you've earned a new nickname.

Destructobaby!

your favorite things to do are dump things over (including the trash cans), pull things out (like the cabinets), tear pages out of books and magazines, and "reorganize" your grandpa's coffee table.



















i'm hoping that someday your hobby will be picking things up.

love, mom

Happy 13 Months Birthday!

geez. t am still coming to terms with you being a year old, and already a month has passed since your birthday.

you are right on the verge of walking, it seems, but you really don't seem to be in much of a hurry. i'm not all that worried about how quickly you do things. to put it in perspective, we worried that sam wasn't really talking until he was almost 2, but then he could legitimately read at 3. so, you just take your time with all that. i'm sure very soon you'll be running around and getting into all kinds of trouble. you already climb enough that it makes me nervous, so it's probably best for all of us that you're not completely independent in your mobility.

i realized today that you now have 5 pairs of shoes that you wear on a regular basis. that's almost as many as the rest of the family put together. we're not really a multi-shoe family. the trouble is, little girl shoes are not neutral at all. the white ones have pink stripes. the brown ones have pink flowers. that means they don't really match any red or blue. the black ones are patent leather, and therefore will not match your casual clothes. so, that necessitates buying 5 different pairs of shoes. i won't argue that they are dang cute; that certainly helps the cause. and in defense of my frugality, we only really spent about $12 altogether on the shoes. some were gifts, hand-me-downs, etc. i think the red sparkly ones we bought today are my favorite. they look like dorothy's ruby slippers from the wizard of oz. and they were on sale!

we think you're saying more stuff. like "yes" and "this." they sound very similar and may in fact be one or the other or neither of those words. we do notice that you understand more and more all the time. now is the age where we start noticing you doing and understanding things and we wonder how long you've been understanding them. like earlier when i asked if you wanted another cracker, and you reached out for me to give you one. and when i asked if you wanted more milk, and you handed me your cup.

your sleep habits got disturbed a lot over the holidays. you were doing pretty well, only waking up once at night for a few nights in a row. and then we started traveling. we know that you really really really need your own room, in order to sleep the best. that's a little weird, since you slept with us until about 10 months. but now if you're in the room with us, you wake up about 75 times. we finally had to stick your port-a-crib in the laundry room at grandma and pappy's house, in order for anyone to get any rest.

since i failed at taking pictures on your 13 months birthday, here are some shots of you from Christmas! the first and fourth pictures are a pretty outfit from your aunt michelle. the second one is you in your Christmas dress that i bought you way back in february. i'm so glad it fit you so well!
the third one is an outfit that your aunt keri bought you, including the fabulous and classy black patent leather shoes. people sure do like to buy you pretty things! i can't get over what a big girl you look like in these pictures.

love, mom

Merry Christmas Eve!

today was a big day! Christmas Eve is the day we celebrate with your grandma and pappy and aunt and uncle and great grandmas and great uncle and cousins, and you had tons of fun, as usual. everyone had fun cramming your mouth with cookies. they didn't really have to twist your arm or anything, to get you to eat them.

your cousins fought over who got to hold you, and you managed 3 wardrobe changes throughout the day. there are just too many cute Christmas dresses and pajamas to wear.

sleep tight, and tomorrow morning your stockings will be filled! you and sam make Christmas fun.
love, mom

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

since you weren't even a month old last Christmas, this is going to be a much more festive one for you, i think.

you have been tolerating 8 zillion shopping trips to places like hobby lobby, while i gather stuff for making presents for people. i hope that you are a list maker, unlike me, when you grow up. it will save you a lot of time.

you also let me take a few pictures of you in front of the tree tonight, with silly hats. i took some of sam, too, but by the time i tried to take some of the two of you together, you weren't very excited about the whole thing anymore. we'll try again tomorrow! thankfully, your black eye is almost gone.

shopping trips and photo shoots aside, i hope this is a fun Christmas for you!

love, mom

p.s. i really really really wish that angel picture of you had been in focus.

you saw the doctor today.

it was probably your last visit with dr. weeden, since we moved so far away from him. he was you doctor when you were first born, and he liked to always joke about the 3 really big girl babies (you were one of them) and the tiny little scrawny boy baby that were born that night he was on duty at st. mary's. i like him a lot, but i don't think you'll mind too much, finding a different doctor.

today you went in for your 12 month well baby checkup and shots. they said you are 19lbs, 13 oz. so that means that you have gained exactly 11 pounds in the year since you were born.

there was a new nurse there doing your measurements, and they seemed a bit off. she measured you at 29" in length. in september, you measured 29.5"... i kind of doubt you're shrinking. i think what happened was that you got measured too long last time, and too short this time.

oh well, as long as you're healthy, i don't care if i know with 100% accuracy what percentile you are in for height and weight.

you have a little bit of an ear infection, so you are taking antibiotics again. guess all the snot and such was an actual cold, and not just teething. we haven't seen any more teeth, so that makes sense.

the doctor also said we should probably try and make you stop eating so much at night, as more sleep will be better for all of us. i'm betting this will be a long week, in the overnight department, but i'm hoping that by next week we will all have made it out alive, and with improved sleeping patterns!

you are closer to walking every day. i think it will be soon now.

here are some pictures from silver dollar city a few days after your birthday. it was very cold! you got to ride the butterflies, which was your first real kiddie ride ever. congratulations! you LOVED the Christmas lights, and we think you said "lights" a couple times.

here's also a picture of you with the new friend you made while we took a walk in the neighborhood the other day. you really liked that dog, and she liked you. she followed us on the whole rest of the walk and escorted us back to the house.

love, mom

you got your first battle scar yesterday.

when i turned my head at target and then heard a loud thump, as you hit the ground, it was probably the most scared i've felt in your life so far.

you are a wiggle worm, and a little houdini, and you manage to work your way out of the safety belts on the shopping carts, so you can try to escape through the leg holes, or stand up backwards... so we had kinda given up on the safety belts anyway. i just put you in the big basket part this time, figuring it was as safe or safer than the top part. i had no idea you could climb out of that, until you did.

the nurse at your doctor's office said that it sounded like everything was okay, when i told her about it on the phone. you were behaving normally, your soft spot wasn't bulging, etc., so she said to just make sure you're not drowsier than normal or hard to wake up, and that you aren't vomiting or having seizures. none of those things have happened, and you seem totally fine, except for the horrible mark on your head.

your little eyelid is swollen, and i think you're going to have a black eye. the red mark is actually a carpet burn, since there was carpet on the floor.

we're going to have to watch you like a hawk, that is for sure. you're too much like i was when i was a baby.

sam has been praying for you a lot. he keeps saying, "poor elisabeth. her eye is down!" and he told you this morning, "you sure are cute, baby, but your eye sure is down!"

i'm sorry i didn't keep you from hurting yourself, my sweet little girl, but i thank God that you are okay.

love, mom