Elsie turns 15 weeks old

Elsie hit the 15-week mark on Tuesday. Elsie's teachers at day care, Miss Kelli and Miss Margarita, say that Elsie is just the most gorgeous baby. They said that all of the teachers that come into the classroom just think she is so adorable! We think so too.

Elsie still loves standing! We have been searching for good toys for her. We got this one as a hand-me-down from the Filkins!

This one we found at a yard sale! I was so excited to have something to go yard-saleing for again! We found so many great toys and books on Memorial Day weekend!

And, of course, there is Elsie's favorite - parent-assisted standing! When using this technique, she loves to bite my fingers and rub them all over her gums. Wonder if she is teething. There is certainly a lot of drool!

Elsie meets some more Filkins

Great Aunt Kaye and Great Uncle Wally came for a visit this weekend! Looks like Elsie prefers Kaye over Wally...

Go Big Red!

Elsie was dressed to support the Cornell Men's Lacrosse team today in the NCAA championship game. The Big Red were trying to win Cornell's first national championship in any sport since 1977. Cornell led the whole game until Syracuse tied it with 4 seconds left in regulation. Syracuse went on to win the game in the first sudden death overtime.

Elsie is 14 weeks old!

Elsie turned 14 weeks old on Tuesday.

Elsie has started using her Bumpo to sit up. She likes it for about 5 minutes, and then finds it a bit too restrictive. She can't move her legs around as much as she likes when she is wedged into this thing.

Elsie has really started holding onto her rattles. She will reach up with both hands and hold onto this one in particular. Of course, once it is out of sight, she completely forgets about it. She can hold a rattle in her hand for ages by her side, then completely startle herself when she moves her hand toward her face. In addition, this also means that she doesn't cry when she drops the rattle (or when she flings it across the room!).

I am really so proud of our little Elsie. Her day care teachers say she is so aware and so strong for her age. They probably tell all the moms the same thing - its working.

Elsie is 13 weeks old!

Elsie turned 13 weeks old on Tuesday.

Elsie's 13th week was spent getting used to day care. I normally drop her off around 7. Typically she would be getting ready for a nap at this time, but not at day care. It is just too visually stimulating!! Elsie is wide awake as soon as I take her out of her car seat. We play for about 15 minutes, and then I leave for the train. Jack picks her up in the evening around 5, and I join them at home around 6:15. Her daily report card shows that she is eating just fine, but doesn't sleep very much. She is pretty exhausted by the time we get her home - look at that tired baby!

Elsie made me a nice mother's day gift at day care! Unfortunately, her teachers have difficulty spelling... Dad helped her pick out the beautiful flowers!

Elsie meets the Chisamores and some Filkins

Last weekend we took a trip out to Rochelle and Rockford. Our friends, the Chisamores, live in Atlanta, and they were taking a trip around the country visiting their families to show off their triplets, the Chislets (8 months). We just missed them in PA (Jaci and I grew up in the same town), but got to see them when they visited Seth's family in Rochelle. We managed to get a picture of only one of the three, Jake. Ben and Grace can be seen at http://chislets.chisamore.com/

Since we were "way out west" we decided to spend the night with Jack's cousins, the Rockford Filkins. We had a great time! We saw a very interesting service on Sunday with Pastor Eric, and enjoyed a great first mother's day. Cari even made me blueberry pancakes!! Elsie still doesn't know how to sleep when she is not in her bedroom, but she had fun hanging out with her second cousins, Cal, Teddy, Mimi, and Lena.

Elsie turns 12 weeks

On Tuesday, Elsie turned 12 weeks old. Dad was in charge of taking these photos after picking Elsie up from her first full day of day care.

Elsie has reached a couple new milestones this week. She can now reach for and grab onto the fish in her jungle gym! She can only do this with her left hand, so we are still thinking she might be left-handed.

We visited Art in the Park in Elmhurst over the weekend. Elsie spent some of the time in the Baby Bjorn facing outwards! She really likes the outdoor breeze, so I think she enjoyed not being covered up in the stroller.

Elsie continues to enjoy sitting and standing up exercises.

Elsie's and Mom's last day

Monday was our last day together before I go back to work. I took Elsie to daycare in the morning (we arrived only 1 hour late) for 3.5 hours for a practice run. We both cried a little - my tears were shed in the privacy of my car and Elsie's cries could be heard down the hallway as I arrived to pick her up. We will only get better with more practice.

Since she didn't sleep at daycare, she spent a good chunk of the afternoon sleeping. Then we played in the grass and took a nice leisurely walk. I have really enjoyed spending so much time with my daughter over the last 12 weeks!

Is Elsie's hair longer than Mom's?

It was time for me to get my mom haircut.

Elsie turns 11 weeks old

Elsie is now 11 weeks old. She is sleeping through the night again after a brief departure in PA. The spit-up volume continues to increase and I am VERY happy that we have hardwood floors!

In addition to the big trip to PA, Elsie continues to try new things. This week, she started to "stand." She obviously still needs a lot of help, but she likes putting the weight on her legs. This compliments her desire to "sit" (also needing support from mom or dad). We have been practicing both skills extensively this week.

Because it was so warm in PA, Elsie got to wear her first dress! Notice how she is stretching out her legs real tall - practicing standing while laying down!

Elsie smiles a lot now. In the morning when she wakes up and is crying, she instantly stops when I walk in the room and start calling her name. It is really funny when she is crying about something, sees me and then smiles while still trying to cry. She is very responsive to both Jack and I and it just makes me all mushy inside. Here is a video of Elsie on the changing table smiling, talking and moving her legs all around (when she is not trying to figure out why the camera is not flashing).