eleven months

At eleven months, I am in disbelief that our daughter is close to a year-old already. I've found myself becoming emotional as I remember the day she was born -  the emotions that arrived with the culmination of forty weeks of anticipation, the love that overwhelmed us the minute she was born, the exhaustion after laboring for 20 hours, and the wonder at the little person whose parents we got to become.

Since day one, that wonder has not let up and it continues to fill our days as Elia's first birthday draws near.

Her personality is starting to form and we are so thankful for a happy, content, curious daughter. She is independent at times, refusing help when she eats and playing on her own.

To my delight, her newborn love for snuggling seems to have returned.

She loves to explore her world, which we couldn't be happier about.

Eleven months is pretty remarkable so far.

Todd and I recently realized that we're no longer new parents. I've recently realized that I can no longer say that I just had a baby. We have much left to experience and learn but, we've hit a good groove. I have to give credit where it's due, Ms. Elia is just a dream.

We really hit a home run with this one. (Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.)

We love you!

sunday with the butterflies

Just like everyone else in Michigan, we've had it with winter and are looking for every way possible to get out of the house and soak up every little bit of warm weather and sun that we can. Yesterday, with temperatures that felt almost like a heatwave at 50 degrees, we walked to the grocery store and did our shopping. It was so fabulous to stretch our legs and take in some fresh air.

Sunday was still a bit cooler so, we headed to the Meijer Gardens after church to see the butterflies.

"Mariposa!"

"People!"

"Mariposas seem nice, Mom, but...a leaf!"

"Mariposa!"

"Hand."

Oh, but what fun we had.

elia - ten months

Ten months have come (and nearly gone) since Elia was born and she continues to enchant us every day.  She is almost a toddler and her baby-ness is starting to fade.

In celebration of ten magical months, here are ten things about Elia lately:

1. Elia is a crawling machine.  She's fast and whips up and down the house following either of us wherever we go.
2. She loves standing a scooting around the furniture.  This has resulted in a few bumps to the head already.  We're battling against hardwood floors through the house - they might be winning.
3. She knows the sign for "more", and uses it often while eating.
4. Favorite foods include: Puffs, strawberries, Greek yogurt, anything from a packet, toast (especially off of mom's plate), black beans, and baby chili.
5. We are pretty sure she knows the chorus to "Old McDonald", whenever we sing it she chimes in with something like... "E-yi-eyi-uh" right before the chorus begins.
6. Old McDonald aside, she loves when we sing both "The Wheels On the Bus" (she does the motion for 'round and round' - too cute), and "La Araña Pequeñita" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider).
7. She weighed a whopping 20 pounds at her last doctor's appointment, just a few weeks ago.
8. I think she misses warmer days just like the rest of us - she's been so happy whenever we've been able to get outside on sunny days.
9. Bath time is the best time. Splash, splash, splash!
10. Her hair is starting to move past the pure fluff stage - in no time we'll be at her first haircut.

This post is very late so, if all goes according to plan, we'll have an eleven (11!) month post in about a week!

pancake party

If you hadn't noticed, it's cold. So cold, that Elia's school is closed for the third time this month. In fact, my office is also closed for the third time this month, something I never guessed I'd see happen. So, what to do with another unexpected snow day? Pancake party, of course!

"Whoa," says Elia.

For some reason last night, I got it in my head that E must try pancakes as soon as possible. Maybe it was that new tooth peeking through. Maybe it was the fact that she is nine-going-on-ten months old and I'm bored with all of the sensible veggies and fruits she's been eating so, assume she must be too. Whatever the reason, as soon as I found out that I too had a snow day, the pancake party was on.

"You say this is a what?  A pancake?  If you say so, Mom."

"Hmm.  This is pretty good."

"Smells good, too."

"I think I like these."

As you can see, the pancakes were a hit, as much for the mess that they created as the flavor, I'm sure.

To make the pancakes, I simply used a box mix that we had. It's a snow day after all, you've got to work with what's on hand. As a special treat, and for some bonus nutrition, I added some banana to Elia's pancakes.

Wild Blueberry and Banana Multigrain Pancakes

1 cup Archer Farms Wild Blueberries & Multigrain Pancake and Waffle Mix

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons applesauce

1 egg

1 banana thinly sliced

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Combine pancake mix, milk, applesauce, and egg in a bowl.  Stir until slightly lumpy, batter will be thick.

Using a tablespoon, scoop approximately one tablespoon of batter on hot skillet.  Place one slice of banana in the center and top with an additional tablespoon of batter.

Flip pancakes when edges around banana begin to cook and bubble, about two minutes.  Because of the banana in the center, don't be afraid to let the pancakes cook longer than normal to ensure batter cooks through.  Pancakes are done when they are a nice, golden brown.

Let cool, then start the pancake party!

nine months

We are speeding through Elia's first year and she is now nine months old.

She continues to be a darling, happy girl.

She is still working on crawling forwards but it's darn cute to see her "crawl" in circles and backwards.

Buttons, snaps, any visible hardware like bolts, nail heads, anything like that), and stud earrings could keep her occupied for hours.  She finds them everywhere from my jacket to the top of our ottoman and pokes and picks at them until she's torn away for one reason or another.

Standing continues to be her favorite thing to do and once she gets crawling down, we think walking will be just around the corner.

She cut her third tooth today, a top tooth.  She'll be looking like such a grown up when its partner comes in.

Sweet girl, you have grown so much in the last nine months.  As always, we love you so.  Sweetie.