Look Ma, No Hands!!!

Two new things this week:

1. Elsie has started calling for "Mama" when she wants me! *cheering*

2. Elsie has started standing without holding on to anything! *double cheering!*

Little Miss Piggy

Last week Elsie had this new thing she was doing whenever she got excited. I took a video and now I think it's time to share it with everyone!

And another new thing - She loves waving her arms around and swatting at her toys and high chair! Notice this video also has some piggy snorts, although she has calmed down with those a little...

Yep. She gets cuter every day. And more charming. Have a good week, everyone!

My baby wants to walk!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm so excited.... My husband informed me the other day that it is a tradition in his family to open presents at midnight. I was happy to hold up that tradition this year. Because I am impatient.

Our beautiful 4 foot tree... Yes, our stockings are already stuffed. 

Thursday was a special day. Elsie turned 6 months old! This is what we did for Elsie. But not really, because she can't eat it...

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Happy half-birthday to Elsie! To celebrate, I made a half a cake. Then decorated it. It's pretty sloppy, but I'm still kind of proud of it. Of course, she couldn't eat it, but WE could!! And yes, it was delicious.

I just can't believe how fast she is growing up! Elsie has been learning how to crawl lately. It's pretty exciting!  But she is in such a hurry to get to the next step... Check out this video. It's one of the cutest things ever! This was recorded last night. She looks so pleased with herself when she makes it to her dad. :)

The Babysitting Adventure

Ashleigh and Me when we were little :)

Last week, Ashley, Elsie and I had a babysitting adventure! We babysat 5 kids from our ward for 3 days. Four boys, one girl (the youngest), and all so... perfect! We really enjoyed it. I told Ashley that if our kids are that good, we will have 5. He agreed.

The youngest girl wanted to play with Elsie constantly. The first day, she followed Elsie and me everywhere! She danced, sang, made faces, played "baby hide and seek", and squealed in delight every time Elsie grabbed onto her finger or touched her face, "She LOVES me!!!". And Elsie did love her.

The two younger boys are best friends, and SO cute! They played made up games together, slid on the wood floors together, helped each other out, and occasionally had arguments. They remind me of how me and my older sister Ashleigh used to be.

Little Me and Ashleigh again

The two oldest were so helpful! They did all of their chores without being asked. They were never grumpy. The oldest one has (apparently) read every single book in their house, which is like, 500 or so.... And they are both really friendly.

I just can't rave enough about this family. They are all just so good-natured. We got to see them again yesterday at church, and the little girl was peeking over her mom's shoulder at us and smiling :)

Anyway, it was pretty tiring, taking care of 5 kids + 1 baby. Even 5 perfect kids. It kind of makes me wonder how my mom stayed sane with all of us. We were not nearly as well behaved as those kids were. Yeah, my respect for my mother grows more and more every day. She is amazing.

And NOW, for the Mommy Monday part of my blog post:

Yesterday, Elsie did something really cute and really funny. My dad was holding her, and she was playing with her feet. Pretty normal... then... she started sucking on her big toe! Elsie sure does bring lots of smiles and laughs. We were all laughing so hard at this, and I just had to get the camera and take a video of it.

Yes, Elsie sucks her big toe instead of her thumb.  And my voice is so annoying in this video! Sorry!

Trying New Foods

Elsie is at that stage where we get to introduce her to new solid foods each week. So far she's tried apple, avocado, and broccoli (oops). She loves avocado! 

She was doing so well, then we made the mistake of feeding her broccoli. For those of you who might not know (we didn't), babies should not have broccoli until they are at least 8 months old. Her little tummy was definitely not ready, and she didn't sleep well for 3 nights! (Aghhh!) But I think she liked it...

Doesn't it look like she's posing for the picture?

Ahh... The cuteness! Yet another fun part about being a mom!