Elizabeth's first birthday!

My baby is a year old already! At Elizabeth's 12-month appointment, she was 29 inches long and weighed 20 pounds 14 ounces. She runs, climbs, dances, sings, signs, drums, hammers, and she can even toot on a plastic recorder. I can't hope to list all the words she can say, but they include "shark, dog, owl, door, shoe, hat, eye, ear, book, ball, bounce, mama, dada, red, purple, up, on, more." She can also make appropriate sound effects to identify a duck, owl, airplane, fish, clock, and the letters B and W. Plus she has lots of signs -- alligator, bath, book, diaper, dog, eat, hat, and music are probably the ones she signs most, but she also signs giraffe, ball, more, and gorilla sometimes. She sleeps and eats pretty much just as I would ask her too. She's a very fun and pleasant baby!

The girls love visits from Grandma! It isn't easy to read to both girls at once, because they both want different books, and the best seat in the middle of the lap, and they both want to turn the pages. Grandma does it, no sweat.

Uncle Zak was able to come to Elizabeth's birthday party! We're excited that Zak lives nearby now, and we see him more often!

Elizabeth tries to explain something about her scarf to my Aunt Teri. Elizabeth couldn't ask for a nicer great-aunt.

Elizabeth was a little daunted by the prospect of blowing out a candle. Good thing Aunt Hannah was around!

Here's part of the party. I think Elizabeth's Daddy must have been doing something silly to get them all to smile like this...

Elizabeth went right to Grandma K for a bit of a cuddle. I guess she knows her Grandma K!

Mischief makers number 1 and number 2. (Well, if Vanessa is number 1, maybe these are numbers 2 and 3.)

I had a little fun making this dress-up picture even more goofy than it already was. Daddy and Elizabeth look so glamorous, don't you think?

Elizabeth playing peek-a-boo with Uncle Terry at the party. No wonder Elizabeth stayed pleasant throughout her whole party -- she had such a wonderful playmate for a few play breaks away from the crowd.

Watch out Aunt Hannah! Someone's coming to get you!

My Dad spent some time with us on Elizabeth's birthday itself. Here he and the girls are making some pumpkin muffins (Vanessa's specialty).

And we have such lovely visits from Aunt Heather whenever she gets the chance. Thanks for always finding time, even through moving to a new home!

It was so cute -- the other day when Abigail and Isabelle came over to play, Isabelle and Elizabeth actually played with each other! I guess Elizabeth is getting to be a bit more grown up -- ready to play with friends now.

Of course, Elizabeth does love to play with her big sis.

Here's Vanessa's official "every-three-months with a special toy" picture. Vanessa's just three months shy of being three, and informs us every day about how she's almost three. She also thinks a lot about all of her relatives and friends -- if you're reading this, I bet she's asked about you recently!

This is Elizabeth's official "every three months with a special toy" picture. I had been taking pictures of her with her bunny, but now that she has a special homemade doll "Dee-Dee" from Grammy Dee, I think we'll do pics with Dee-Dee from now own.

Elizabeth loves the garden, and being outside in general. She loves to smell clover flowers in our yard and look for ripe strawberries in our strawberry beds. In this picture, she's enjoying a bite of fresh broccoli. She also loves the sugar snap peas.

I think her favorite is the strawberries!