Tongass National Forest

Juneau is in the Tongass National Forest, a rain forest, so we get a lot of rain. We went for a walk last Sunday out by the Mendenhall Glacier, which is in one of the national parks. It was a beautiful sunny day, so it wasn't too cold. We went out on one of the paved trails to a photo spot, where we found one of the park rangers sweeping the trail. He said hello to Logan and I, then leaned down to see Elise and say hello to her. She promptly screamed and pulled her hat down over her face. We assured the ranger that it wasn't anything personal, while we pulled Elise out of the stroller and calmed her down. Then we asked about the birds on the sandy beach, and why the beach was roped off. This nice man explained that the Arctic Tern nests on the beach near the glacier. These birds take three months to fly to the Antarctic where they feed for three months, then take three months to fly back to Alaska where they nest. We were amazed. He told us how tracking devices have been place on the birds, and they've been found thousands of miles away in only a couple months. I thought it was incredible how far these birds are willing to go to live, and care for having offspring. That is inspirational to me.

Another inspiration is the beauty we see here. This is a picture of the glacier I took when I first moved to Juneau in July 2004.

What a beautiful place has been created here! What a blessing to live here and enjoy it!

Electricity Update II

I know I've done several more posts in the last weeks, but since the electricity shortage, and we're not using our lights, I feel more cut off, so I want to journal/document more, to share our life here. I don't know why having the lights off makes me feel cut off, because we have our curtains open more in the last month than the last three years we've lived here, so we're seeing more of the neighbors, but I still feel more cut off....maybe because we don't have our computer on very much, so I'm cut off from email and blogs, except for once every week. What a wonderful thing the internet is!
Anyways, we wanted to give an update on the electricity situation. The power company has reported that they have the towers back up, and are just reattaching power lines to connect us all back up. The bases to the towers were intact, so that sped the repair process up considerably. They are optimistic about having us back on the hydroelectric power in the next week or so, and are projecting that the cost of electricity will be down closer to 18 cents per kilowatt hour. That is wonderful! Even though we're still going to conserve, we're excited that we could be back on normal power available by next week!!! Then I won't feel so bad on those over cast days when I feel like I NEED a light on. The sunshine this last week has been a huge blessing, both for getting the power company some extra work time to get the problem fixed, and for helping us feel not so cut off, and to be able to be outside to enjoy life!

Frustration Expressions

Elise is a growing girl, and although she is doing a lot better at communicating with sign language, and an occasional verbal word, we are getting to a stage that has other frustrating circumstances that happen more frequently. She is getting so independent, and wants to do things by herself. This is good, and I try to let her do things, and make some choices, so she doesn't feel so helpless. However, we frequently are getting to the point where she gets frustrated. The ways she is expressing these feelings has been causing me some concern. She does three things. She bites herself or anything she can get in her mouth (or get her mouth on, like the gate for the stairs), she hits herself or anything she can reach with her hands, or she cries hard and makes herself throw up. I am trying to be very patient, to let her know if there is something that she shouldn't have or do, and when she tries to do one of these behaviors, I am trying to be patient, to ask her to stop, to say no, and then re-direct her attention to an activity or behavior that is acceptable. We read a lot of stories at mealtime, because that usually distracts her from being frustrated. She wants to feed herself, but there are some things she isn't getting to her mouth, and since we're still worried about her weight, I help her with the tough stuff. This often will make her frustrated, so I try to distract her with songs and stories, and the rainbow making snowflake. Sometimes this works great, sometimes not. There are times when I feel frustrated as well, especially when it has been a struggle to get her to eat, and then she makes herself throw up. Needless to say, I think that it is normal to have a toddler feel frustrated, and want to express that, but I also hope that we will quickly get to the point where she uses more acceptable ways to show her frustration. She is mostly a great girl, and getting lots better at feeding herself with a fork or spoon. She really likes the pastas that go so nicely on a fork. She enjoyed some raviolis the other day, and made a great mess on her face, her tray, her hands, and her white pants....luckily the tomato sauce came out when I treated it! But she enjoyed it....Until she found the stuff was all over her hands....she doesn't like to have yucky hands....

I guess this is all part of the process of growing up, and becoming independent, but I really hope we can move past the biting, hitting, and puking very quickly!
So far, we've not had any throwing up since around May 19. Maybe we're outgrowing this already!!!!!

Dr. Visit

On Wednesday, May 28, I had a visit with Dr. Welling. He is a great doctor, and took a look at my right shoulder, which has been in pain off and on for months. He diagnosed me with a strained levator scapulae muscle. This muscle runs from the diagonal tip of the shoulder blade, up the neck to one of the neck vertebrae. It helps stabilize the arm as you lift things in front of you or to the side. It helps with posture, and as I found out from doing some research on the web, is often injured in instances of whip lash. I don't have whip lash, but I do have a small child, and the activities involved in caring for this wonderful child, like feeding her, playing with her, bathing her, carrying her, and so forth, have put strain on this muscle. Dr. Welling told me that it sounds like I have been re-injuring this muscle repeatedly, thus the pain comes on, the muscle starts to heal, and the pain subsides, then something pulls it again, and the pain comes back. There isn't really anything that can be done, or needs to be done like surgery, or physical therapy, but he suggested finding some stretches from the internet, that could help this muscle, as well as taking anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen for a period of ten days, to give the muscle time to heal. He also warned me that if I don't find a different way to do the activities that are causing the damage, and the muscle continues to be re-injured, that more serious injury can occur. So, I've been taking motrin, and trying to handle Elise in a different way, and to use my left arm a lot more. Logan has also been wonderful, and is helping feed Elise, and carry her when he is with us. This is a big help, especially when we go out, and she becomes incredibly clingy. So, we're trying, but it may be slow going trying to learn to take care of Elise left handed!

Books

My big sister Shalynn gave me a book for my birthday by Shannon Hale. It was called Book of a Thousand Days. I was slightly sceptical, but started reading. My first reaction was, "how do you pronounce these names?" But I kept reading, deciding I could pronounce them however I wanted. I ended up being more interested than I had foreseen in the outcome of the story. Since finishing that one, and enjoying it thoroughly, I have borrowed one of the others by this same author, called Princess Academy. I just finished reading that, and was again pleased that I enjoyed reading it so well. The plots were interesting, and had some unforeseen twists. They were easy to follow, and I found myself eager to pick them up and complete the reading. I am now looking forward to reading some of her other stories, as I will be borrowing them from family members. It was very refreshing to read a new book, as I've spent lots of time re-reading old favorites like the Jane Austen books, and the LM Montgomery books. These new books by Shannon Hale were great, a good reading experience, and both books had the message that one person can make a difference. That is a wonderful message, I needed to be reminded of.

Our Third Anniversary

Wednesday, May 28 was our third wedding anniversary. Logan had to work a long day, but he did something really special for me. In the past, when asked what I would like for a special occasion, like birthday, or mother's day, I replied that I would like a letter from him. He doesn't really enjoy writing, but has done one or two notes on cards in the past. This year, on this occasion, I didn't tell him I'd like a letter, but that is what he did for me. It was wonderful! I know it took a lot of effort, and time, but it was wonderful. I am one who needs to have something solid, concrete to look at again and again, especially on those hard days where getting Elise to eat is a struggle, and there is a lot of throwing up going on. So, I am tremendously grateful for a husband who listens, and who is willing to fulfill my needs, even if its challenging. I have the long letter hanging on our shelf next to the table, so I can read it when we're doing meals, or projects or play time in the kitchen. It is a real pick me up! Thank you Logan!!!
He also got us a beautiful rainbow maker....a stained glass snowflake. We've seen these in different stores around Juneau, and always thought they were beautiful. It was a surprise to find the most beautiful one hanging in our window Wednesday morning, with the letter attached. Thank you sweetheart for giving us something beautiful to enjoy every day! It makes fabulous rainbows, and entertains Elise during breakfast when the sun comes through the window.


We love Logan!!!
And its been a great 3 years, with ups and downs, and lots of memories. We hope to have many more!

Memorial Day

To celebrate Memorial Day, we got together with a bunch of families from church, and went to Lena Point for a fun time. It is a rocky beach, with picnic tables, and some fire pits. We made one of our favorites, tin foil dinners, and took a walk down on the rocks. Elise was her shy self, and cried when people tried to make conversation with her.
We had a fun time meeting some new people, spending time with old friends, and being out of doors, especially on such a nice day.
We really do live in a beautiful place! We're hoping (Elise and I) to do more walks this summer and check out more of Alaska's beauties. We love spending time with Daddy too!!

Elise stuck pretty close to Mommy and Daddy

We love being together for fun times!!!

Taking a Temperature

After we got home from Lena Point, we were getting Elise ready for bed, when she discovered the thermometer. It was the cutest thing to watch her stick it in her shirt, to try to get it under her arm. She would stick it in, and sit with it under her arm, then pull it out and look at it as it beeped. When we actually need to check her temperature, she doesn't really want to sit still, but when it was just for play time she did all the right things to get an accurate reading. I was amazed that she knew what to do!

Trying to get it in the exact position under pjs and a onesie

This is when she was looking at the window as it beeped. So serious!

Popcorn Anyone?

It was nice on Saturday, May 24, so we went to down town Juneau, to walk around, enjoy the sunshine, and each others' company. We went to our favorite stores, got some ice cream, saw the cruise ships and lots of tourists, and on the way back to the car stopped at the kettle corn stand. Since we live in a tourist town, lots of shops and food stands are only open when there is a cruise ship in town. That is why it is important to take advantage of the once in a blue moon weather (we live in a rain forest), and window shop when you can actually enjoy going inside too. So, we had a great time, and got a big bag of kettle corn which we enjoyed that evening as we watched the new National Treasure movie. When we got home from the trip, we unloaded the car, and started getting ready for dinner. Elise picked up both the large kettle corn bag, and the smaller caramel corn bag. It was quite funny to see her walking up and down the hall carrying these bags, especially because the big one was almost as tall as she is!

Elise loves to try new kinds of food! We made sure all the small pieces we gave her didn't have any seed parts or choking hazards, but it is hard not to share with her. She loves eating whatever mom and dad are eating.
What an adventurous girl!!

Watering Flowers

We have had some wonderfully warm and sunny weather the last week. My little helper has been wonderful at helping water the flowers. We started with a squirt bottle, which she acted like she was pouring water with it on the flowers to give them a drink.

Then we found her a small watering can at the store. She loves it! She will go to the door, where the watering cans are, pick them up, and carry them to the kitchen for filling with water. She gets her hat all ready, and lets me know she is ready to go water the flowers. We've watered them several times a day. Daddy was a big help the first time she used her can. Mostly she gets one filling up, then dumps it all on one flower with some help, and then watches while Mommy or Daddy uses the big can to finish watering the other flowers.

She loves being outside, and she loves being a helper!!!

In order to spend less time watering, as there is only so much water the flowers need, we've also started blowing bubbles as an outside activity. We sit on a stool, and I blow bubbles while she watches. She doesn't really get playing with or popping bubbles yet, but gets very excited when we blow them. The kids in our apartment complex have come over to help pop them, and blow some of their own, and miraculously Elise doesn't cry at them, although she sticks really close to mommy. So, we're making friends, and still have pretty flowers!

Swing Fun

We went to the Daltons for some fun times, and Elise got to play in the swings. She has only done this one other time, so this was a fun thing for her. She is getting so grown up!


Elise and Daddy

Logan and the current Job

Lowpete, the construction company Logan works for, has a new job this summer. They usually build residential houses. This summer, as things are kind of slow, they have branched out. They are building a hangar at the airport. The way I understand it, there are several smaller compartments, like storage rooms, and each is a hangar for a small airplane. These smaller rooms are all connected to make one long hangar. This is a pretty big building, and a great opportunity. They have been hard at work, and Logan has been putting in 12 or 13 hour days, and working some Saturdays too. We are so proud of him for working hard, and still being optimistic, and upbeat. He is a little ray of sunshine in our family! Elise and I miss him, but we get to see him everyday, and that is wonderful! With the rising costs of living, we're very grateful Logan has such a good job, and we're able to pay the bills. We're hoping to get some pictures soon, to make clear the scope of the project, but in the meantime, wanted to let everyone know how wonderful Logan is. He's working hard and still doing so much to help with Elise. What a wonderful husband and father!

Grandma Gifts

My mom sent some adorable outfits for Elise. A couple were featuring Abby Cadabby, a new character from Sesame Street. I love that Elise looks so grown up in these outfits. She isn't exactly my little baby any more. She is slimming down, getting taller, and way more independent. The Abby Cadabby outfits are so feminine, and way cute,



and the cherry outfit with the jacket, very grown up!!!

Flower Challenge

We planted flowers the summer we moved into our apartment, three years ago. They were beautiful. The next year w e only had one bloom. It was stolen. Then the handy man in the complex mowed in front of our apartment, (and mowed our door mat). This year we have had several flowers bloom. Aren't they pretty?

This apartment complex is not the most glamorous, but it is a good amount of space for the amount we pay in rent. Our flowers are the only ones in the whole complex, which also boasts several families with children. This year, the children have again showed an interest in our flowers. They keep trying to come over and 'touch' them. They have already picked all the dandelions in the complex to make bouquets. As Elise and I are spending a lot of time with curtains and windows open (for light purposes, without needed electricity), we get to see who exactly is eying the flowers. I admit, I may have been a little warm in my warnings to these children, and find myself knocking hard on the window and loudly asking them to leave our flowers alone.

The space the flowers occupy is very small, and I think they are a needed addition to an area filled with random stuff sitting outside other apartments. I don't mean any disrespect to those who have kids, who keep bikes, and other toys outside, as these apartments aren't really equipped with storage for those items. However, I would appreciate some back up from said parents, to keep our flowers from being stolen! Luckily the flowers this year have all survived. I think I scared the kids with my strong requests. But I'm grateful we still have some flowers.

My Cleaning Helper

We have had a bit of a tough time this last few days. Elise threw up a couple times, once in the car, all over her car seat. We were at the post office at the time, and quickly rushed home to clean it all up. We got home between 7 and 7:30, and I started to disassemble the car seat, while Logan took Elise upstairs and gave her a bath. I have learned that our washing machine doesn't clean so well, so if I don't hand wash and treat things before washing in the machine, they don't get clean. So I treated Elise's clothes, and set to work on the car seat. I had to read the instructions for getting the padding off, and by the time I had things clean enough to get the padding off, Elise and Logan were back. Elise is a great helper, and wanted to be in the middle of things...

My Little Helper....

We got the padding off, and the buckles, and ended up putting them in the washing machine on the lowest setting, and thankfully they came clean! The next morning (Saturday), I was getting ready to put the car seat back together, when Elise threw up during breakfast, all over her high chair. Logan looked at her, and said, "I don't even know where to start". What a great helper he is though, he took care of her so I could clean the mess. I again cleaned her clothes, and took apart the chair for cleaning. Luckily this time I figured out how to get the straps all the way off, so I could machine wash those. I am so thankful for washing machines that get straps cleaner than I can on my own! I guess the good news is that I now know, and am proficient at getting both the car seat and high chair apart and clean!

That Monday, Elise continued to help me clean. She grabbed a paper towel and started to wipe down the window and window sill where she spends so much time looking out. I guess she remembered that we'd cleaned the windows recently, and wanted to help do that too. I thought it was so cute, I grabbed the camera, but by the time I got it on and was ready for pictures, this is what I found:

She was so worn out from cleaning, that she needed a break.....

How exhausting cleaning is!!! Do you ever feel like this after cleaning?
But what a great helper she is! Thanks little bug for helping Mommy clean!!

New House Fun

Logan had the assignment the other day to go to one of the finished houses and help clean a little bit. I guess there was texture on the walls, and when they were swiffered, some of the swiffer pieces got left on the walls. So Logan was on his way to a big empty house to get the pieces off the walls. He invited Elise and I to go, as he thought Elise would enjoy running around a large space with no furniture barricades. We went, and Elise loved it. She hasn't ever really had such a big space, and at first didn't really know what to do, but we brought her ball and she loved running around, kicking the ball, throwing the ball, and practicing rolling the ball...until Daddy started vacuuming the walls. Then she had to go where Daddy was, to watch what he was doing, play peekaboo, and occasionally go over to him, hug his leg and try to give him kisses. It was so cute to see how excited she was to be spending time with Daddy. She didn't want to let him go into the smaller rooms by himself, but she wanted to go with him. The bathrooms were too small for Logan, the vacuum, and Elise, so she'd push on the door (sometimes hitting Daddy) until he came back out. She sure loves her Daddy!!!

Worn out from Pizza

Elise and I had the car the other day and ran errands. By the time we got home, is was time for a lunch/snack, before Elise went down for a nap, as I knew she would sleep better if she wasn't so hungry. So, I put her in the high chair, and got out something I thought would be exciting enough to help her not get fussy while I fed her: pizza! She loved it, and was doing a great job eating, when I noticed her eyes were getting droopy while she chewed. Luckily she made it through that bite, and when I put my hand on her cheek, she immediately drooped off to sleep. I had to take a picture because she looked so peaceful and cute. It is very rare that she falls asleep in her high chair, but so adorable! I'm glad she was so clean, and I even got her out of her chair and laid down for her nap with out her waking up. What a great girl she is!!!

Swimming in Paper

We get several advertisements and magazines in the mail each seek. Most of them I don't need, so I let Elise play with them. She has a small box, and has created her own stash of papers in it. Periodically she will pull them all out one by one, rip a few, and sometimes even put them back in the box. She has a great time making messes with them. A week or so ago, she was playing with her box and papers, while i was putting the finishing touches on a project. I looked down to discover she had dumped the papers all over the kitchen floor, and was laying on her tummy, waving her arms and legs like she was swimming through the papers. I asked her what she was doing, and she just looked up at me with a huge grin on her face. She was having a blast! I've not seen her do it since, but I imagine she'd have a great time in a kiddy pool. Unfortunately we don't have a yard, but we may have to see if we can find a way to let her try swimming for real one of these days.

Scrapbook and Baby Blessing

I have been working on doing the scrap books for Elise and family since she was born. I am currently about 1 year behind, and the other day I was doing the pages for when she was blessed last May. In the church, new babies get a special priesthood blessing, and Elise received hers last May when we went to Oregon. The blessing contained lots of things, like advice to stay close to Mom and Dad and to learn from them. There were a couple really neat things, that looking back have definitely come into being. She was blessed with health and strength, a blessing I am truly grateful for. We've not had any earaches, or even a really bad time with teething. That makes life easier!
One of the other things she was blessed with was a quick intelligence. This has been more evident to me as I've been teaching her new words. It only took one or two times to show her the sign for car, and she started using it frequently in the right context. It amazes me how quickly she picks up on a new word, and how many she uses now, when I stop to count them. I am so grateful for that, because as she can communicate, there are less frustrating moments for her. What a wonderful thing priesthood blessing are, and gifts from Heavenly Father.

Where's Your Smile?

We have been reading a special book lately that has become one of Elise's favorites. It is about a baby getting ready for bed, and she gets many kisses on different body parts. For instance, she gets ten kisses on her toes, and two kisses on her ears. This book was a gift from Emilie and her family. Elise loves it, and has learned several new body parts, including her knees and her tummy, from reading this book. We read the part about the baby getting kisses on her toes, and then I ask Elise, "Where are your toes?" Sometimes she gets confused and points to her nose (admitedly they sound alike), but she is getting really good and more often than not will point to her toes, and is getting the right part when I ask. The other day I was trying to get a picture of her in a new outfit from Grandma Parker, so I got the camera, and to get Elise to smile, I asked, "Elise, where is your smile?" This is where she pointed:

I asked her again, and she looked down at her tummy with a confused look on her face, then looked up and pointed to her ear....the results here:

Needless to say, she's a bit confused about where her smile is, but it sure is cute when it comes out!

Finger Kisses

We have been practicing with Elise to give kisses for quite a while. She started out just doing the kissing noise which we called blowing kisses. She has progressed to using her hand to blow the kisses into and give them. She is also learning about giving a kiss on a cheek. She has been working on this for several days now, where when I point with my finger to my cheek and ask for kisses, she will put her mouth there and make kissing noises. On Saturday morning I put her in her high chair for breakfast, and she reached out to give me hugs. I leaned down, hugged her, and asked for a kiss while pointing to my cheek with my finger. She grabbed my finger and kissed it. I thanked her for the kiss, and sat down to get the food ready. What I realized when I looked at her as I sat, was that she was holding her finger out for me. So I reached over and kissed it, and she got a big grin on her face! Elise never ceases to amaze me, and is a joy to be around...and to share all kinds of unexpected kisses with!

'Toe Pick' -er

Have you ever seen the movie "Cutting Edge"? Its about a hockey player who learns to figure skate to be part of a pairs team. One of my favorite lines is when they say "Toe pick" to each other. Well, I have my own toe picker, although not the same kind as in the movie. She practices that pincher grip of thumb and forefinger by picking the lint from between her toes. She especially likes to do this once she is in her high chair, because the tray helps hold her foot still in a perfect position for picking. I finally had a camera with me to document this happening. What a cutie! She is very good about handing all the pieces of lint, real or imaginary, to me so I can put them in the trash. What a girl!

That's my girl!

Fabulous Mother's Day

Here's my girl, with her glow worm and blanket on Sunday morning. She and her Daddy made sure we had a great weekend. Logan took Elise to run errands on Saturday afternoon, so I could stay home and take a nap. What a heavenly thing an uninterrupted nap is! Logan also made extra efforts to do the dishes, and feed Elise for the weekend. He's such a wonderful helper! He found a recipe for stuffed french toast, and boy was it good! I also was gifted a new pair of jeans!!!! How wonderful to have jeans that fit, with no holes!!! Its been quite a while since I've had a new pair, and they are wonderful!!! I love having time to spend with Logan and Elise, and love to watch him interact with, and take care of, Elise. I usually sing primary songs, which are the ones I know the words to. It was fun to hear Logan singing whatever song he could think of words to, including "my name is Jonas", to help keep Elise entertained as he made zucchini and pasta salad for lunch on Sunday. What a great man! What a great family!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!!!
I know its a bit early, but we wanted to say that we hope everyone enjoys the day, and takes a moment to write in their journal something they learned from their mother, or that they appreciate about their mother. I think one of the things I love most about my mom was how hard she tried to make things fun for us. We had a great time mopping the floor in our bathing suits, with the orange hat, or playing trains to do laundry, or escaping from the lion vacuum cleaner. Maybe we were more in the way than actual helping, but it was a great way for us to be involved and 'help'. As a mother now, I know how hard it is to let the kids help, but I know it is a great way to get them involved, spend time together, and teach them the importance of work and cleanliness. Thanks Mom for all the things you taught us, and did for us!
I am also thankful for Logan's mom. She is such a neat lady, willing to help others, and a great friend. I love that Logan is great friends with his parents, and calls them to chat frequently. They did a great job raising a wonderful man, husband, and father, and are wonderful people, parents, and grandparents!

So, to remember my mom, here are some pictures from Mother's Day 2004. The last Mother's Day I was at home in California, and got to spend the day with my mom. Here's our cute family...right before Knut was born, and Beth went on a mission, and a month or two before I moved to Alaska.

Here is the picture of me doing the 'Highland Fling', a fun moment we enjoyed from the film Nicholas Nickleby. I loved this hair cut, and had to include this photo, as my hair cuts since just haven't been good at all.


Anyways, we'll try to take some pictures of our 0wn tomorrow as we celebrate our Mother's Day in Juneau. We hope you have a great Mother's Day as well, and thanks to all who have had a 'nurturing' role in our lives, especially our moms!

Shoulder Massage

I have been having shoulder issues for months now. I'm not sure what exactly has caused them, but several things make the pain in my right shoulder worse, like feeding Elise, playing with Elise, putting Elise to sleep, bathing Elise, sewing, typing on the computer, scrapbooking,....you name it, basically it causes the pain in my shoulder to be worse. Logan is wonderful at helping with Elise when he can, and giving me a quick massage when he can. The other day, I was sitting in front of him on the floor, while he sat on the couch, and he reached down and started massaging my shoulders. Well, Elise usually comes quickly over when she feels that she might be being left out of something, and sure enough she came over very quickly and climbed into my lap. She gave me a hug, and then put her hands on my shoulders too. The next day, I was sitting on the floor and we were playing with toys. She climbed up to stand on my legs, and put her hands on my shoulders and started wiggling her fingers, in her version of a massage. I said, "oh, that feels so nice, thank you for the massage, for rubbing my shoulders", and she got a huge grin on her face. When I rub my shoulder, she rubs hers, and then I tell her that mommy's shoulder is hurting. She is so cute, and she has once or twice come over to give me a 'massage'. I feel so loved from this wonderfully caring little girl!!! And her Daddy too!!! Oh, and we're planning to get my shoulder checked out when I go for a physical in a couple months. Hopefully they don't tell me the only way to fix it is to stop using it...cause how can I possibly do that?

15 Month Dr Visit

On Thursday, May 1, 2008, Elise had her 15 month Doctor visit with Dr. Welling and nurse Rachel. They said she is a healthy girl, and although she lost weight between the 12 month visit and the time we brought her in for her lip sores, she has since started gaining weight again. This is good news, and they want us to keep giving her as much food as she will eat. We have been trying to encourage her having juice and whole cow milk as well, but she doesn't seem to be interested at all. She usually will only have a couple swallows, and then she pushes it away. We're still nursing, so she's getting some liquid, and that's the way she seems to prefer it for now. We're still giving her the other options first, and we are trying new juice flavors to see if one will be a stimulus to drink more from her cool cups with straws.
They also said that it doesn't hurt her that she isn't sleeping through the night, and that she'll grow out of that. We hope so, and are hoping that glow worm will help with that process. They asked about the skills she is gaining, to see if she is on track for her age level. They asked if she had mastered the pincher grasp with the two fingers...We answered that of course she had, that not only does she enjoy picking up cheerios, her favorite way to use that grasp is to pick the lint out from between her toes. She loves to take her socks off, and get the fuzzies out, and helpfully she will had each fuzzy she finds to you so you can throw it in the trash! The other skill they asked about was if she plays with age appropriate toys, like reading books. Oh boy, does she ever! She loves to have books read to her, or to flip pages and babble to herself. What a fun girl!
They said she weighed 23 lbs, 4 ounces, and is 30 inches tall, and that her head circumference is 18.5 inches. She is getting so tall, she can reach things off the table.....so there aren't many safe places to put things you don't want her to have.
But, all in all, they said she looks healthy, and happy, and even smiled at the nurse!!!, before she got the two owies in her legs! But even then she calmed down very fast and went to sleep quickly once we were back in the car. What a trooper!

Language Skills

We have been working a lot with Elise and language skills. We started signing with her, and she's up to between 20 and 30 signs that she uses, or responds to. And has many many words she responds to if you just say them. She also likes to do hand motions for songs like "once there was a snowman" and dance to music, so her hearing is great. The only thing is, she doesn't really verbalize any words....She babbles all the time, and occasionally will have sounds that sound like 'mamamamam' or 'dadadada', and will imitate sounds sometimes, but mostly it is indecipherable. Well, about a week ago she started saying one 'word' consistently, over and over, and over! She points to things and says it as a question, or a statement, or just when she is 'chatting' with me. The word, her first, is THIS. That is the word we hear all day long,....this?, this, THIS! What a great choice of words! I'm not sure why this one has caught on, but she is definitely saying it a lot. She is still using all her signs when she really wants to communicate, and they are becoming more understandable the more we use them. I'm going to keep signing with her, and teaching her new ones, especially because it helps head off any tantrums when she feels she is communicating, but we're hoping the verbal skills can catch up soon! It is amazing to me how quickly she picks up a sign, or responds to verbal words, like toes or other body parts when you show them to her a couple times. She is absolutely not a little baby any more!!! She's a grown up little toddler!

Hugs for the Daltons!

A couple weeks ago we had dinner at the Dalton house on Sunday evening. We do this almost every week, and have a great time catching up with everyone. We have been doing this since Elise was a new baby, when she would cry every time we went to some place new with new people. She has gotten better over time, and now hardly ever cries, except when someone tries to hold her, or mom is not right there with her. Sometimes she'll play with one of the kids, and seems to be pretty comfortable around the youngest, Mason who is 4. She has also been letting the mom, Wendy, feed her at dinner time. Well, on the evening in question, a couple weeks ago, Wendy fed her dinner, got her out of her high chair, played with her, carried her away from where I was sitting, and she didn't make any fuss at all. She proceeded to give all of the kids hugs, and gave hugs to Wendy as well. A big step for her! She has been giving hugs to Daddy lately when he leaves for work, or comes home, and will spread her arms out as wide as they will go, and throw her whole body at him in her version of a hug. This is what she was doing for the Dalton family. If they got down on her level and held out their arms, she would hold her arms out, so straight at them, and throw herself against them. For Mason, that was enough to over balance them, but it was so cute to watch! She even got brave enough that she would 'hug' the dad, JP, but only while I was holding her, and it was the type of hug that was really a head lean. She did so good, and has since continued to give hugs and smiles when we go there. She is getting lots more comfortable than when she was a little baby! So she's progressed the next step down the road that will lead to them baby sitting her, with mom leaving her there.....What a grown up girl!

Peekaboo

Elise has learned how to play peekaboo. She puts her hands on her face, any where on her face, and then pulls them away, at which point you say 'peekaboo' and she gets a big grin on her face, and quickly puts her hands back on her face, and the process repeats. Most of the time she gets her hands near her eyes, but many times they will be on her forehead, or near her eyes but not covering them, so she can still see you. It is very cute, and funny to play this version of the game, where she is basically watching you the whole time. She has started using blankets to cover her face as well, and will sit for quite a while if you don't start asking, "where has Elise gone?", at which point she will take the blanket off her head. What a fun playmate!

Friends at Stake Conference

We had stake conference the weekend of the 19 and 20 of April. Stake conference is a church event where every one in the stake (which is a group of wards, wards being the smallest unit in the church), gets together for some meetings to uplift one another. Sort of. Anyways...For the Sunday morning session, we sat with the Dalton family, who got there early and were kind enough to save some seats for us. Our stake is large, spread out over Southeast Alaska, and some parts of Canada, so they use the satellite system to call in and connect everyone, and people fly in from all over the stake for the meetings. Well, we were in the chapel in Juneau, where the meeting was taking place, sitting in the second to last row in the chapel. Elise is very shy, especially around large groups of people. So when we got to the chapel, she stuck her face in my neck. As the meeting proceeded, she got more confident and started looking around. Before I knew it, she was smiling at the couple sitting behind us. She kept smiling at this one man and his wife, who we haven't seen before, for several minutes. She even got brave enough to hand her quiet time book to him. He took it, saying thank you, but before he could give it back, (which he tried to do immediately after she had let go), she had gotten all shy again, and wouldn't reach back out for the book. He made several attempts, but she was back to her super shy state. Finally she looked up, and he put the book over my shoulder right in front of her, and basically dropped it in her lap. She was delighted to have it back, and decided she had done enough sharing. I was very surprised, and pleased that she was so willing to share, even though she is so shy about it.

Later on, we went to the Primary room, where we could turn on the speakers and still hear the meeting, for some snack time. There was a little boy there with his Daddy having some play time. Usually Elise responds better to people her own size, than to adults, but this time, when the little boy, who kept coming over wanting to make friends, came near her, she lost it and acted very nervous and shy, and cried. We ended up having to find a different room for snack time, because she was so distraught she wouldn't eat with the little boy trying to be so friendly. What a contrast! It was amazing to me that she was acting opposite to what she normally does, but we were glad she had made at least one friend!

Sleep Progressions/Regressions

As has been the subject of several posts, Elise has always been an interesting sleeper. Sometimes she laughs in her sleep, sometimes, only once in a while, she will have a bad dream. Some nights she sleeps for 7 hours straight. Some nights she wakes up every hour or half hour. Some nights she sleeps 4-5 hours, and then wakes up a lot. Sometimes she will find her pacifier go back to sleep on her own. Sometimes she wants to hold a hand and will lay back down on her own. Sometimes she has to be held or she won't go back to sleep. There isn't a really consistent pattern. Fortunately Logan goes to bed early, and has been waking up early and helping with Elise. She has been doing well sleeping some nights, and others not so good. Some nights she wants Logan to put her to sleep, and some nights she has to have Mom. It is definitely an adventure every night. We've been trying a new strategy lately. We decided to see if a 'comfort item' might help her with getting back to sleep on her own more consistently. We started looking for a likely blanket or doll, or something. She hadn't really shown a prolonged interest in anything in particular. A few days later she picked up her glowworm, and started carrying it around with her. We thought this might be the thing to do the trick. It lights up and sings lullabies. We've been carrying it around and snuggling it when we snuggle her, but it still seems to be us that are initiating the process. She doesn't really want it at night, but we're still trying, and will see how it goes! Hurray for Glow worm! Thanks Aunt Tifiny!!!

Projects

I've been working on many projects of late. Elise has been a great helper. She especially loves to play with the fabric or ribbon while I'm in the planning stages, or the completed projects. We made bags for her toys that have multiple parts. We cut out letters in bright fabrics, sewed them on, and used ribbon to make draw strings for the tops. She is still having some trouble opening them, but once they are open the toys, and the bags are a source of fun. She is even getting pretty good at helping me put things back in the bags. What a great helper!
I also got to make some organizational things for my sewing machine. We made a cover in bright yellows and blues, and we made a piece that goes underneath the machine, and has pockets that hang down in front so you can store things that you need all the time like scissors, and a seam ripper! Unfortunately Elise has discovered the pockets, and likes to try to empty them, or just pull real hard on them, which makes the machine move dangerously close to the edge. Needless to say she is spending most of her time in her play pen when the sewing machine is being used! But we have enjoyed having a machine, and getting to work on projects together. We're looking at doing a little blanket for her soon, and maybe actually starting to put together the quilt for Daddy that was supposed to be last Christmas's gift.....we'll see! Elise gets bored quickly when we're not playing together, so our sewing time is limited, and our machine is having some issues so its in the shop getting fixed. So in the mean time, we're trying to catch up on scrapbooking. We have made excellent progress and are now doing the trip we took last May where she got blessed in Oregon. It is so fun to see her as a little baby, and finally write down all the stories, and see how much she's grown. What a big girl I've got now!!