11 Months and 3 days

She's growing, although I'm really  not sure how much she weighs or how tall she is.  Her little mind is constantly working.  She can say Mama and Dada and roar like a lion and I'm pretty sure she can say two when I'm counting.  Then there is all the baby talk.  "Ahdoo" is a favorite right now, which sounds like a southern "I do".  When we ask "where is ...?" she will look for or look at people or things.  She can do all the motions for pat-a-cake.  She can point to our noses when we ask her where they are, but she's not quite sure where her own is yet.  She loves stairs.  She doesn't understand that she should crawl down them backwards.  It's always headfirst.  She still loves getting into and discovering everything.  She understands and obeys when we say "no".  She's very sensitive and automatically sticks her bottom lip out or starts crying when we get on to her.  She climbs and crawls and walks while hanging on to things.  She occasionally stands by herself.  But no walking on her own yet.  She eats just about everything, including non-edible things. She's been eating on her own a lot more over the past week.  She loves being outside and looking out the window. 

So much more, but that's all I've got right now.

Happy 11 month Birthday sweet Elise! 

Curiosity

She really is into everything right now, and as long as she can't seriously hurt herself, I say go for it!

Getting into the cabinets, literally!

She loves pulling out onions and garlic out of the onion box

She was watching the chickens eat, and then lost interest.

The pans...they are lots of fun

The chickens really fascinate her these days

I found her stuck under the couch today

Future pianist?

Our first 5k as a family!

10 Months

 

Surely not.  But yes, she already 10 months.  Crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, fascinated by every movement, texture, taste, and possibility. (Right now she has pulled the garlic out of the onion box and is chewing on it) She has finally reached the realms of spoken word..."Da Da" it is...her one and only word that she says on purpose.  She has her very funny unique fake laugh and then her uncontrolled real laugh when she's being tickled or when something is funny to her.  I love them both.  She loves looking out the front window, it's just her height.  She can finally wave, it's often with two hands and she uses her whole arm.  It's more of a flap really.  We're still working on trying to change her diaper without it being a big horrible thing that makes her cry and feel like she needs to escape the torture immediately.  She's been trying to get her two front teeth.  Mama's chin makes a good teething toy.  She was up every three hours at first, but now she's back to sleeping through the night.  Still no front teeth though.  She's growing and changing at an incredible rate and it's hard to remember all that she's up to, but there what's on my mind right now.

And now for the red chair pictures.  I took them right after she woke up from her nap, so she actually sat there without trying to move everywhere.

Too Many Green Tomatoes!

After the first frost I went and picked all of our leftover tomatoes.  I got a lot of green tomatoes.  I decided to challenge myself to making an entire meal using green tomatoes.  I found several recipes online. 

Green tomato Salsa

Green Tomato Soup and Green Tomato Biscuits

Green Tomato Pie

And  I still had all of these tomatoes left over!

I think my favorite recipe was for the Green Tomato Biscuits.  But everything turned out ok.  Our neighbors were the Guinea pigs for the meal and I don't think they got sick from eating so many green tomatoes.

So if you want any green tomatoes please come and get 'em and if you know anymore good green tomato recipes they are welcome in our kitchen!

Happy Halloween/Birthday

Yesterday was Elise's first Halloween and she was as cute as a punkin'.  It was also Dane's 33rd birthday!  My two favorite people.

9 Months

 20lbs 9oz and 29 1/2 inches long.  Since she's started crawling, she's lost almost a pound.  I'm tellin' ya, the girl is on the move.  She's crawling, pulling up, walking with support, crawling up stairs, and constantly trying and learning to do more.  It's a fun stage.  She is more understanding of "no" and is quite sensitive if you get on to her.  I'm hoping that sensitivity develops into a tender and compassionate heart.

She learned to stand up in her crib

Playing with our next door neighbor.  They're 20 days apart

Playing with the little boy I babysit, she tries to keep up

With some Memphis friends

She really does not like getting dressed or getting her diaper changed.  We're working on that.  We've started a bedtime routine that has helped her go to sleep more peacefully.  We read a couple of books with her and then Dane prays while she starts nursing.  She is usually asleep or really drowsy by the time she's done nursing and a rock her for a couple of minutes and then put her down to sleep.  She almost always sleeps through the night.

She's growing fast and we're growing with her. 

The red chair pictures.  She really doesn't want to sit still for them anymore. 

 

 

Elise's First Camping Trip

 We went camping for the first time with Elise earlier this month.  We went with friends who love Elise, so I think that probably made the adventure a bit easier.  Lots of hands to hold her so she didn't eat too many leaves and rocks.  We will hopefully have many more camping trips in the years to come.

Elise with her camo bag!

Elise trying to escape the tent...or trying to get to the leaves

Elise was up bright and early playing with Daddy

Elise borrowing a headlamp

Enjoying breakfast together with the camping crew

Everyone trying out the Elise face

Naked on our hike...she got hot on Daddy's back

Elise...

...and Uncle Adam

...and talking...probably something like duh, huh, huh

...and Uncle Joseph

...and Great Mammaw

...and Aunt Miri

...and Mommy

...and her first tooth

...and Skippy.  She loves dogs.

...amazed/bewildered at discovering this world

...sleepy with Aunt Miri

...playing the piano with Aunt Miri

Elise Trying New Foods

Orange

Do I have something hanging out of my mouth?

 Okra

mmmmmm...so slimy