Ellison's First Cookie

Lydia, Jonathan, & I had too much fun making and decorating Christmas cookies over the weekend. (Poor Angel was stuck upstairs suffering from allergies). Seriously, our guts hurt from laughing so hard as we critiqued each other's decorating skill - or lack thereof, I should say. I pity the friends and neighbors who were on the receiving end. At least they tasted good. But I digress... I couldn't resist letting Ellison try a cookie (sans frosting) since I made one in the shape of a teddy bear. For anyone that doesn't know Ellison, her absolute favorite object - her security object that we are sure to always keep two of - is her teddy bear, aptly named Teddy. She got a huge grin on her face when I showed her the Teddy cookie. She was hesitant at first, but soon Teddy's head was bitten off, and before we knew it, Teddy was missing entirely.

Ellison Meets More Family

Ellison got to meet her cousin, Marcos-Milan, and her Aunt Lydia & Uncle Angel for the very first time over Christmas. We had the fortune of having them visit us from the Miami area for a few days. Marcos is exactly 7 months younger than Ellison. It was fun to see the two of them interact. Ellison stepped right in to be the big girl in the dynamic duo. She even let Marcos crawl all over her as she layed on her tummy on the floor. The two vied for the same toys much of the time, but got along quite well. :) It was great to spend time with family for Christmas, and as usual, it went by much too quickly. Here are some photos of the kiddos.

Tanglewood Outing

We had the pleasure of going to see the Festival of Lights at Tanglewood Golf Course in Clemmons with the our great friends, the Perez family. We had such a fun time! Ellison and her BFF, Caroline, were a riot. Once we were in the golf course and moving at a snail's pace, the 2 girls got to sit up front on Jonathan's lap so they could get a good view. (No need to freak out - it truly was a snail's pace.) It was funny watching their 2 little heads bobble around as they looked about, and even funnier to watch Jonathan try to tame the 2 worms in his lap. Tony drove, and Mollie & I had to try to fit our butts on the car seats while hanging our heads out the backseat windows. During the light festival we made a pit stop at the little craft barn, and then roasted marshmallows over the bonfire while sipping hot chocolate. The ride home was par for the course (no pun intended) with 2 one-year-olds in the vehicle - Ellison & Caroline were coordinating alternating whines. But they did great for the excursion. Such a wonderful holiday evening! Thanks, Mollie & Tony!

Headphones

Ellison was all too willing, apparently, to be Daddy's muse. He put the wireless headphones onto Ellison one morning, and she couldn't stop grinning. Too darn cute!

A Plug for Luvs

Ellison tries to climb on just about everything nowadays. A very popular phrase we hear often out of her mouth is, "Up, up, up". I find her trying to climb on turned over laundry baskets, I've even found her lifting her leg to get up in the sink of her little play kitchen. She especially wants to climb up to sit in "big people" chairs. I was cleaning her room and was just about to unload the new box of diapers when I saw that the box was otherwise occupied.

Something's Wrong With These Photos...

Two things to note about these photos: 1) the date & 2) Ellison's attire. I'm still dumbfounded over the fact that Ellison got to wear sandals, a sun hat, and sunblock this time of year! It was so strange! My pedi was in no condition to be seen in flip-flops! We went on very long walks the last couple days to look at all the Christmas decorations (OK, and Mommy's bod needs some exercise). It just didn't feel right being 80 degrees. But Ellison loves long walks, so it's all good. She was chillin' - she put her bare little feet up on her stroller tray & perused the catalog we got in the mail on our way out.

More Horsin' Around

Ellison let Caroline in on all the fun of playing around on the cushionless sofa. Her other latest thing: going crazy in her crib. This child whines for us to put her in her crib to play around. She crazily rolls all over the place and flops herself all over, squealing with laughter the whole time. If you try to reach for her to pick her up, she gets a huge smile on her face, and at the very last second takes a dive away from you while she bursts into giggles. It's so funny! She also thinks it's loads of fun to jump up and down on her mattress, and play "Toss Teddy". She tosses Teddy out of the crib and we have to toss Teddy back in. This goes on and on. Good times... :)

13 Months Old!

At 13 months, Ellison's just about walking. She started taking steps the day before her first birthday, but then took a long break for a while. Now she's really getting her confidence, and takes steps all the time. Soon she'll be toddling around here like crazy. Ellison is getting quite good at making animal noises upon request, and mocking Santa's "ho, ho, ho". She's increasing her vocabulary and her understanding of many words. She delights in all this holiday stuff - the little Christmas village we have, the tree, the ornaments, the snowmen, the little window snowflakes, etc. Now if only we had some snow for her to play in. :( We certainly won't be holding our breath...

Horsin' Around

I found Ellison trying to put my shoes on. She managed to do so, and thought she was hot stuff.

We decided that Ellison needs to earn her keep around here! Tiny as she may be, that's no excuse - they make vacuums small enough, you know. I better add the disclaimer that I'm only kidding before one of you calls Social Services on us. Ellison actually likes the little hand-held Shark vacuum that I use. If it's sitting there, she'll go up to it and figure out how to turn it on, and then is so startled that she makes a beeline for me. When it's off, she enjoys pretending to help out.

About the only way I can try to cook or do anything in the kitchen without Ellison clawing at my legs is to open the "plastics" cupboard for her. She loves causing disarray with the "Ellison" section of the cupboard, and trying to put lids on the tupperware.

In the Holiday Spirit

Our little Soto threesome was asked to light the first Advent candle at church the other weekend. I hesitated to agree to it, given that our little 1 yr old spends most of the service in the back of church or in the nursery playing with her mom or dad. Luckily, Ellison was on her best behavior. I had horrible visions of her trying to grab the candle, the microphone, trying to squirm out of my arms, etc. She did great, though, and Jonathan & I managed to not jack-up the prayer or the lighting. Ellison looked adorable in her festive little outfit.

Cheap Entertainment

Grammy gave us the great idea of pulling the cushions off the sofa so Ellison could have her very own "jungle gym". Though it's provided endless entertainment for her, our living room permanently looks like a war zone. As soon as I get the brilliant idea to tidy up & return the cushions to their rightful positions on the sofa, Ellison makes it known that we ruined her space. It's quite cute - she climbs all over the area, going back and forth, grinning & giggling with delight. Her moves rival that of a WWE wrestler.

Ellison's First Owie

Though Ellison has had a few tiny "wounds" from slight mishaps before, this was Ellison's first "big" owie that left a nice mark. I was holding her hand while we were standing in the driveway talking to her dad when she lost her balance & swung around, letting go of my hand. Jonathan & I both heard a "smack" on the cement. :( She did a face plant & got a nice goose egg & abrasion on her forehead. It broke our hearts - she had dirt all over her face & even in her little teeth. This photo was taken shortly after the incident, so it ended up looking worse than this as the day wore on. The first of many, I'm sure...

T.P.ing

One fine day as I was in the kitchen cleaning up (OK, so it couldn't have been TOO fine of a day), Ellison wandered into the little bathroom (just off the kitchen) and found the greatest thing ever. Yes, the toilet that she's touching was clean - that was her dad's first question/reaction to seeing this photo, not "Aw, how cute!". Needless to say, bathroom doors are now closed in our house. I think she was just practicing for those early teenage days of T.P.ing she may have ahead. I'm not sure if that's a country thing and not a universal thing. And no, we never went cow tipping!

O Christmas Tree

Daddy surprised us one day by bringing home a real Christmas tree - both Ellison's and my first one ever! Over Thanksgiving weekend we decorated it. Ellison of course was a little upset that we were hanging all the "fun" (read "fragile") ornaments up where she couldn't reach them. I have a bad feeling I may soon see her little Bumbo seat at the base of the tree for something to stand on... In between whines and begs, she did manage to help decorate the bottom of the tree with the kid-safe ornaments. As soon as she would put one on, she would immediately pull it back off ("No, that's not the right spot...").

Feeding Time

Ellison delighted in feeding her baby the other day. She would feed the baby, then try to suck something out of the bottle herself. We're gonna have to watch this girl - she was tossing the bottle back as if she were taking shots! I swear she didn't learn to do that from us. After feeding her baby, she then hugged her, and burped her by gently patting her with her little fingers. So sweet!

Ellison's Photo Shoot

We had some professional photos taken while we were in Michigan for a few reasons: so we could get Ellison's 1 yr photos taken, so we could get photos of all of my parents' grandchildren together, and so we could actually get family photos of the 3 of us. They were taken by my brother's neighbor, Linda Saper, and she did a beautiful job! We got to scrap our original plans of getting the photos done in her studio because the weather was unusually beautiful. The kids all did great, but it had to be funny watching us adults all jump around & make funny faces to get the kids to smile at the same time!

Ellison with her cousins: Emma, Olivia, & Lucas

More Presents?!

Hey, this birthday thing isn't all bad! Upon her arrival back home in NC, Mookie got to celebrate her birthday again by opening more wonderful gifts! She loves her new push/ride toy from Aunt Carrie & Uncle Jeff - it plays loud music, and she stops to dance up a storm whenever she hears it. Then, she got to open up a big package from her abuelo & abuela, and Aunt Marie & Aunt Ana, which was full of adorable new clothes, boots, and socks. The socks, were of course a hit. We had to literally pry them from her fist as she squawked when it was time to get in the bathtub!

A Lovely Fall Day

Ellison and I jumped at the chance to be outside when the sun actually decided to shine toward the end of our long visit. I had forgotten about all those dreary Michigan days! Ellison especially enjoyed hanging out by the birdfeeder.

Ellison's Latest Quirks

Well, these aren't all of them, but nonetheless. I mentioned her toilet paper/kleenex thing and the makeup thing previously. Here she was hoarding her grandparents' toilet paper stash, and here she is having fun going through the makeup bag.

This girl loves to push things and be outside, and she tries to put on her own shoes. Her little lips do this cute little thing when she's concentrating hard on something.