Merry Christmas!

Here's Elizabeth with her Mommy about to go to her first Christmas Eve service - she was all excited, and so good! After the 5pm service she came back to Grammy and Papi's, ate some dinner, got a bath and had the traditional "Night Before Christmas" read to her by her Papi. While her mommy and aunts loved hearing the story, she was more interested in opening and closing Papi's glasses case! She went to sleep while the rest of the fam enjoyed a yummy dinner. Then it was time to go home and she transferred wonderfully from her bed at Grammy's to the car and then to her own bed.

She awoke early on Christmas morning all giggles and smiles, and came over to Aunt Jenny's house for the traditional opening of the presents. We set up her pack 'n play in the middle of the living room and she was ok hanging out in there for awhile, but then wanted to be part of the action by helping to unwrap the packages. Nana got her the cutest little slippers from L L Bean - they are little pink bunnies, complete with a little tail on the heel! Elizabeth thought they went very well with her Christmas morning outfit! She was excited when Grammy got a red wagon - for gardening but mostly for playing with her granddaughter! :) She was really excited to see her new "shopping cart" - wheeling it around and around... Christmas afternoon she was reported to be pushing it around her 1st floor, throwing little peoples and other items out of the cart, while a patient Auntie Ki went along after her picking them all up - what fun!

She is definitely a toddler now, walking everywhere and getting more confident in her abilities. What a precious little girl she is, and we couldn't be happier to have her part of our family!

Grammy's Photolog

I think Grammy is a photojournalist - she does an amazing job sending out pictures to let us know what kind of day she had with Elizabeth - and her explanations that she puts on the pics are priceless! So rather than try to pick out a few photots, just click on this link to check out yourself.. Enjoy!

Marathoner!

Yesterday when Elizabeth was with Grammy and Papi she had another day of just taking off walking!

She went round and round their kitchen - they lost count after 6 or 8 times!

Each time she came out of the kitchen she'd giggle and grin.. then when she went into the kitchen she'd wave good-bye over her shoulder! aaww! sooo cute!






Then she started dancing to the Christmas music with Papi.. what a great time with her grandparents!

It's so great that my parents have been watching her on Tuesdays and Thursdays - gives them time to bond and she gets individualized attention, and then she still has her days of socialization with the other kids at daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.. I think in January the Grammy Daycare is going to just one day a week - we'll see who misses it more - Grammy or Elizabeth! :)

First Steps!

Well, Elizabeth is starting to walk! In the past few weeks she has delighted herself and her ever-present audience with her standing abilities. It was funny to see her get all excited about being able to stand all by herself - she got so psyched that her hands would be in tight little fists and she'd wave them about in excitement! About a week ago she got tired of just standing and started adding steps to her routine. We are all, of course, thrilled beyond belief.

These pictures were taken last weekend - the Penn State cheerleader outfit is courtesy of one of Chrissie's coworkers who gave it to her at her shower last November - and look how perfectly it fits! She wore it on Wednesday night as she and her neighbors went trick or treating to a few homes on the street - but as it was chilly white tights and a turtleneck were added for warmth.. what a cutie! :)

Her other tricks include responding to the question "How big is Elizabeth?" by throwing her arms up in the air with abandon - which is where this picture came from.. She also answers the question "How old are you?" by holding up her index finger, correctly answering the question with the number one. This makes Aunt Jenny sure she's going to follow in her footsteps and be an accountant because she's already so good with numbers!

Fun in the Park

Auntie Ki took Elizabeth to the park Sunday and they had a wonderful time! Love this picture of Elizabeth in the slide - isn't she adorable?

Chrissie went on her first business trip since bringing Elizabeth home in May, so this is going to be a tough couple days for everyone... hopefully Chrissie is too busy with the work stuff to miss her adorable daughter.. in the meantime the aunts and grandmother are having fun spending time with our little angel. Grammy brought little E to church - she squealed hello when she recognized Aunt Ki singing up on stage! And everyone was so excited to see her again - she's definitely a charmer!

Aunt Days!

This week Grammy went to the beach, so GrammyDayCare was transformed to AuntDayCare - Aunt Jenny watched Elizabeth on Tuesday, and Tia Sarita on Thursday. On Tuesday Aunt Jenny took Elizabeth to Longwood Gardens then to the library - it was a fabulous day! She was full of smiles and had a great day!

Her First Car!

I'm sure you think Elizabeth has everything - well, she didn't before, but she does now! Thanks to one of Chrissie's co-workers whose daughter has outgrown some things, Elizabeth now has a toy kitchen (with a sink!) and a car! Yep - a car... at 14 months the kid has her own set of wheels! She went for her first ride in the car today and she LOVED it (check out the pics in the slideshow)! Giggled and squealed as I ran her up and down the street, and cried when her Mommy made her get out and go shoe shopping... can you believe it, a girl not wanting to go shoe shopping!?!? Aunt Jenny was quick to try to instill a love of shoes, but it was past snacktime, so priorities had to be reorganized... we'll be working on her stamina, but she did get one pair of shoes - adorable little blue mary janes with flowers on the toes.

Elizabeth at the Beach

Mommy, Auntie Ki and little E drove out to Long Island yesterday to visit Papi and the beach! This is E's first time and she loves it! She loves to watch the water and have the wind in her hair! :) All the neighbors are excited to finally meet her!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Elizabeth's 1st birthday!

Here is what the cake looked like BEFORE Elizabeth got her hands (literally) on it.. and to the right you can see her just beginning to really taste it! I think she likes it - especially the icing, just like her Nana and Tia Sarita!

4th of July!

Elizabeth enjoyed her first 4th of July in patriotic style this week, attending her first parade! She was not impressed by the tractors, beauty queens, politicians or even ponies.. but she did enjoy bobbing to the music!

Waving the stars and stripes (left) while wearing her very cute dress with stars on it, Elizabeth gets into the spirit of the holiday. We went to a cookout at Greg's house and to the right you can see she's in her booster seat all ready to enjoy some good stuff fresh off the grill!