Laura: 12 months

Oh my goodness... this beautiful girl has simply been a light and a JOY for the last year!  We adore her!!  We are so grateful that she came to our family and we love her so much!!

Things to remember about sweet Laura at 12 months:

- She has the BEST head nod ever!! She responds yes or no to things.  So cute!!
- She pulls herself up to a stand and walks along furniture.
- She is starting to get into drawers and things.  She loves pulling toys out of bins and books off of the shelves.
- She likes to be down and exploring and is happy to roam on her own down the hall and venture off.
- She loves baths!  And will crawl up to the bathroom door and pat on it.  Or crawl up to the bathtub, stand up and squeal.
- She loves sitting up to the table with us at dinner time.  We try a lot of different baby foods and regular foods - but mostly she just eats a LOT of yogurt and bread - but not much else...
- She just recently started taking MILK from a bottle (yay!!).  She will take two bottles (4 oz. each) a day and we are trying to increase that. She takes sips of water here and there from sippy cups, but not much.
- She takes naps when she can (1 or 2 naps a day depending on our family schedule) and is just super flexible and easy going about that. She sleeps from 7 pm - 7 am BUT gets up 2-3 times at night. When she does get up she just nurses and goes right back to sleep, so it's no big deal.
- She still sleeps in our master closet and we love it that way.
- She still nurses a lot.  6x a day.
- She is quite the petite little one.  We are trying to fatten her up!  But it's not working.
- She does great in the carseat, I think mostly because she likes having Elise sitting right there beside her playing with her.
- She dances and bobs around a bit to music. :)
- She LOVES her brothers and sister.  She likes to be right in the middle of the action with them all the time.  She knocks down their towers and grabs at their books.
- She is usually very laid back, but every once in a while she lets out a shriek that lets me know she is made of some tough stuff and WILL be heard!
- She loves her daddy and her mommy!  And her separation anxiety seems to be lessening... she does well with most babysitters.  And is excited to see us when we get home.
- She is a binkie girl! Need I say more?
- She is a little genius baby!!!  She is picking up on sign language so quickly.  We show her something once or twice and she repeats it.  It's amazing.  Right now she just signs eat, milk, daddy, thank you, and more... but this is just the beginning.  She also says hi, mommy, and daddy. 

So grateful for this girl!!

Elise's 5th Birthday Interview

Straight from Elise's mouth...

Favorite color: pink.  no.  purple

Favorite TV show: The Boxcar Children

Favorite sport:  Is ballet a sport? Ballet!


Favorite Toy:  Cinderella wedding magiclip princess and prince 

Favorite Thing to Do:  play with mom and make my cupcakes with mom

Favorite thing to do with Dad: put makeup on him

Favorite thing to do with Mom: paint nails

 Favorite thing to do with Isaac: play house

Favorite thing to do with Caleb: play silly with him

Favorite thing to do with Laura: play babies

Favorite game:  tea party

Most proud moment from last year:  that i got my sister (when Laura was born)

Favorite Food: macaroni & cheese

And what about treats? gum

Favorite Scripture Story: john the baptist.  because I like when you baptize someone and you don't make any mistakes

Best Friend:  All of my friends!

Favorite thing about church: having snacks because we always have snacks

Favorite Book:  Sophia the First

Favorite Animal:  horse

Favorite thing to do outside: swing!

Favorite Song: Let it Go! Frozen

Best memory from the past year: When i just turned 5. 

What are you looking forward to this next year:  Go out of pre-K and start Kindergarten and learn to read.

Any other comments: Getting to hold baby Laura when I am standing up and walking!