The Elf is 13 Months

Here is my sweet Annelise leaning into Hadleigh to give her a hug. She is such a sweet, sweet, cuddler and I love it! She loves to give hugs and kisses and lots of cuddles. This morning I walked downstairs to find Annelise giving Dave a 4 minute cuddle, he was in heaven. This is my sweet 13 month old. She just seems to love everyone, with big squeals whenever Hadleigh or Dada walk into the room, or I suppose even if I walk into the room. It is fun to see her begin to prefer Dave which seems a long time coming. Last night she woke up in the middle of the night (her night, it was only 9.30pm), and I went up to check on her and change her diaper. In the middle of the situation Dave came home and was surprised to find her up (she NEVER wakes up). Annelise immediately wanted Dave, and so he was able to cuddle her and put her to sleep.

She is a funny girl and loves to laugh. She likes peek-a-boo and just also tickles. It is fun to get her going. She is cruising around, still, and shows no real interest in walking without help from a walker or a hand. I keep thinking she is close, but I might just be setting myself up since HC didn't walk until 17 months. We will see! With crawling she is into EVERYTHING...this is a new experience for me, because HC was fairly compliant, and never interested in climbing/getting into things. We have had to put a permanent gate up blocking the stairs because distraction does not work! And this child climbs on everything...ugh! And she touches everything...ugh! She turns off the computer regularly. You would think that I w ould learn, but she is super quick and goes in for the kill when you are least expecting it!

Have I mentioned Annelise is a picky eater? It is frustrating. I think part of the frustration is I cannot reason with her yet, as in, eat 2 more bites and you can get a treat (raisen, applesauce, yogurt), she just refuses things and begins to throw things...wow...that is maddening. I have had to learn to walk away from that...wow.

She still only has her 8 teeth, so she is a bit behind dentally...funny since she got her first teeth at 4 months! She loves to babble and regularly uses Mama and Dada. Her other words seem to be undiscernable.

Sleeping has never been her gift, so we still struggle with her naps, though she sleeps through the night like a champ, and generally is still getting up at 5.30a, which is only painful on the weekend.

She is beginning to play really well by herself which is SO freeing, and Annelise and Hadleigh have been playing well together, which is such a blessing. I do not really remember this age with Hadleigh because when Hadleigh was this age I was prego and puking and just not really into anything that was going on at the time, so it is fun to really have a chance to enjoy this age.

Here she is with the walker/stroller that Grandma and Grandpa gave her for her birthday. She only gets to play with it when Hadleigh is not around, but she does enjoy the limited time she has with the toy.

I guess that is all I have to report for Annelise this month.