Sweet 13 Months...and never been kissed...

Today Mommy and Daddy took me to the mall with them.  They let me play in the kid's area for a while and I had so much fun playing on all the toys!  There is a log that I love to crawl through and little animals I like to sit on like I'm riding a pony!  For a long time I was the only kid in there, so I had the whole place all to myself....SWEET!  Then another Mommy and her child came along.  When her little boy (who was about my age) was sitting in the little toy boat I walked right over and gave him a kiss, and then the little boy kissed me back!  Mommy says it's time for Daddy to start cleaning his guns...whatever that means.

MORE TEETH AND WALKING FARTHER!  Today Daddy noticed that I am getting two new teeth in!  They're on top and comming in on either side of my two front teeth!  That will make me 8 teeth!  Mommy says I now officially have more teeth than most of the population of Sedro-Woolley, a nearby town.  Mommy's friend, Darcy who is a dentist said that she needs to make an appointment for me with a pediatric dentist.  So I guess I'll soon have my first dental check up!

Today I walked halfway across the house all by myself, without holding onto anything!  Daddy laughs and says I look like an ape when I walk because I kind of hold my hands up over my head when I do it....especially if I'm trying to go fast.  Today I even tried running for the first time, or so Daddy thinks...Mommy thinks my legs just got going so fast that they got away from me.  Daddy said that I started doing my ape walk and the walk turned into a run, tha't s when all the momentum was quckly lost and I plopped down on my behind.

I keep telling Mommy that she needs to get my pictures and videos updated on my totsite, but she's been so busy with work, private students, shows and concerts that she hasn't had any time lately to do it.  But she promised me that she would get to it pretty soon.  So stay tuned!

I'M JUST A LOVE MACHINE!  I'm giving out kisses!  In fact I love to give kisses!  Mommy calls me a kissin' fool.  All you have to do is say, "Kisses" and I'll lean right into you and give you a smooch!  I'll do it again and again, as long as you keep saying, "Kisses."

My vocabulary is expanding.  I'm starting to say more and more words.  Tonight I said "Doggy" not "Dah-do" when I was looking at our little rat of a chihuahua.  The word I don't say, that Daddy wishes I did is ,"Daddy."  Instead I call both Mommy and Daddy "mama."  Daddy doesn't like that too much.  I'd tell you some of my other words but it might ruin the results of my current poll, so you'll just have to wait to find out later.

The other day Mommy and Daddy and I went out to lunch.  At the table next to us was an older couple and they had fun watching me eat and gaze around in wonder at all there was to see.  At the end of their meal the man walked up to Daddy and said, "I have to tell you that you have the most well behaved baby I have ever seen, and I'm 77 years old."  I guess that must mean that man has seen a lot of babies in his life time.  Mommy always tells me what a good kid I am and I guess here's proof, even strangers agree with her.

 I'm also getting to be a big girl and I like to drink out of my sippy cup!  I can't quite figure out how to drink out of a straw, but I'm sure I'll figure that one out soon.  My newest game during meal time is to bite down on my spoon and smile while Mommy and Daddy say, "give me that" in a funny voice.  It's really a lot of fun, you should try that game sometime!

Wow, so much to catch up on.  We've all been so busy, and since I don't know how to type, or even spell yet, I have to wait for Mommy to update my totsite!  Daddy has been busy working swing shift at his new job where he hauls lumber.  He loves his new job and because he works swing shift, I only have to be in daycare for about 2-3 hours a day or less before Mommy picks me up after she's done at work.  Daddy's new job is also only 4 days a week, so every Friday and Daddy and Elise time!!!!

Mommy's been so busy with the opera, they just opened last night and she said that they had a good house!  They're doing Mozart's "Le nozze de Figaro" and Mommy is the timpanist in the orchestra!  Mommy's also bee busy coaching the local Youth Symphony and helping them prepare for their upcoming concerts, as well as facilitating her bi-weekly Women's Drum Circle and teaching private lessons.  When Mommy's home with me we have fun playing together and singing silly songs...Mommy knows a lot of silly songs!!

This last week Mommy and I got to go to Seattle THREE TIMES!  The first trip was to go to Grossology at the Seattle Science Center.  I got to play on some of the little kid toys and see how the body makes all sorts of gross stuff....like boogers, snot, toots, and everything else.  Mommy and I even got to go into a giant nose and be boogers!!!  Then the nose sneezed really loud!  I also got to touch a sea anemonie!  It was kind of soft and squishy and when I touched it with my finger it curled up around my finger.  It was pretty fun...what a great world God has given us.  I see more and more fun and beauty in it every day!

The second and third trips to Seattle last week were to visit Mommy's old college roommate, Thiry, from her undergraduate days.  It was the first time that Thiry got to meet me and she thought I was really cute...but who could argue with that!  Thiry lives in Alaska with her husband and two young daughters, so she and Mommy don't see eachother very often, but they sure do talk on the phone a lot!

I hope you have had as much fun as I have in the last week!  I'm growing by leaps and bounds and taking more steps every day.  When Mommy and Daddy are eating I like to wander between them to get nibbles of what they have on their plates.  Tonight I got to have some mashed potatoes, and a little taste of a biscut....YUMMY!!!

First Steps!  And Saying, "Hi."  Tonight Elise took her very first steps without holding on to anything.  She was standing hanging onto the couch and Mommy crouched down and called to her.  That's when Elise walked 4 steps without holding onto anything to get to Mommy!  When Daddy heard about this he immediately came into the room and wanted to see, so Elise did it again!  But just as Daddy was running to get the video camera, Elise became camera shy and refused to do it again in front of the camera. 

Today was also the first time that Elise said, "hi."  When Mommy, Daddy, or Grandma Stansberry said, "hi," Elise would smile and say, "hi" right back.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Today was the big day we have all been waiting for.  Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Stansberry and I all slept in.  Then while Mommy was feeding me, Daddy cooked a yummy breakfast.  We all got to open our presents, and I couldn't believe how many toys I got!  I got all sorts of fun stuff, and colored wooden ring stack toy, and ball popper toy, a play house, a Fisher Price Baby Grand Piano, some stuffed animals, some books, a rocking musical snail, a Sesame Street Musical Pop up toy, some clothes, and lots more!  After we all opened our presents we hung around the house playing with our new stuff, and relaxing.  Later on we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hodges' house for dinner.

What a fun day!  The best part is that in just a few weeks it will be my birthday!  Can you believe it?  I'll be ONE YEAR OLD!  And that day Mommy says I'll even get more presents!  WOW!  I can hardly wait!

Doin the WAVE!  Today Mommy, Daddy and I did the last of our Christmas shopping at the Alderwood Mall.  We had to hurry home because Mommy had to get to the theater to play another opera, but we sure had fun while we were out.

My newest trick that I just learned this week is waving.  I love to wave to EVERYBODY!  Even if we've been in the same room together for hours, I'll just wave to say hi!  I waved at everyone in the mall as I wizzed by in my stroller, and some of them even waved back!