12 Months

Elliot is 12 MONTHS old!

Well, the day has come. My baby is no longer an infant. She is officially a toddler! Where did the time go? I can't believe that one year ago today, I held the most beautiful baby in the world and became a mommy for the first time. It wasn't the easiest entrance into mortal life, in fact, we almost lost her. (You can read the full birth story here.) But on August 1, 2013 I witnessed a miracle. And that miracle's name is Elliot Claire. 

Enough of that mushy stuff :) Here's what's been going on with our little E-Claire in the last month:

• Her favorite word is "Hi!" She says it probably 50 times a day, and mostly when she wants your attention. 

• This girl loves to have her face tickled. Especially by daddy. While he's at the wheel. But only at red lights. He'll reach back and stroke her little face and she sits there content and happy. It's totally safe, I promise :)

• She has been so cuddly and affectionate lately. The best feeling in the world is a baby sleeping on your chest. And slobbery kisses. Those are good too. 

She definitely has her Daddy's tongue.

• She is a social butterfly. She LOVES kids. Any kid. It doesn't matter if they've met before or not, she just wants to be everyone's friend and get in on whatever it is they are doing. She loves adults too! We have some neighbors here in Boise that Ellie adores. She'd rather sit with them than me, she whines until they hold her, she screams "Hi! Hi! Hi!" to them during Sacrament Meeting until they acknowledge her...stuff like that :) Here she is with her cousins!

• This girl has such a natural, mothering instinct. She loves to kiss, rock, and hug her baby dolls and stuffed animals. She is going to be an amazing big sister. (No, not an announcement :) )

• Ellie loves her toys, but, by far, her favorite activity is reading. She'd read all day long if I'd let her. She loves to be read to aloud, but is also perfectly happy to plop herself down on the floor, grab a book, and flip through the pages, pointing and jabbering to herself.  I'm so proud of my little bookworm!

• Nothing new, but she has the best smile and happy personality. Isn't she the cutest?

• So far, Ellie hasn't shown any extreme interest in the outdoors. (She takes after her daddy, haha.) She likes going outside when there's kids to play with, water to splash in, or animals to chase. But the one thing she loves most about nature itself is the wind. When the wind is blowing, she gets very excited -- she begins to bounce, raise both arms in the air, look heavenward, and yell at all the noisy trees. It's pretty cute.

• Ellie expands her vocabulary every day. I've been working really hard to try and teach her to say "Amen" after a prayer. But so far she's decided saying "yaaaaay!" is more her style. Other words she's learned this month: uh-oh, all done, and ball. And if you ask, she'll also tell you that ducks make a "gack-gack" sound.

• She's gotten really good at blowing kisses.

• She makes the cutest fishy lips.

• Ellie now has FIVE teeth! In addition to her two bottom/middle teeth, her top/left canine and front/right tooth have broken through! Her top/right canine is close behind. We're in for a pretty hilarious vampire-like grin when it finally does. 

• She loves, loves blankets. Whenever there is one lying around, she belly flops and buries her face in it. She can't sleep without her purple blankie with the rainbow fringe. 

• We recently bought Ellie a big plastic ball. She has learned to pick it up, lift her arms way up over her head, and throw it with all her might. She's more coordinated than I thought!

• She learned another song :)

• Recently, Elliot has been very interested in looking through her baby scrapbook. She loves to flip through the pages and point to all the faces she recognizes. She kisses almost every "baby" picture (aka: herself), and points to Christian's face, says "da-da" and kisses him too.

• Elliot has become a pro at clapping. Now, whenever she deems a situation worthy of applause, she'll drop whatever she's doing and squeal, "yaaaay!" while clapping over and over again. She's such an enthusiastic little thing :)

• Ellie is becoming more and more independent by the day. She's really into feeding herself and won't eat anything unless she can pick it up off her tray. She also learned that not only does she have the freedom to pick up the food, she also has the freedom to decide where that food should go. So now...dropping food on the floor is, unfortunately, a regular mealtime occurrence. Sigh...gotta love one year olds!

This was supposed to be sensory play. Instead, she decided to just eat the spaghetti. She does what she wants :)

It is such a privilege to be this little girl's mom. She is my world and I love her dearly. Sometimes being a mom is hard. Like, really, REALLY hard. But there's nothing else I'd rather devote my life to. 

Happy Birthday Elliot Claire!