One is fun

Boy, one year old is a fun time. Elsa is doing all kinds of things that she didn't do before and I am loving every minute of it. Most selfishly, I love that she crawls into my lap sometimes. She was not a cuddly, snuggling baby. She was interested in looking out at the world and didn't want to have her face in my shoulder where the view wasn't so good. So I love it that she has started crawling into my lap (and sometimes pats my leg, just like I pat hers). Elsa is also into pushing buttons. She has a toy radio that she loves, so she's been pushing buttons on that for months. For her first birthday, my parents got her a book that plays classical music on the push of a button. For some reason, she doesn't want to push the button herself. The first night she had her book, she sat for 20 minutes and used Derek's finger to push the buttons. Tonight she took my finger and made me point to all the different animals in the Brown Bear book.

She also LOVES food (I am so proud). She dives in (as you could probably tell from the chocolate birthday cake crumbs on the BACK of her neck) and eats with gusto. Hamburger, tortilla, curry roasted potatoes, kiwi, Valentino's pizza--you name it, she'll eat it. She isn't limited to her own plate, either. She'll grab food from my plate, from Derek's plate, from anywhere she can get it. (Guard your plate if you eat at our house.)

Elsa is a mover. It doesn't matter whether the radio is playing Guns N Roses, Michael Jackson or Yankee Doodle, she'll start to do a little dance and wiggle her hips. She crawls everywhere, loves to go up the stairs, stands pretty often and walks pretty well if she's got some hands to hold on to. And she climbs. She sometimes sits in her birthday rocking chair (as seen in the picture), but she's just as likely to be standing on the seat and holding on to the back (and one of her parents is running to keep her from falling over). This tendency to climb on the rocking chair led Derek to wedge it into the recliner. It doesn't keep her from standing in the chair, but it does keep it from falling over.

She's also a talker. Most mornings when I walk in to Elsa's room, I'm greeted with an enthusiastic "HI." She's getting pretty good with "mama" and "dada." She's also started saying "ba" for ball (and seems to use it more consistently than mama and dada). "Wow" is an old stand by by now, but I think my favorite use of it was this weekend when Elsa pulled herself up on the window sill in the living room, looked out at the freshly mowed yard and said, "Wow." Her dad was thrilled.

Vital stats: 32 inches, 24 pounds, 12 ounces. Off the growth charts in height, 95th percentile in weight. And her hair's getting curly.