happy birthday, elliott rose!

This humongous beach ball sure is cool! (Today)

Today is Elliott's FIRST birthday!!! This means Ellie has survived her first year as a human, and Ryan and I have survived our first year as parents. Go us! Elliott has changed so much since one year ago, when I held this beautiful, screaming, squirmy little newborn in my arms for the very first time. She is blossoming into quite a unique individual, complete with her own likes, dislikes, sense of humor - and a good dose of stubbornness that she probably gets from both her Mommy and Daddy. I love my sweet girl so much, and I know that as much as she grows up, she will always be my baby!

Elliott Rose - The 12th Month

Here are a few media-worthy things Elliott is up to these days:

1. She's growing a gargantuan upper left tooth. This pearly white is quite a whopper! It's her third official tooth, and there are more on the way.

2. Yesterday, I taught her how to blow kisses. Uber cuteness!

3. She doesn't walk on her feet yet, but she loves to walk on her knees. She often holds her arms out or carries things with her arms stretched in front of her, giving her the look of Frankenstein.

Knee-walker (5/10)

4. She now stands up while strapped into shopping carts. She is the wiggliest little girl on the planet and I can no longer keep her seated, unless we bring our shopping cart cover with the built in strap that actually restrains her. The other day I had to lug her and all my bags out to our car after a trip to Target, right after she learned her new "trick" and refused to sit down.

5. She'll point to her ears and head and stick out her tongue when prompted, which I think is pretty smart!

6. She taunts us with food. Seriously. She will hold up a morsel of food to "feed" us, but when we go to eat it, she will pull it away and eat it herself with a big smile on her face. The weirdest part is, neither of us taught her that or have ever done it to her - it's her own wicked sense of humor shining through! (On the other hand, if it's food she doesn't like, she will actually let us eat it. Very smart, indeed!)

7. She will use a brush to "comb" her hair, instead of simply eating it.

8. She often "barks" when she sees a picture of a dog. If you aren't paying attention, you might mistake her dog noises for regular old baby noises, but those little "ha ha ha ha ha" sounds she makes are supposed to be barks. I know this because she only does it when she's looking at her books with dogs in them, and because I'm her mama.

So what are we doing to celebrate the big day? We're laying low for the most part, though I did give her a few presents; I'm saving some more for her little party, a family gathering we're having here on Sunday amidst the craziness of our move. So far, she is totally into her new bead maze and beach ball, and she also enjoys the tags on her cute new Carter's tees. She also liked her birthday breakfast - a waffle and some blueberries (well, she enjoyed the waffle but spit out and then fed me the blueberries!) Mary Kay and Bill, Ryan's parents, will hopefully meet us for dinner out later this evening. I plan to get Ellie a piece of cake for dessert and I'm bringing a candle to make it official!

I will compile a photo album of birthday fun and upload it after the family party this weekend! Until then...