December and The Holidays

Around December 1st we noticed that Elizabeth was getting one of her molars.  By December 7th we realized that she wasn’t just getting one of her teeth – but five!  Four molars and an incisor.  It just didn’t seem fair that this little girl would have to go through so much pain.  It was a tough couple of weeks as they all cut through.

Maybe that’s why she tended to walk around with toys in her mouth?  Here she is with her Lil’ People.  She looks like an old Japanese movie dinosaur as she walked around the house ‘eating up’ her Lil People:

One of the exciting adventures this month was her first day out sledding.  We had her all bundled up in her snowsuit and her cool silver space boots.

Everything started out fine – she loved watching all the people and other kids.

Here’s a video of her very first trip down the big hill…

But then after the second ride, ending with a face-full of wet snow, we tried to put her back on the sled for some more winter fun and she burst into tears.  Was it the ice-cold wetness on the face?  Was it the fact that it was probably too steep of a hill and too fast of a ride for a 14-month old?  We’ll never know…but that was the end of our sledding “day” for Eliz.  Mom and Dad, however, took some more turns using the sled.  I forgot how much fun it was to be scared using a sled with minimal steering capabilities.  It wouldn’t have been so frightening if I wasn’t afraid of bowling over youngsters and other adults.  It was a fun, crowded day that day on the hill.

It was funny to watch her trying to walk around in the snow.  She looked like a little Michelin Man with a straight-legged walk in impossible-to-walk-in boots.  Not to mention soft snow, unlevel ground, slipping…she was tuckered out in minutes on her feet.

I had gotten Elizabeth a couple of new toys for Christmas and decided to give them to her early.  We weren’t going to be home for the holidays and she wouldn’t understand the whole unwrapping presents ‘thing’ anyway so I figured why not let her enjoy them right away.

She loves crawling in/under/over things, so I got her these fabric tunnels:

She loved them immediately.  I loved watching her run around the house without pants on, too.  Not a frequent sight during these chilly winter months.

Eating time is becoming more and more messy and Eliz ‘experiments’ with textures.

The poor girl was so sick toward the end of the month – just as I was feeling pressure to get some pictures to create our Christmas Card.  I felt bad as I dressed her in her Christmas dress and tried to set up a studio at home to snap some pictures.

The photo op didn’t last long…I think I got five or six pictures before I decided it wasn’t worth putting her through the exercise.  But luckily I did have one good enough for the card but this one I thought was cute too with her sucking her thumb.

Elizabeth loved the Christmas Tree.  Here’s a video of her sharing her joy.  She loved the ‘balls’ and there was an ornament with her picture on it that I also hung low for her to see.  She was very gentle with the tree and the ornaments, which truly surprised me.  She would touch everything, but never damaged the tree or the ornaments.

It was really precious to watch her every day with the tree.  And she even said “pretty” one morning while looking at the lights.  Another new word for her.  Right around this time, she also strung together two words for the first time – she said “Hi Daddeee!” when Andy came home from work one day.

For Christmas we went home to Philly to be with both of our families.  Christmas Eve is the big celebration with Andy’s family.  I think we had 27 people at Andy’s mom’s place.  And eventhough it’s been a year since Elizabeth had seen most of the family, she was a real trooper.  No melt-downs, no fits, no attempts to fling herself down the stairs…she was my little angel.

Carol had brought red & green beads for everyone to wear, and somehow I think Eliz ended wearing them all that night!

And, don’t tell anyone else, but I think Eliz especially loved Brian…he would toss her high up into the air and she would beg for more.  She even gave him hugs and kisses.  Not something she shares with just anyone!  A video is on the webalbum.

Christmas Day was just as busy – we traveled to three different houses that day.  And each with a dog to add even more excitement to Elizabeth’s day.

At Bobby’s house, she played with all of his animated Christmas dolls and chased poor Steve & Natalie’s dog all around the house digging her hands into his thick fur.  (Notice that Eliz isn’t much bigger than Santa!)

At my brother Joe’s house, she relaxed on cousin Colin’s lap as she took a break from being chased by his dog Ashley.

She also got one of the best gifts a kid can receive…a BIG empty box to play in…(sadly we couldn’t bring this gift home with us, though)

Well, ok, she also liked playing in one of the small boxes, too, as everyone took turns pushing her around the house in it.

From there we went to Andy’s sister’s house.  Elizabeth was finally wearing out, but even after getting her into her jammies and trying to find her some quiet time, she still refused to go to sleep (of course).  There were too many people, and a dog, and she might miss something exciting!

A funny thing was that since Elizabeth went to be before presents were opened on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day was so busy, and then each day after was so busy, we didn’t get to sit with her to open her gifts until the day before we flew back out!

We were so very thankful for two special gifts from Stephanie and Carol – a little bit of freedom.  Steph came over one night and babysat for us so we could go visit some friends.  And Carol came by one afternoon so we could also get some ‘adult-time’.  I went to lunch with some dear friends and Andy took his Mom out for lunch.  I was glad that Eliz was able to get some private time with family, too.  I think it is so important that she has time away from us and develops relationships with family and friends, without turning to us for entertainment or comfort.  Now we just need to find a way to get a “night” away!  ha!  Andy and I have since talked about having someone watch her while we go away for a night…aaahhh, wouldn’t that be nice?!  A full night of sleep?  Unheard of.

Our time in Philly is exhausting every year, and now even more so with Elizabeth, but I don’t think we’d have it any other way.  It is so nice to be home with family for the holidays.  Or…maybe one year they’ll come to us?

More pictures and videos on our December WebAlbum.

November and Our Big Move

November was a very busy month for us.  We moved our business!  We moved from an office building to a retail storefront in our Olde Town Arvada – the main street shopping district in our city.  It’s amazing how much needs to be done before, during, and after moving a business.  But we are excited about the new opportunities this will (hopefully) bring us.  Wish us luck!

In Elizabeth’s world, every day was a new day of learning.  In early November she really started to fight for her independence.  She would refuse to allow me to brush her teeth – she had to do it herself.  Then if you asked her if she wanted her diaper changed, she would walk to the bedroom and stand by her changing table waiting.  She needed to be an active decision-maker in what/when things needed to be done.

Elizabeth’s vocabulary grows.  She said “blue”, “green”, and “yellow” – the colors of her three bath ducks.  And she said “eight” while playing with her toy cell phone.  By the end of the month, she started saying another word she hears frequently…”stop”!

She started spinning herself in circles, “getting dizzy”, and falling down.  This is usually a game we play together when we dance around in circles…now she plays without me!  But it is so much fun to watch her ‘dance’.  By December she even started saying “dizzy” as she fell down.  She has also started to walk backwards this month.  Very cute…until she falls over something that was behind her.  I wonder when she’ll learn to look backwards?

With all of the chaos relating to our move, I realized how few pictures I took this month!  Well, it was the move, and several other changes this month.  We needed to find Daycare for Elizabeth so I could spend more time at the store.  We had hoped to up the hours with her babysitter, but that couldn’t be arranged unfortunately.  And, the yoga studio where I’ve been teaching this past year announced they were to close at the end of November, so I needed to find another job(s) to keep teaching.  Lots of changes.  Always seems like things happen at the same time, huh?

Here are some random shots from this month:

Eliz and Daddy coloring at home…

One day a friend needed to leave her son with me for a couple of hours.  Eliz’s first playdate at our house.  I enjoyed watching Eliz and her friend Liam play together.  Some things that Eliz does I thought were special antics of hers…I learned that some must have been age-driven antics since Liam did many of the same silly things.

We had read that the city was going to finally tear down the rusty old water tower that adorned our backyard.  One day we woke up to see welders atop the dome, starting to dismantle it piece by piece.  It was pretty cool to watch.  Unfortunately I had to leave the house before they finished, but I saw most of the demolition.

Elizabeth got this cool new Elephant Chair for her birthday.  She loves to just lounge all over it.  Here she rolled off of it while in a post-nap stupor…

We celebrated Thanksgiving at a friends house – David & Beth’s – with two other friends.  We had four kids running around the six adults.  The stairs were a favorite place for them to play – even though they were limited to only the first two steps.

 

They also ran around the house non-stop, I pitied poor Ollie (the dog).

If they weren’t on the move, it was because someone was sharing storytime with them.

It was a wonderful day to spend Thanksgiving with friends!  We were so grateful to be share this holiday with them all.

To see some more pictures, visit our November WebAlbum.

The BIG Birthday Month

We celebrated Elizabeth’s birthday on her birthday (not always possible!) with lots of friends at our local Skyline Neighborhood Park.  We had beautiful weather, thankfully, which can always be iffy in the month of October.  A Colorado October can bring 80’s or snow and sometimes just days apart.  We were so happy to share this special day with some of Elizabeth’s closest friends and some new ones we are hoping to get to know better.  She had Finley, Allison, Liam, Noalea, Bryce, Charlie, and Ella there to celebrate her Big 1st Birthday with her.  Not to mention moms and dads, Liam’s brother David, and our neighbor Chris.  It ended up being a big crowd when I was thinking that it would be a small gathering!  The park had swings and a playground for the kids to enjoy and we brought lots of toys for them to share.  It was very fun.  Elizabeth started to do this silly “monkey-crawl” on her hands and feet with her butt high when I realized it was because the woodchips weren’t too comfortable to actually crawl on.  She also started practicing crawling down over a curb that led into the playground area.

Elizabeth seemed a little overwhelmed with the size of her cake!

Finley was a big help blowing out the candles on the cake and opening gifts.  Elizabeth is lucky to have an older friend (Finley is 4) to teach her these important things!

Elizabeth had her 12-month doctor visit on October 3rd.  We had hoped she would’ve been walking to show the doctor that she could…but those first big steps came just a couple of days after the appointment.

Her push-behind car was a big help in getting her comfortable on her two feet. 

On nice days we started to leave our sliding glass door open and let Elizabeth choose whether she wanted to play inside or outside on the balcony.  She was thrilled to have the choice, and usually took her books and toys outside.  Here was the first day (Oct 3rd) we started this new routine…a little happy, isn’t she?

Her first solo steps at home happened with a few tentative steps towards Andy on Oct 4th.  What a big day that was!!  At least Andy got to witness that moment.  Then on Oct 7th, she took about 10 steps across an open room towards ME!  yea!  The look on her face was priceless:  a combination of joy, pride, and concentration.

A book I’ve started reading describes toddlers as “explorers and scientists” as they learn about everything around them.  So true.  Elizabeth finds such wonder in things like unzipping bags and removing items.  But finally she has started to put things back in their place (or SOME place) and zippers her diaper bag shut again.  She could spend 10-20 minutes repeating the same actions over and over again.  Other new discoveries are simple things like flipping a light switch (10/8); dancing to (uggh) country music or a song on her new toy Violet (10/8); saying a new word “doll” for her toy dolly (10/5); or crawling in, out, and over things.  I almost got rid of her Bumbo seat because she’d get her legs stuck in it as a baby, but now she fits and loves crawling in and out of it from all angles.  She also loves to explore the fridge (racing to it anytime she hears the door open) and the dishwasher (even crawling up onto the open door if we aren’t fast enough to stop her).

She also loves to squeeze in between the wall and the refrigerator.  Can’t imagine what would happen if we ever let her reach the water shut-off behind the fridge, though!

She still enjoys her bike rides.  We got on our bikes again on October 9th.  But the helmet is not always on.  She started to pull on it because it would slip down over her eyes.  I’m not comfortable tightening her helmet because I’m afraid of crushing her little big head, but too loose isn’t good either.  Hopefully I can get it right.

On  October 10th, she got her 6th tooth.  The 7th one came in on October 24th.  So she now has 4 on top, and three on bottom.

She is becoming much more independent.  She now wants to feed herself with her spoon.  So I hold one to help make sure she actually gets some food in her belly, and she holds hers and, basically, makes a mess.  That started around the 17th, and on the 22nd she started to drink from a tumbler.  Surprisingly, that hasn’t been so messy.

On October 22nd we finally got to the Pumpkin Patch.  I had been wanting to get some 1-yr photos of her surrounded by pumpkins.  Rock Creek Farms was the recommended place to go.  Miles and miles of pumpkins.  We’ve never been to a real pumpkin farm like this.  Our intention was just to go for the photos, but of course we left with pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies and lots of smiles.

Considering all of the pumpkin vines and thorny plants in the pumpkin fields, Elizabeth did surprisingly well with her new legs.  True, the vines tripped her up most of the time and she wanted to grab every thorny plant she saw, but we left injury-free.

It was a pretty setting with the mountains in the back.

Then she got to pet her second horse…a huge Clydesdale that pulled the wagon for hay rides.

And she got to run around the hay bale maze.

Our social butterfly has a natural ability to make friends quickly.

And we got to see some farm animals in the petting zoo.  Elizabeth got worried that these little piggies were going to bite her little piggies – she pulled her feet back quickly when she thought they got too close.  Actually, she kept calling them “dog”.

On October 23rd she started putting her steps together a little faster.  The “running” has begun.  I didn’t realize how quickly little girls could run until I took her shopping at a child consignment shop.  She showed me her running legs that day.  Then she even started “hiding”!  I’d find her standing at the end of an end cap with her face hidden in a bunch of hats and scarves giggling.  I couldn’t believe my little girl had started to play hide-and-seek on me!  She is just as silly at home, too.  She does a “sneak-attack” on us by approaching us from behind silently and then she roars as she grabs at us with both hands.  She has also begun hiding behind the glider and peeking from underneath encouraging us to chase her with a gleam in those big blue eyes of hers.

Our sign-language class is definitely helping our communication.  On October 27th she began signing “Eat”, saying “Eat”, and all while pointing to her highchair.  I think she doubted my ability to understand her so she tripled up on the ways to ‘talk’ to me.  She’s been in the ‘pointing stage’, too, to tell me what she wants":  water glass, bananas, etc.  She still says “baby” and “dog” on a daily basis.  Pretty much anything with four legs is a “dog” and anyone under the age of 11 is a “baby”.  She understands a lot of what I say to her.  I’m really going to have to start watching what and how I say things now.  If I ask her “want to eat?” she goes to her highchair; “want milk/are you sleepy?”, she goes to the glider and/or points to crib; “want bath?” or “let’s go brush our teeth” and she goes to her bathroom.  I’m lovin’ it and I think she is too – she likes to be part of the decision-making I think.

This month we switched from the soft silicone “finger” toothbrush to a real kid toothbrush.  She likes having her teeth brushed – but I think it’s because she likes to suck the toothpaste off of the brush.  That’s ok with me.  She likes it so much that she’ll even ‘remind’ us that she needs her teeth brushed at night by pointing to her toothbrush.

And here’s what I mean by the weather here in October…

October 24th:  Beatiful fall colors and interesting clouds

October 27th:  Snow covered trees still in their fall dress. 

We lost lots of branches and trees in this storm due to all of that extra weight.  It reminded us of our trip to Black Hills, SD when an October storm stranded us in our RV.  While the city employees fixed power lines and uprighted power poles, we went around the city RV park and shook snow off of the trees.  The loud gunshots of breaking branches was too much to bear and we felt we had to do something to help save the ones we could.  But I don’t know a prettier sight than the mix of brilliant golds and reds covered in a blanket of white snow.

Then the month ended with our Halloween celebration.  We found the most adorable Peacock costume for her.  Knowing how much she NEEDS to see what is behind her, I thought I would get her dressed early so we could play in the house with her costume on and let her look at herself in the mirror.  I thought she’d be used to the costume by now since Teddy has worn it and it has been sitting in her room for a month.

Things didn’t start out too well…

The costume was a little back-heavy and made walking and standing a little challenging in the beginning.  But she is strong and persistent.

We took her to Boo at the Zoo.  All the kids were dressed up and then there were treat stations all around.  Most of the lines for treats were too long for us to bother with, but we had a great time anyway.

Taking a break with the bears.

A zoo employee told us that outside of the real peacocks, there was only one other peacock he saw.  She caught a lot of eyes and got lots of oohhs and aahs that day.  She just loves being the center of attention, though.  Uh oh (for us).

I have a couple of videos in the Picasa Webalbums of her strutting her stuff at the zoo.  We almost had an incident with a real peacock (not on camera).  The peacock was being chased by another child and he turned to Elizabeth for help!  Once he got close enough he realized that she wasn’t real and quickly sped away.  Pretty funny.

Then we took her to our church for another Halloween adventure.

They set up a room of doors (Trick or Treat Street) that kids could knock on and when someone answered, you’d get candy.  It was creative and sweet.  A safe way for us to show her a little more of the holiday.

Lots more pictures and videos from the whole month can be found on our October WebAlbums.  Enjoy.

It’s been a busy month for Elizabeth and I’m under the impression that her explorations and experimentations are just beginning.  We are so lucky that she has such a sweet, fun and loving personality.

Spectacular September

We spent the first six days of September in sunny Florida (ok, it rained but we still loved it).  We stayed in a little hotel that was walking distance to the beach.  We’re finding that it works best if we can find a suite with the bedroom separate from the living area for Elizabeth’s nap time and early bedtime.  We also love having a kitchen available.  The smaller hotels have also been wonderful about providing cribs and high chairs, too.  Makes traveling with a baby so much nicer.

Here’s Elizabeth enjoying her breakfast one morning.  Granted, she’s holding her spoon…but if you look closely you’ll see she’s not holding the handle.  But she was having fun!

We got to see many of our friends during our trip and we even had some family come from Orlando and Miami to see us.  We ended up having a party at the clubhouse of our condo building and it was the perfect set up to mingle and nosh and Elizabeth could crawl around as much as she wanted.  She was still overwhelmed with the crowd and had a little stranger anxiety.  The last time she saw most of these friends and family was in February (when she was only four months old).  Things had changed a lot in those seven months!

Last visit we did lots of group lunches and dinners, but this visit we wanted to relax more and have more beach time.  This was Elizabeth’s first “real” time on the beach…time to explore and time to get into the ocean.  Boy did she love it.  We bought her her first bucket, shovel, and rake (should I share that she still plays with those toys in CO?).

Our friends Dick and Geri met us on the beach and we were so happy to see their 8-yr old granddaughter Samantha, too.  Eliz and Sam took to each other very easily.  (I forgot how the humidity & temp changes can fog up a camera lens so we lost lots of shots that day unfortunately.)

We had a lot to learn about getting sand out of a baby’s creases and folds…and we learned that she had even more creases and folds than we could imagine!  Boy oh boy.  And eventhough we had Eliz in and out of the water, we soon learned the importance of changing her out of her swim diaper and putting her into her normal ones while playing on the beach.  A couple of wet laps teaches you that quickly enough.  (For those of you who don’t know – and I didn’t pre-baby – but swim diapers don’t hold in pee, just the pooh!)

Unfortunately it was a little windy (with periodic rain) and Elizabeth refused to keep her new sun hat on, so any pictures of her that weren’t steamed up weren’t very good because she was squinty-eyed.  So no real great shots of her on the beach as I had hoped.

Elizabeth had her very first dental appointment on Sept 7th.  I was informed that we should start taking her after she started getting some of her teeth and before 1 year.  I was very proud of her – she handled it wonderfully!  Of course, it was mostly Q&A between the dentist and myself, but he did take a peek inside her mouth and they did a little brush-cleaning too.  To do the exam, they lay her on her back on a thick pad that is resting on our knees.  The dentist and I sat knees to knees with her head near him and I’m holding her down.  Now, those of you who know Elizabeth well know that she hates to be held down.  But she was very good…and her teeth are in great shape.  Yea!

The real excitement started on Sept 8th when Eliz stood up unsupported at Stacey’s (our babysitter).  Usually she would use something to pull herself up, so this was a huge feat to stand up without props.  She showed us her new skill at home on the 12th.   (There does seem to be a reoccurring theme here – this isn’t the first, or the last I’m sure, major event that happens at Stacey’s house first.)  After standing up, she would “surf” for a little while as she finds her balance in the middle of the room with nothing to grab on to.

Liam turned 1 this month.  Liam is one of Elizabeth’s buddies.  His Mom, Carrie, and I try to get together once a week for a walk/run and the two babes tend to chatter to each other along the way.  It’s very cute. 

It was nice to get to spend social time together with the moms I do see, and the dads that I never get to talk with.  It was also nice for Andy to get to meet them and for us to watch the kids play together.  Usually I don’t get to see Elizabeth interact with other kids because I’m “dropping her off” somewhere for her play time.

We started taking a Sign Language class on Sept 14th.  Apparently it allows a way for children to start communicating even before they can start talking.  What I witnessed this month was that her vocabulary took off after beginning these Signing Smart classes and I think it was partly because we would practice words more.

She was saying some of these words before, but here is a list of some of her words this month:  

• “hi” “bye” “mamama” “daddee” “baby” “all done” “ball”
• “light” while practicing sign language (the day after class began 9/15)
• “dog” while at a coffee shop in Estes Park and she saw a huge mountain dog inside the coffee shop…then three more just outside…and others on the path
• “duck” “uh-oh” “teddy” “bear” (but not “teddy bear”)
• While at Apex ChildWatch she said “neigh” “moo” “quack quack” while playing a game about farm animals
• She waves hello and yells “hhhiiiii” to everyone in shops and grocery stores or restaurants (she does seem to get hurt when people don’t respond to her – so keep that in mind the next time a baby says “hi!” to you!)

There’s not much food that she refuses…or refuses over and over I should say.  She loves fruit – with fresh strawberries and raspberries being some new fruits for her.  She has tried table food from a Mexican restaurant; she likes pita with hummus; and pizza & ice cream (especially when she was not feeling well because of teething – who doesn’t want comfort food then?).

She is now sharing her food.  She’ll pick up any type of finger food and offer it to us, even putting it in our mouth herself.  Sometimes I wonder if she wants to make sure it’s safe…by having us taste it first?  She must’ve heard rumors about my cooking.

We found a fun Halloween costume for her.  But since it’s so dramatic on the back side, I thought it would be best for her to get used to seeing the costume before Halloween so she doesn’t run around in circles like a dog chasing their tail trying to see what’s behind her, so I put her costume on Teddy.  Teddy is our guinea pig for any baby-substitute needs we have.  We used him when we were testing out the car seat before she was born.  (Here’s your preview of her costume!)

We had read an article about the risks of putting an infant in a bike trailer (or any bike carrier) before their first birthday.  It scared us enough to hold off…until we found a Chariot on Craig’s List.  Once we got it home, we were dying to get her out.  We broke down on the 17th and got her out on her first bike ride.

I won’t mention that it felt like MY first bike ride as well.  I hadn’t been on my bike since I was, what?, seven months pregnant? 

We hooked her trailer onto Andy’s bike (since he had been riding – he didn’t trust me!) and off we went.  We just jumped on a local trail near our house.  As you can tell from the photos, we had no problems with her enjoying her new ride.  She even kept her pretty new helmet on with no complaints.

We couldn’t believe that the Yoga Journal Conference was going on again this month up in Estes Park.  One year ago I attended the conference after winning a free pass to John Friend’s Anusara Yoga.  It was a blast.  This year, we just drove up for the day to meet with a couple of vendors and walk around the marketplace for new ideas.  Last year Eliz was still in my tummy (but only for a couple of weeks after) and now here she was in my arms.  She wooed everyone in the marketplace with her great smile, her big blue eyes, and her sweet-sounding “hi” to everyone we passed.

Afterward, we walked around the town of Estes.  Andy had to get HIS cup of coffee at his favorite coffee shop…the place where Elizabeth began saying “dog”.

Andy put Eliz on his shoulders for the first time.  She loved being high up with the great view, but we’re hoping she learns to sit up straighter.  She tends to lean back a little, but she is called the “lounge queen” for a reason.

 

The drive home was the lazy, scenic drive down the Peak to Peak Hwy.  The fall colors were astonishing and made the entire trip worthwhile.

September 27th was another huge day.  Elizabeth took two steps for Andy.  Her big One Year visit to the Pediatrician is scheduled for October 3rd.  We’re hoping she is walking by then so she can thumb her nose at the doctor as if to say, “Look at me!  And you didn’t think I could do this yet!”.  (She didn’t quite make that deadline, but the doctor thought she was superb anyhow.)

For how much Elizabeth loves being around people and other kids, I still enjoy the fact that she can also play so well by herself.  She seems so well rounded – sociable, yet comfortable with herself (could the shy girl in me be jealous?  perhaps).  In addition to playing with other kids at the sitters, I take her to the YMCA child watch (while I work – not workout) so she gets an opportunity to play and meet other kids.  I hope all of this is helping her blossom into this wonderful social butterfly.

Here are just some of the things Eliz enjoys doing or just funny things about her play:

• she loves “reading” books – which usually is taking each and every book off of the bookshelf and flipping thru the pages';
• she still loves dumping the stack of magazines from the end table (one-by-one usually).  Recycling one page at a time as she rips pages out of the magazines…good thing we don’t have the time to read them anyway so they are now her toys;
• she tries to push down on toys to activate sounds, but her little finger can’t push hard enough;
• She now bangs on the bathtub while I’m filling it for bathtime and throws stuff in the tub…I’m starting to worry that she’ll try to climb in soon;
• She’s getting fast and comfortable pushing her walk-behind-car around the house – sometimes I don’t know if she is walking or half-falling;
• She uses her car seat as a toy, too.  She loves crawling in and out, or even trying to crawl over the back side of it;

  

• She’s getting into the cabinets.  We’ve given her “permission” to go into one cabinet – the one with harmless Tupperware, teabags, and the such.  Now we find things strewn all over the house.  But she is learning to not only take things out but to also put things back.  She could spend 30 minutes just playing with the diaper bag alone.  Zip/unzip, take out, walk around the house dancing with her new item, put it back, zip/unzip, and repeat.

We’re struggling with her not listening to certain requests, though.  Such as not touching the glass doors on the fireplace.  I’m stubborn and thought that I could ‘train’ a one-year old to listen to me.  But these doors are a hazard – not only does she touch them, but she has learned to open them, and the one has always fallen off when not careful.  I did finally cry “Uncle” in October and we bought an ottoman to block off the fireplace…just in time for winter, too.

We joke that she has gotten our bad traits – she is stubborn like me and quick to throw a fit.  She experiences a change in personality when hungry…just like her dad.  I could go down a laundry list of traits, but I probably shouldn’t reveal that much about our dark sides, should I?  Who am I joking?  You all already know them!

Several days before her birthday the presents began to arrive.  At first I thought of holding them until her big day, but then I realized that she wasn’t going to understand it anyway.  She was also having some teething pains, so I thought it would be a nice distraction.  Here she is with her new Legos from my sister Karen.  (I’m going to make you go to the WebAlbums to see what happened AFTER construction was completed.)

But we did have to chuckle as to what else she played with.  The stiff, crinkly, shiny wrapping paper laid on our floor for days allowing her to crawl on it, step on it, crinkle it in her hands, and so on.  The box for the Legos is still in the house (as of Oct 28th) albeit a little beaten up.  She loves sitting on the box and sliding it all around the house.

I continue to find that my home yoga practice changes as Elizabeth gets older.  Now all I have to do is roll out my mat and she will come from anywhere in the house just to sit on it.  She also likes it when I break out my props…

I may never get a full practice in again…but when I see this expression on her face it somehow makes it all ok.

As always – lots more pictures on the September WebAlbums.  And hopefully it won’t take me a month before I can post October’s happenings.  Honestly, I used to think 2 weeks late was bad and now I’m a month behind on my post!  I love writing the blog, and I know many of you look forward to updates on Eliz, and I also hope to keep a record of life for Elizabeth to read years from now, but time just seems to disappear on me anymore.  We’re still trying to figure out how to bring balance back into our lives.  It’ll happen, I know it.  We’re not the only ones with a business, a kid, a side job, a desire to exercise, and a love of travel.  We’ll get there.  I still dream of showing Elizabeth the world – whether by RV, car, or plane, I don’t care.  To see that look of awe on her face every day (the same look I imagine I had as we were traveling the country) as she sees new and wondrous things.  Won’t that be grand?!  May life be filled with beauty and wonder for all of us.  Hugs.