Brandenburg Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree research - Roots

January weekend

This past weekend went by quickly - they always do. John and Elise had fun with their straws on Saturday night. We've found that you really don't need to buy expensive toys - the smallest things keep kids entertained...case in point, this straw!
Our little one has become very animated and we find ourselves giggling with her more each week. On Friday afternoon I came into her room as she was playing in her crib, and found her kneeling by the railing trying to pull herself up to a standing position. That was enough to convince us that we needed to lower the crib to a safer place. She has never succeeded in pulling up to a standing position alone...but she's trying & may accomplish it soon. This weekend I've also been working on finishing up our Christmas stockings. This past year when I couldn't find any I liked, I decided to make them...of course they weren't ready for Christmas 2007, but I would like them available by 2008. I'm having a bit of trouble, because I decided to have a cuff & line them...so hopefully I figure it out soon before I get too frustrated. Have a super week...and enjoy the superbowl this next weekend.

Little Joys in Life...

Today Elise and I went to Wal-Mart, mostly to just get out of the house and have a change of scenery. We picked up a few frames to display some pictures and I wanted to see what kind of selection they had for children's books. As we entered the book aisle, Elise suddenly starts getting really excited - almost screaming! This is very rare - especially in public. She's usually a very relaxed, somewhat complacent shopping buddy, but not today. Across from the books is a display of huge teddy bears - right at her eye level. So, we strolled over to see these bears, and her excitement kept getting louder and louder. Who knew that she would recognize something she would like and let me know? Well, long story short - we brought home a bear. I know what you're thinking...today it's a stuffed bear - in a few years it might be another furry creature that needs house training. I don't feel that I'm the kind of person to give into her every whim - but this was the first time I've seen such a reaction from Elise. The enthusiasm continued at home. In fact, when I pulled the bear out of the bag - she got so excited again. I've posted a little video clip (what I could catch) of her playing with her new bear. I guess this week we'll have to come up with a name for this new treasure.
Hope you enjoy some of these pictures showing her delight.

Teddy Bear

Little Miss

Playing with Kaylie

Mid-Winter

This week on Wednesday, Charlotte saw a little dusting of snow. John was hoping for a snow day to stay home with us, but the temp climbed to about 40 & the roads were clear, so he had to go to work. His car has been in the shop this past week, and so he drove my Jeep & Elise and I just stayed home, literally. I went to church last Sunday, and left the house for the first time the following Saturday - talk about a little cabin fever. If we had to stay in, it was a cold, wet & rather miserable week...so we probably wouldn't have gone anywhere anyway.

I had to laugh at Elise this week - she likes to be carried in the Baby Bjorn when I vacuum, and so mid-way through our cleaning, I passed by our front entry mirror to see her watching the floor and gumming the edge of the carrier. She stayed in this position nearly 45 minutes while I motored along and got some cleaning done...and she loves it! Maybe she's taking it all in & will also love to vacuum someday...who knows?
Let's see...it's been a full week. Elise has been trying to do so many new things. She has successfully brought some puffs (finger food like cereal that melts in her mouth) to her mouth by herself. You can check out the new video below. Also, I think that she is ready to go "mobile" very soon. John and I have talked about our need to get the house fully baby-proofed, pronto. She's been rolling all around and get pretty far - John estimates about 10-20 feet per hour.
Life here is busy. We're midway through winter and I'm getting ready for some warmer weather so that we can get outside again. Oh, another cute little episode. On Saturday when we were going out, we put some fingered gloves on Elise & you can check them out in this photo with John. The gloves were a little big, but it was very funny to watch her move her fingers and try to figure out this new thing.
Have a great week - and stay warm to all our mid-western family & friends. We saw the frigid temps you had this past week...brrr.
Later.