Days 408, 409, and 410

Elise cuddling Radar as Radar licks Elise's face. April 21st:



Elise loves feeding herself now and sometimes she won't even eat unless she's in control of the food. Here she is feeding herself a banana on April 22nd:



Elise can go down slides all by herself... so long as she goes down backwards and on her belly. April 23rd:

Days 404, 405, 406, and 407

Solving the world's problems with the most complicated abacus ever invented, April 17th:



Elise's first shower with Daddy! April 18th:



All gone! (Now feed me dessert!) April 19th:



This picture was taken moments before Elise jumped on stage during baby story time at the library, April 20th:

Days 400, 401, 402, and 403

I took Elise to baby story time at the library on April 13th. She loved it! She was very engaged and clearly recognized some of the songs, like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "You Are My Sunshine."



Here is Elise, on her way to visit Daddy for lunch on April 14th:



Elise shows the cats affection by tackling them to the ground and then lying on them like big, fluffy body pillows. Applesauce is our most passive cat, so he puts up with it. April 15th:



At the children's play area in the mall, April 16th:

Days 396, 397, 398, and 399

Baby Elise wants YOU! April 9th:



Here's one way Elise might look before she wakes up in the morning. April 10th:



Elise and Daddy, April 11th:



A fireman who lives down the street saw us out walking with the kids on April 12th and brought them toy hats. Elise loved hers and didn't want to take it off.

Days 392, 393, 394, and 395

Elise is potty training. When she uses the potty, I'll often let her have some naked baby time, which she LOVES. Elise is a nudist at heart. April 5th:



Nap time is over! April 6th:



So cute in her monkey hat, April 7th:



To further prove the nudist point, here is a picture of Elise, running through the house naked. She didn't want me to catch her to put a diaper on. April 8th:

Days 388, 389, 390, and 391

Shortly after her first birthday, Elise developed a fear of balloons. She gets very scared of them. We don't know why. But here she is on April 1st, holding one of the those small balloons on a stick that Caleb got for his second birthday. Maybe she's starting to snap out of it.



Elise loves to accessorize. She has hats, shoes, and necklaces that she insists on wearing sometimes. Add gloves to that list. April 2nd:



Elise and Daddy, April 3rd:



April 4th:

Days 384, 385, 386, and 387

Elise getting ready to pick out her clothes after a morning bath, March 28th:



Vroom, vroom! Elise makes car sounds when she plays with toys and when she's riding in her stroller. March 29th:



March 30th:



Elise loves running water. That's blackberry on her shoulder, by the way-- hence the need for a bath. March 31st:

Days 382 and 383

Beautiful! March 26th:



March 27th:

Days 378, 379, 380, and 381

March 22nd:



LOL baby! March 23rd:



March 24th:



March 25th:

Days 374, 375, 376, and 377

Elise sleeps with a teddy bear now. She hugs it to herself really tight. Super cute. Here she is napping on March 18th:



Baby, you can drive my car. Elise gets her first driving lesson! Okay, not really. On Daddy's birthday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to meet up with some of Ingrid and Caleb's relatives. It was a nice trip-- the kids had fun. Happy Birthday, Daddy!!! March 19th:



Elise LOVES to put this toy in her mouth and walk around with it covering her face. I think that she's peeping out of the hole in the middle. She got kind of obsessed with this for a while. March 20th:



Silly Elise. March 21st:

Days 370, 371, 372, and 373

March 14th:



Elise loves to stand on her head. March 15th:



Yum! Elise could barely control herself in the grocery store on March 16th:



Gasp! I didn't know you were here! March 17th:

Days 368 and 369: More Birthday Celebrating

On March 12th, we had a small birthday party in Sarasota for all of the kids plus Elliot. Elise and her foster siblings, Ingrid and Caleb, had a wonderful time. We set up a ball pit, blew some bubbles, and ate strawberry shortcake. Here is a picture of Elise, just before the party began (can you tell that she's excited?):



On our way back to Tallahassee on March 13th, we stopped at a shopping mall and took the kids to a Build-A-Bear store. Here is Elise kissing her newly stuffed toy:

Days 366 and 367

Elise loves bubbles! March 10th:



After Elise's one year old doctor's check up, she was extremely tired. The stress of 4 shots left Baby Elise feeling that grocery shopping was more than she could take. She slept the whole trip, right until I put my last bag of paid-for groceries in the cart. March 11th:

Day 365: Happy First Birthday, Elise!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Elise! Elise turned 1 year old on March 9th. She started off the day playing with a birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. She really likes this toy-- it sings the ABC song and teaches you what sound each letter makes. Elise discovered that the letters taste good, too!



Elise also got a birthday tutu. So pretty! She looked super cool in her legwarmers, tutu, and ruffled shirt.



Thank you, Elise for the happiest, most wonderful year of my life. I love being your mommy!!!

Days 362, 363, and 364

On April 1st, I discovered that I was indeed the April fool. I had misnumbered my Elise Every Day posts. In looking back, I realized that my mistake had occurred very early on. On day 18 I reposted it as day 17-- two day 17s. Oh man. So I had to renumber nearly every post I've ever made of Elise pictures. :(

We've got it figured out now, though. Back on track. Here is Elise playing footsie with her foster sister, Ingrid. The picture is all blurry because they were really kicking and shaking their car seats! March 6th:



March 7th:



Elise got a singing birthday card from her Great-aunt Marilyn. She loved it. Here she is looking at it for the millionth time, March 8th: