ball
• More/again
• All done
• Brushing teeth
• Lights
• Phone

And now here is the “Parent’s Brag List,” which are things that she does but doesn’t really have a category other than it blows us away with pride:

• She can locate any one of her books by us only saying the opening lines.
• She loves to sing, and actually sings the chorus to one of her songs…ON PITCH (!). Granted, the chorus is not from a Verdi opera, or anything like that – just “La la laaaaa.”
• She can be “gentle” with the cats, and actually pets Thomas very nicely now. Although she had a relapse the other day and had him pinned to the ground with a fist-full of fur…but everyone backslides a little.

Ellie Interests:

The local park. Ellie loves swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides, and just getting plain ol’ dirty. She does “clean up” the leaves, though, after watching Jeremy do it several times.





Talking on the phone.

Fashion. I think we have a little Fashionista on our hands. Ellie loves trying on shoes, in particular, and holds up her little feet for me to slip different styles in the store.

Brushing her teeth. She signs this at all times of the day -- even when it is so random and out of context with anything that we are doing…

Whew! I hope this mammoth-post has satiated all those Ellie fans out there.

And now I will conclude this with an update of my own. Remember when I was concerned about becoming one of “Those Moms,” and was bemoaning the fact that we had just acquired a garish piece of furniture called an “exersaucer” for Elinore? Well. Here’s how that whole concern is shaping up:

Happy Birthday, Elinore Grace!

[Today, we have a special guest blogger, Elinore Grace Peterson..]

So, today was really a weird day.

It started off normal. I woke up at 4:45 a.m. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (it's a new time I have been trying out the past week...). Mommy and Daddy tried to ignore me for a long time -- I think they really hoped I will go back to sleep! -- but I was hungry aaannnd ready to play! So I let out several drawn-out and high-pitched cries that I have found to have a high success rate in getting the lights turned on. By 5:30 a.m., both Mommy and Daddy greeted me with yawns...and a SONG about a "Happy Birdy," or something like that. What the...??! This was certainly new!

After I was changed, fed and had played a little bit, everything seemed to be normal again. Daddy went to work, and Mommy and I went to my Sign and Sing class with Ms. Jennifer. Today we learned the signs for different animals, like kee-kats and cows. Then I went home for my nap, but when I woke up, I had a fun surprise: Daddy was home early! Yay! Then he gave me some strange, brightly colored things that I, of course, tasted and touched.

So cool! They ended up being new books and clothes, which is great because I needed both. My books were getting so boring, and I always like looking cute.

Then, I got this totally awesome drum. I looooovvve drums, and just about anything I can bang around, general. This drum plays music and lights up. I got into a groove and started dancing while I was playing. It was addictive! I was so into it, that when Daddy picked me up, I kept drumming...but on his HEAD! But, he didn't make music when I banged down with my hands. Oh well!

I think I was so revved up by the drum and cool stuff that I had trouble going down for my afternoon nap. In fact, I just laid in my crib and cried into my lovey until Mommy came and got me. Then we had to go to Daddy and Mommy's bible study, and they took me, puffy, red eyes and all. But I cheered up when I got there, because my friend, Adam, was there. We played and had the adults all chasing after us left and right. It was so fun! Then, it got all weird again. Everyone was singing the "Birdy" song again, and they were all looking at me. Then, I saw these little lights in front of me, and I wanted desperately to reach out and touch them, but Daddy and Mommy wouldn't let me.

After all the singing (and the temptation of those little lights) had past, Daddy gave me a strange tasting food. It was so good! I had a great time digging my fingers into it, and licking them off.

In the end, I looked like this:

So that was my weird day. I hope tomorrow is even weirder!

Random Pics/Update

Ellie's 12 month (I can't believe it!) appointment is right around the corner, so I will do a full update then. However in the meantime, I can't resist leaking some details on our little Chatty Cathy now. Ellie is building her vocabulary it seems every week. Right now she says consistently:

• Mom or Momma


• Dada


• Ball


• Yummm


• Uh oh!


• Kee-kat (a.k.a. Cat)


• Tra la la la laaa (learned from one of her books where a little ferret named Haha sings at the end -- Ellie's version sounds more like "wa wa waa")


• Ga! (her version of "dog"...have no idea why)


• Bye bye (with a cute wave of the hand)


• Hi (ditto)

I swear the other day she tried to say "seven" when she was playing with a counting toy, but that might be a proud mother's skewed perception. :)

Oh, and here are random pics from the last month or so, in no particular order:

Ellie with her face smushed against her drum lid during music time.

This is usually the mischievous smile we get just before she does something she knows is a "No-no"...

"It is sooo fun when Dad blow dries my hair!"

Speaking of hair: The poor girl had no chance in the hair department between Jeremy's curly, 'fro-y locks, and my coarse and frizzy ones. Talk about bed head!

Blog Update

Our deepest apologies to all those Ellie-fans out there: Our laptop died a painful death, and then its shiny, new replacement died a VERY premature death (!!). I will try to take some pictures in the next few weeks in order to fully chronicle The Girl's first year as an infant -- believe it or not (we certainly don't!), Ellie's official induction as a "Toddler" is right around the corner...

Dancing with Daddy

New Wheels

[Back to our regularly scheduled program of Everything-Elinore...]

"This is so cool..."

"...and I'm so cool."

"There's even a place to put my snacks..."

CVS Pays me to shop!

It is a momentous occasion: This is an Ellie-free post. Readers beware...

After watching many of my friends show-and-tell of their amazing steals from CVS, I finally joined the "Free-V-S" system a few months ago. It takes a bit of work (i.e. clipping coupons and working out the best deal scenarios each week and month). However it is worth it, as we essentially get all of our basics (toothpaste, TP, PT, shampoo, deo, etc.) for FREE. To date, our family has saved over $400 in the last 6 months, and all it took was an initial $12 and a few dollars here and there.

Take today, for example. I bought the following:

• 1 Powerade drink
• 3 Colgate toothpastes
• 2 Infant Advil
• 1 Clean and Clear lotion
• 2 Pert Plus shampoos
• 2 Almay concealers
• 1 Ibuprofen

My total was $52.10. But after coupons, I walked out of the store only paying $2.65 out of pocket, PLUS receiving $25.58 toward my next purchase. Essentially, CVS paid me to take away the stuff! Now that is a deal.

"Yuck! Broccoli!"

"It may look like I am smiling, but I can assure you: I AM NOT."

"Why...why did you do it, Mom??"

The Muppets at the Smithsonian

Last Saturday, we headed out to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to check out the Muppets exhibit. It was fun to see all the old school muppets from our childhood (Go Fraggle Rock!), and watch excerpts from shows. Ellie cracked up watching some of the earlier commercials Jim Henson put on, and honestly so were Jeremy and I.

I wish we could have taken pictures there. At one point, Elinore was sitting on a bean bag next to a garantuan Kermit the Frog. I thought it might scare her (especially since Jeremy was putting her head in Kermit's huge mouth), but she was laughing and trying to grab onto his big, green...erm...hands?

Anyway, it was a great way to kill some time in the day, get out of the house but stay out of the dense humid heat, and have some fun family time.

Toothy Grin

I knew I would forget something in Elinore's 9 month update: She has teeth! Two little pearly whites on the bottom. We always loved her gummy smile, but her new toothy grin makes us smile every time.

Close up shot...

9 Month Update

Ellie had her 9 month appointment the other day, and here are the stats:

• 18 lbs., 12 oz. (50 percentile)
• 30.5 in. long (still off, OFF the charts!)
• head circumference 18 in. (93 percentile -- gotta love those big, Korean heads...)

Standard Milestones:

Okay, we have been really bad about posting her recent milestones. However it seems like in the last month, she has hit so many of them at rapid rate that it has been hard to keep up. Here are some of the ones that we can think of right now.

• Ellie is crawling around now...well, she is more like "horizontal rock climbing "around. But, hey, it gets her from Point A to Point B quite effectively.

• As of a few days ago, Ellie has mastered getting into the sitting position from her belly. Amazingly, she couldn't do this last week at all, and wasn't showing any signs of even trying to do so. Her PT was a little concerned about this, but randomly 5 days from her appointment, she can do it flawlessly.
• Ellie is just beginning to pull up in her crib and onto furniture. Yikes! We need to do some quick safety proofing of our apartment....
• About two weeks ago, she went on a baby food strike, and refused to open her mouth for pureed food. She was intent on living off bananas and puffs. That is, until Mom and Dad put the smack down....er, I mean...got smarter and began feeding her finger foods. She now enjoys a wide array of food from diced chicken to pasta to various fruits and veggies. However blueberries and bananas are her favorites. Also, Elinore is becoming quite proficient at drinking from her sippy cup -- I suspect soon we will be able to put more costly elixirs in her cup, such as her milk and juice, without it going to waste.
• And of course, she is still a Chatty Cathy. From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she is babbling almost non-stop. She also is saying "Dada" and "Mama," but we are not sure what her level of discrimination is at this point.

Fun Milestones:

• She now claps her hands, particularly to music. Ellie will often crawl over to her Fisher Price Music Player and push to play button, and sit and clap her hands with a huge grin on her face. It is so cute!
• Rolling a ball back and forth with someone is on her Top-10-fun-things-to-do.
• Elinore has begun to give me things, such as a ball or small toy. For instance, she was shaking a rattle today, and then looked at me, smiled and handed it to me.
• Daddy is the recipient of many kisses and snuggles -- Mommy, much to her annoyance, is not (What the heck?!).
• Last, but not least, Elinore has discovered the fun game of peek-a-boo. She will take a blanket or toy and put it over her face, then quickly jerk it down and laugh.
  

"Peek-a-boo!!"

Still a Book Junkie

Elinore's love for books has not diminished over these past months. In fact, it has grown at an exponential rate! Every day -- several times a day -- she crawls over to her personal library of beloved board and touch-and-feel books, and sits down with a look of expectation. She does this so often that Jeremy actually caught himself saying the other day, "No, Elinore, no more books," as if she was asking for something really forbidden...!



She not only loves having these books read to her over and over, she loves taking an active role in turning the pages for her storyteller. She has gotten quite good (and quick!) at doing this.

Reading her all-time favorite touch-and-feel book, I See a Monster, with Daddy (For the 4th time that day).

"I love the Sea Monster in the bathtub!"

Sun Valley

My parents have a condo in Sun Valley, Idaho, and so the last weekend we were in town we trekked out to the mountains to enjoy a change in beautiful scenery. While we were in SV, we visited my Aunt Sharon and Don, who are just down the road. We shared laughs and more laughs over mimosas and homemade fare ("homemade," at least, by Sharon's standards which means that she took the plastic wrap off the quiches and put them in the oven at home...). It was a lovely time...and did I mention that we shared laughs??

In classic form, Mom has her eyes closed for the picture.

"Hi!"

Sharon and Ellie.

Why is this pic BW? It has something to do with getting a tan but not new foundation... Read: I look like a geisha. Seth is taking his role as the only boy seriously.

A family pic where Maddie almost lost her hair clip...

More Idaho Pics

Here are more pics from our vacation in Idaho.

The Three Musketeers

Ellie with Ruth, a dear friend of the family.

Seth bearing the burden of Jeremy's gianormous shoes!

E and Grandpa

Bathtime helpers