Elsie is 38 weeks old

Elsie turned 28 weeks old on Tuesday.

It is so difficult for her to sit still these days...

This week I thought I would highlight the favorite spot in the house. The cats like to hand out by the door and meow anytime a human moves, with the hopes that maybe they will get to go outside. Elsie like to be outside, too, so we often see her banging at the door. (At night, she likes looking at the baby on the other side of the door!) Elsie's presence, of course, causes the cats to run away. But this week, we were able to capture a few pics of Elsie, Betty, and Lazarus all n their favorite spot.



Elsie really enjoys school, the teachers, and all of the activities. They are still going outside quite a bit. Here is a picture from another indoor painting session. She definitely paints more at school than she ever would at home with her neat-freak mom!

And the update from school:

Happy Halloween from our Elsie Bear!

Elsie was a panda bear this Halloween.


Panda with her proud parents.

Crawling bear - heading for the cat!

Cat vs. bear!

Elsie turns 37 weeks old

Elsie turned 37 weeks old on Tuesday.

Elsie's favorite thing to do is stand. The only reason she crawls is to go somewhere new to stand! We installed our new baby gate around the stove just in time for the cold weather. Elsie enjoys looking at the fire in the stove (even if it is just a gas stove!).

Look at me Dad! No hands! These keys sure feel good on my gums!

Elsie came home one day with a super-cute white shirt ruined by lunch that day. I was a little annoyed until her teacher e-mailed me these photos!! It looks like Elsie was really having a lot of fun! We now know that Elsie loves ravioli!

Oh wow! There is more in this bib!

Oh, I think I found a much easier way to get every...last...bit! Yum, yum, yum!

And the update from school:

Elsie turns 36 weeks old

Elsie turned 36 weeks old on Tuesday (in her pajamas before bed).

We had a lot of fun out in the sun on Sunday! The weather was gorgeous and Elsie got to play in her favorite swing.

Elsie is getting harder to keep calm when eating. This was a particularly messy episode!


Elsie is really enjoys her school. Here she is playing with the pyramid mirror and the sensory bottles.

Elsie has already started her first fundraiser!! If you are interested in participating, you can do so online at http://www.4jaxco.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=7
Student Code: 786900

And the school newsletter:

Elsie's first trip to Austin

We flew to Austin last weekend for a friend's wedding. Elsie did great with the traveling! She did great on the flights, except for the decent, where her ears were bothering her.

She had fun in the airport crawling around and eating in crazy places!


She enjoyed the hotel, enjoying the same activities she does at home.

We both enjoyed the pool! It is crazy how warm 75F feels after a few cold weeks in Chicago!

Elsie did great staying with a couple old Accenture friends while we enjoyed the wedding. Thanks so much Clint and Lindsey! The wedding was for Rob and Margaret - Rob is my last Cornell roommate to get married!

Elsie is 35 weeks old!

Elsie turned 35 weeks old on Tuesday.

Elsie has a very long torso and short legs. In fact, I have to hem all of her pants 1-2 inches. J-Ma made this great fleece last year- this clearly demonstrates how long Elsie's torso is! Check out that belly sticking out!

Now that Elsie can crawl, she is "exploring" all sorts of things - like my shoes!

Here are a couple pictures from school. Elsie is rocking out to Scribble Jim and Scribble Jane (they play fun music for kids) with a baby-sized maraca. And she is hamming it up for the camera while "exploring" her gourds.

And the update from Elsie's school.

Elsie turns 34 weeks old

Elsie turned 24 weeks old on Tuesday. Dad had camera duty and, without knowing it, put Elsie in the same outfit as last week!

Elsie is officially crawling! See the progress below! She can only go about 2 feet before she flops onto her stomach and starts crying, but we are all very excited! The babyproofing has begun.


Mom still enjoys searching for toys and baby equipment at yard sales. Elsie has been having a lot of fun helping dad play with his new basketball net on the garage, so I bought an Elsie-sized one!

Super cute church outfit (found the skirt at a yard sale)!

We took our new ($15 at a yard sale) jogging stroller out for a spin over the weekend.

It has been a hard year cheering for the Illini. Fortunately, I think Elsie's shirt may be big enough to make it to basketball season.

The update from Elsie's school: