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.

A Joint Celebration

On November 4 there was another birthday party to celebrate 3 birthdays: Allie, my cousin Shawn's daughter, turned 2 on November 5; Ellison turned 1 on November 5; and my Aunt Yvonne (aka "Gramma Yvonne" to Ellison, who is Shawn's mom) had a birthday November 6. Since our families do everything together, we naturally thought we'd have a little gathering for the birthdays.

Ellison with an ice cream face

Mookie Turns 1!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ellison!!! Our little girl turned one on November 5 (The date on the one photos is wrong). Since returning to NC, Ellison had her one year check-up (6 shots and a finger poke!!!) - she's doing great, weighs in at 20 pounds, and measures 29 1/2 inches.

What an amazing year it has been for us! This little girl has blessed and enriched our lives more than we ever could have imagined! It has been pure joy watching her grow into a toddler. We only hope that one day she'll know how much she's loved. The year feels like it has gone by in a blur, even though we have a ton of photos to show for it. :) Ellison is a very calm, even-mannered, easy-going, sweet, loving, strong-willed, quiet, and intelligent little girl. She adores her daddy, but likes her mommy close by. Right now, she loves baby dolls - she now feeds them a bottle, burps them ever so gently, cradles them, and pokes at their eyes. She gets excited every day when I get my makeup bag out - she goes through it pulling items out, puts the mini-makeup bag on her arm like a purse, then actually pretends to put makeup on me (or daddy if he's close by) with a brush, and thinks it's the coolest if I pretend to put some on her. She loves getting lip balm put on her lips, and will then return the favor by putting the lip balm on you. She LOVES socks! She pulls one off her feet much of the time, but is content with any little sock or pair of socks - she takes one and crumples it and keeps it in her little fist, even when crawling around. She also does this with kleenex or toilet tissue, too - she'll sit there for the longest time gently and slowly tearing it into the tiniest pieces, and then will crumple a big piece in her fist and keep it there while she goes about her business. Ellison has really gotten into boogying lately, too - when she hears music she wiggles her bod every which way & flails her arm in the air. Her favorite foods are probably bananas and still Cheerios. She adores Barney loves it if she catches a TV show that has puppets (like Sesame Street). For being 1, she sure shares well with others (I'm sure that'll change!). Ellison isn't a real vocal kid (yet), but she's very thoughtful - you can almost see the wheels turning in her head. And she's got a smile and laugh that'll just make you melt! We are so proud of the little person she is.

Ellison's Birthday Party on Nov. 3

So these are photos of Ellison's birthday party, held a couple days before the actual event. It was funny, she wasn't crazy about cake. She just gently poked at it with her finger, so we had to put her hand in it a couple times before she'd taste it. But even after tasting it, she never went crazy with it, just simply licked the frosting a little bit, then was done. (Yea! Good habits already, Mookie!). She does, we found, love ice cream though. As far as opening gifts, she tore at the paper very gently and slowly for just one second, and then wasn't interested, so her cousins got to do the honors. She received some wonderful gifts (thanks, everyone!) - she even got some of her birthday gift from her Buffalo family (Abuelo & Abuela Soto & her aunts Ana & Marie) sent to Michigan.





































Pap

Happy 1st Halloween!

Our little Oompa Loompa! Jonathan & I had fun making Ell's costume this year. She looked hilarious! Even though she didn't attend the Halloween Party, we dressed her up just beforehand so she could be in costume with her cousins since they wouldn't get to see her on Halloween day. Jonathan & I dressed up as a ghostly maid and chauffeur. The party was awesome - everyone had a great time (some had TOO good a time, ahem).

Ellison was so excited to have stumbled upon Grammy & Papa's Halloween candy stash. She played with the Dorito bag for the longest time just to hear it make noise. Cheap entertainment. We should go return all of her toys at once.

This is the Oompa Loompa on Halloween day going trick-or-treating. Her very first stop was here, to her Great Aunt Sheila & Uncle Phil's, where Lexi (the Yorki) was dressed up as a baby. Ellison thought Lexi was the greatest.

This girl was such a trooper going trick-or-treating. There's something to be said for living in the city on a day like this - living out in the country (at my parents' house where I grew up), we had to drive to every single stop (I know - like many other folks). But it's not the easiest on the little ones who have to get strapped in and out of a carseat constantly, but she did great. The weather was icky and she was coming down with a cold, but in true Mookie style, she did really well.