Elise’s First Birthday

I can’t believe my baby is one years old.... but at the same time it has been a long year! :)

We had a way fun little party at home with just us and my parents. The girls had a blast. My mom brought hats, necklaces, balloons, & party stuff.

We had a dance party, blew bubbles, open presents, and ran around and sang songs. Elise especially liked blowing the birthday horns.




Elise is a happy and fun girl. She has a smile that you can't beat. She loves to snuggle, especially when she wakes up, and loves getting kisses all over her cheeks and will often lean in to get more. She gives the best open mouth baby kisses too. I have to say she is a very athletic girl for her age, not afraid to try new things, and is very determined. Her favorite thing to do is to read books. She loves climbing up on the stool in the bathroom and washing her hands with her sister. She is great at helping upload the dishwasher. She is not the best eater and would rather just drink milk from a bottle if she had the choice. When she does take her bottle she always has to stroke someones hair as she drinks. She loves to go to Nana and Papa's house and loves playing outside. At the park she will try to climb up every slide or steps she can get to. She sleeps pretty good but always wants me to lightly stroke her skin as she falls asleep. She loves to run away from us and try to make us chase her. She loves dolls and stuffed animals. She loves having us lift her up to turn the light switches on and off. She sticks her tongue out when she concentrates. She has eight teeth. She is definitively right handed. She loves playing with her sister and will get in bed with her sometimes. She dances by stomping her feet really fast. She loves animals. She is just a delight and a joy to our family.

When we put her cake in front of her she first tried to grab the flame on the candle. Anna helped her blow it out and then she didn’t quite know what to do with the cake. She started poking it, then just looked at us as if to ask, “what is this and what do I do with it”? We had to brake it up a little for her so she could actually pick up a piece and put it in her mouth.

When she tasted it she didn’t hesitate. Umm chocolate cake!

And when she was done, she let us know too!

Happy first Birthday Elise!!

Sweetness

Two of a Kind

When Anna was only a few month old we decided to have another child very close in age, so that she would have a playmate. So that the two could grow up together and have an always friend to play with, day in and day out; two of a kind, or so we hoped. Well, Elise was born one year ago, 14 months after Anna, and it has been a challenging year raising two “babies.” They haven’t been quite old enough to play together.

However, something changed in the last week it seems….. They all of a sudden started doing things together, to our delight. The other day as Anna headed down the sidewalk she called out in her toddler-ese, “E-ise, come on.” And they toddled down the sidewalk together looking for the neighborhood cats; I was amazed.  Even so, they are just beginning to play together but we are excited.

Here are some fun pics of the girls:

In this pic below both girls wanted to put on their dad’s socks.

 

Rock Climber and Grapefruit Girl

One of my favorite things to do in my young adult years was rock climbing. I found challenge in trying to use my muscles and body to scale walls and rocks and cracks. I absolutely loved it and actually still do. Well, I think I must have passed along some of my genes to a certain daughter of mine….and she is not even a year old yet.





I hope taking the photos of these did not reinforce the behavior. I wanted evidence, but then quickly got her down and told to her that we do not climb chairs. Don’t even think about climbing onto my computer desk Elise.

I have always loved citrus, I can eat it and eat it. I know it is one of my weaknesses, sometimes I get carried away and the next thing I know I have eaten 10 oranges. Well, I think I must have passed along some of my genes to a certain daughter of mine…

And yes, she did eat that many grapefruit and wanted more when she was done.

Minot, ND and the Return of Uncle Curtis!

An account from the perspective of Elise as recorded by Kent.

Dad and I decided to surprise Uncle Curtis when he came home from his mission in Spain, so we flew to Minot, ND. I’ve never met him before, so it was exciting to see him though I was awfully tired when his plane arrived at 9:05 pm.

I had lots of fun playing with my Uncle Chris!

One day, we decided to go rock climbing. I’m not even 1 and I’m already a pro. Someday, I’m going to climb high like Uncle Curtis.

There were so many cool things to explore! I had lots of fun with the noisy door stopper that went twaaang, and I loved watching the laundry get tossed about.

There were lots of things for me to climb on. I learned how to climb onto 5 gallon buckets so I could push the buttons on the microware. I also figured out how to climb from the baseboard heater to the chair so that I could play on Uncle Chris’s computer.

My favorite thing was to spend time with my grandma. We had lots of fun! We colored pictures, played in tubs, chased around the apartment, and even played in the sink!

We had lots of fun as a family!