A Puzzle

Just the cutest little girl on the planet...
working on a puzzle.

Elise's 1st Birthday: Science City

We were excited to go on a family outing to celebrate Elise's special day. We wanted to do something out of the ordinary for us. So we decided (since it is so cold outside!) to go to Union Station's Science City in downtown Kansas City. Science City is a huge (and FUN!) children's museum. Isaac enthusiastically loved everything... while Elise was happy and content to watch and touch a few things. It was fun to watch the kids enjoying themselves and taking all of the new sights and experiences in.

Here are a few of our favorite spots.
The water table:

The helicopter:

Elise's favorite, a toddler play area. She was able to crawl and explore - this is when she really lit up and got involved in the experience.

Miniature Golf:

It was a fun family outing! We can't wait to take the kids again!

Elise's 1st Birthday: The Morning

Elise's 1st birthday was on Thursday January 20th.
Can you believe that she is already a YEAR old?!? Craziness...

Anyway, we decided to celebrate her birthday on Saturday January 22nd - so that we could enjoy the whole day together as a family.
Here's how the day got started...

First there was the set-up of gifts and balloons downstairs:

Then when we heard Elise wake up in the morning we all went into her room - singing her "Happy Birthday". Good morning big girl!!

Then we introduced her to the "car wash" of streamers set up on her bedroom door.

Then it was downstairs to see the presents!

Isaac was understandably a little bummed that the presents weren't for him...

Then it was time for a birthday breakfast!
This girl LOVES apples (soft, diced, canned baby food apples - don't worry - no choking hazard here).

After breakfast it was time to get cleaned up and ready for the day so that we could head out on our family adventure to Union Station's Science City (a children's museum in downtown Kansas City).

Cookie Cutters and Colors

On one lazy "stay-at-home" morning we busted out our set of 100 cookie cutters and decided to play with them and sort them. Isaac had a great time trying to identify the different shapes and dividing them by color. We made a game out of it and did it again and again and again...

Oh, and Isaac generously allocated all of the pink ones to Elise... and she was happy with that arrangement.

Don't Break the Ice

Look! They are "playing" together. :) Too fun!!!
We got a new game called "Don't Break the Ice" and with our help - the two of them can "play" it together. They both seem to really enjoy it. Love these little monkeys!

And more pictures of Elise crawling/scooting... just because she is so dang cute!
She loves to scoot backwards right now. Silly girl.

From the High Chair

Hi!

Our toothless wonder has been venturing into the solid food realm - and loving it! She is amazingly speedy and proficient at gumming any food to death. She is a great little eater and she has enjoyed being introduced to new things.

We have also been trying to get her more interested in the sippy cup. She doesn't seem to love the "training" sippy cups - she would rather have one just like Isaac. So we bought a girl colored set of those sippy cups for her and she is giving it a try.

More random eating photos of our munchkin...

So this hilarious girl does the funniest thing! We love it!
Whenever we are feeding her or sitting around the kitchen table with her (and she is in her high chair) she will catch your eye and then lean all the way to the side and smile... and hold that pose until you respond by leaning all the way to the same side as her. Then she sits up and does it again! (occasionally rotating to the other side)
What a goober! It cracks me up as all 4 of us sit around the kitchen table leaning to the side mimicking her. We love you silly girl!!