Merry Christmas!

Christmas PJs on Christmas morning!

Elsie enjoyed opening gifts (mostly she just liked taking the bows off of everybody's presents). She became sleepy very quickly, and took an early nap!

After the nap, it was time for her pretty Christmas dress that J-Ma sewed.

Family photo!

Elsie was very interested in Uncle Pete's beer. J-Ma reminded her that she still has 20 years to go!

Exploring the new toys (mostly with her mouth)! One of her favorite toys at the Bullards is actually Aunt Becky's giant teddy bear.

Elsie had her first cookie - Dad's favorite, chocolate chip, of course. She loved it and Jack was so proud!

Hanging out with Papa Pete, J-Ma, and G-Papa.

Christmas Eve at the Bullards

We arrived safely and on time in Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve despite the weather in Chicago. Elsie immediately got to work exploring J-Ma and Papa Pete's house, pulling down decorations and ornaments!

Before bed, we all gathered into the big bed and listened to Papa Pete read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" like we have since we were kids.

Elsie is 45 weeks old

Elsie turned 45 weeks old on Tuesday. You will notice from these pictures that Elsie now loves to do the Michael Jordan tongue all the time - and always to the right side! Go Bulls?

On Saturday, we got all bundled up in our new snowsuit (thank Tara!) and went outside to enjoy the snow. The kids on our block took over an empty lot two doors down and built a few huge snowmen! Elsie did OK, but so far, the snow is not her favorite. I think it actually has to do more with the gloves, hat, boots, etc.


Aunt Kris, Uncle Aaron, John and Leah came up for a visit this past weekend. We all had a lot of fun playing together!

On Sunday, we hung out by the fire. Elsie and Dad were really giggling it up!

Elsie did another fun painting project at school in front of her favorite triangle mirror.

And the school newsletter:

Elsie is 44 weeks old

Elsie turned 44 weeks old on Tuesday.


Elsie has started showing off some new skills this week. She seems to have fun pulling all of the blocks out of their bin in the table.

Elsie has also started "reading" a lot more books. She pulls them off of the table and hands them to Jack or I to read. With Pat the Bunny, Elsie can actually turn the pages by herself. She likes to touch the bunny and daddy's scratchy face, play peek-a-boo with Paul, read the last page of Judy's book and wave bye-bye. The other pages are boring in comparison!


We decorated the tree after carrying it home from a local grocery store. So far, Elsie has shown little interest in the tree or the ornaments. But Lazarus really enjoys sleeping under the tree.

Elsie is 43 weeks old

Elsie turned 43 weeks old on Tuesday.

Elsie is still enjoying some old favorite activities - playing peek-a-boo (here she is using the couch to hide) and chasing the poor cats (run Lazarus run!).

Elsie is continuing to explore things on her own without needing to have constant contact with a parent. She is especially more interested in books lately.

Elsie has added "binky hunting" to her list of skills. She crawls into the mud room to find her car seat and looks for the binky hiding out in the seat. Here she is removing the blanket and inspecting it carefully for any signs of a binky! We are told she will do the same thing at school during the day!

Elsie has started carrying things around with her while she crawls and cruses through the house. She likes the duck, but really prefers anything with a cord.

And, of course, Elsie enjoys playing in boxes! They bring these out at school in the afternoon.

Here are some cool videos of Elsie walking without assistance. We started practicing on Saturday, Dec 4, in the afternoon. You will also see Elsie enjoying the mirror with a cord in this video! She can go about 30 minutes without putting this down!

And look how much better she had gotten by Monday evening!

And here is the update from school: