update

Elizabeth:

• walked to Gramps and Gigi on Sunday, November 9th and was strolling around making laps in the basement by Tuesday, November 11th!
• is refusing baby food.
• thinks it is cool to sit on the bottom step like me. She was trying and trying yesterday and her little eyes light up each time she does it and then flexes her feet to look at her big girl shoes.
• reads and reads. Elizabeth will flip through books in her room for a long time.
• like to roll and throw the ball to Daniel and me.
• can walk and drink from her bottle at the same time - hot stuff!
• kisses her baby dolls and feeds them the bottle every day.
• likes to knock down a tower of blocks
• is dancing!
• pulls open the drawers of Daniel's nightstand and unloads them all over the floor.
• is very affectionate
• thinks it's funny to pull back a tab from her newly changed diaper. I forgot to reattach it today and her diaper slid down her the leg of her pants and she peed on the floor!
• announces she is hungry by saying,"mmmmmmm."

Daniel is:

• obsessed with Santa Claus
• Can argue why he needs another version of the same toy for Christmas - "see mommy, this car wash is different, it has brushes. mine only has the hanging things."
• replied, "tasty" when asked how his m&m's were. (I think he got that from his teacher! love it!)
• refusing dinner. but will eat it before he goes to bed because he is so hungry.
• is jumping off of furniture and running to do somersaults and handstands.
• remembers song lyrics very quickly! "santa claus is comin' to town" only took two sing-throughs!
• enjoys floor puzzles
• will play with his firemen and firehouse along with the football guys for long stretches of time - role playing and "acting" them out
• still loves Curious George
• dressing himself! for the last week and a half he is able to put on his underwear, pants and socks!
• conversational. there is never a dull (or quiet) minute, unless he is watching TV. And this is a-okay! i love his ideas and comments about most anything.
• working on sharing
• a great watchdog for Elizabeth - he lets me know when she is crawling up the stairs and putting things in her mouth!

Happy Birthday Princess Fluffy

I was sitting here thinking about where I was a year ago right now. This photo was taken at 12:19 a.m. on November 9, 2007. This is me laying eyes on my precious daughter for the first time. What joy. What relief. By this time, I knew that her platelet count was over 100,000. I remember thinking, it was all worth it and being so thankful. It's very hard for me to describe in words what it is like to see the person who has been living with you, inside you, for nine months.

It's the purest emotion I have ever felt.

I read a quote in a baby book that said, "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Yep, that pretty much sums it up for me!

We had a family party tonight, minus Scott, who had to be out of town for work. Last weekend, we had a gathering with about thirty friends and their kids with a Halloween theme. It is fun to celebrate! As a result, Elizabeth now knows what a cupcake is! Tonight she got upset over something or other, and when I walked with her into the kitchen she spied the cupcakes and said, "Hhmmmm!"

Princess Fluffy's hair is getting longer and laying down - except for her double cowlicks in the crown of her head! So, I don't know how much longer we can call her "fwuffy." Elizabeth is really jabbering away calling out, "ma ma, da da, dadel, and hi" along with lots of other sounds and gibberish as she marches her way around the house. She has started to stomp when she is in the bathtub, which she thinks is the most hilarious thing. She is a serious splasher - I am drenched by the time the bath is over. Daniel wanted to get out early last night! I've noticed that she and Daniel are interacting more and more, which is so exciting. They love each other, that is for sure. She is stacking the rings on the toy and not just taking toys out of a basket, but putting them back in, too! Her sign language is coming along - milk, all done, more.

I cannot wait to experience the toddler phase with Elizabeth. She is such a delight, and every day is something new and fascinating to her. That motivates me to try and better prioritize and keep it simple for me and them.