It's about time for me to write about Ellie at one year old! She will actually be 13 months in 3 days so I'm not too late yet!

In the last two months her looks have really changed from baby to more todder-like. She now has 4 teeth - 3 of which have appeared in the past month! She enjoys eating real table food more now than baby food - but we're still giving it to her to make sure she gets her fruit and vegetables.

She started walking on September 17th! I was changing Asher's diaper and all of a sudden I saw her walking towards us! I quickly grabbed the camera and started taping her!

She likes to try imitating what people do and imitates talking a lot, though her vocabulary hasn't expanded too much yet. She did go on her first plane ride and trip to Nashville last weekend! She liked the plane ride a lot. I tried nursing her while we took off but as soon as she felt the plane moving she sat up and looked out the window. On the way home I was telling her we were up in the sky and I think she was trying to say "sky." Mom came with us and I also think she was saying, "Mama" for "Grandma."

Asher and Ellie are really starting to interact and play with one another! You can tell they like being together and playing together.

Capture the Moments

This is really what I should use the blog for - to capture the moments of life that I want to remember always. I wish I were a great writer, but I'll just do my best to get the moment written.

Right now, Asher and Ellie are watching, "Baby Faith" - God Made Me. Asher was singing along to "Oh How I Love Jesus." It was so cute and sweet! I love that he is learning so many songs of the faith. Ellie was sitting on the trampoline and now she's on the bouncing zebra, and now she got off. They are both making noises along with "A Mighty Fortress."

I put the video on because they were getting a little crazy, wanting the same things at the same time, Asher pulling on Ellie, etc. They needed a distraction and I needed a break. Actually I should lay back and close my eyes while they watch this. I think I will. Night night.

Ellie is 11 months old! She has made a lot of progress. The week we were at the beach (Sept. 2-7) she has had a lot of firsts! The one I am most happy about is that she has finally figured out how to drink from a sippy cup! This is giving me a little more freedom! During the week at the beach, Ellie also learned to wave hi (she now waves to everybody all the time), say hi and hello, and uh-oh. The day after we got home from the beach she said "Asher" when she saw him and "Ellie" when prompted! She also cut her first tooth that week (bottom right), and the second one (bottom left) is very close behind - now just starting to poke through. The top two can be clearly seen under the gums so I suspect they'll all come in rather quickly now. She's growing so much! She can now stand for a few moments on her own before plopping back down, and she can walk when holding one or two hands. She can also walk with her walker toy.

As far as eating, besides drinking milk, water, or juice from her sippy and the usual baby food varieties (including stage 3), she also enjoys scrambled eggs, chicken nuggets, and broccoli if they're cut up really small.

She is doing better at night - sleeping through and not needing to nurse. Daddy has been helping with that and also getting up with her in the morning since he's been home. That has helped her not be so dependent on mommy. (But I still think I'm her favorite person!).

Asher is continuing his potty training, though we haven't gone hard core yet. He has worn underwear several times and kept them dry - only one accident. I'm thinking we'll soon go to underwear and get it done. Something interesting just happened. I heard Asher crying and went upstairs. He was crying very hard when I found him and saying, "I need pee potty." His diaper and jammie bottoms were both off! I quickly comforted him and carried him to the potty where he went! Odd, but perhaps he's really learning how to hold it and what it feels like to go!

Well that's all I have to update for now. Bye bye!

Ellie is 10 months old! I can't believe that in two short months she will be one year old. As you can see, she is still a happy little sweetie. Her sweet smile can melt your heart!

Physically she is changing all the time! She crawls quite proficiently now and also pulls to a standing position. She is also starting to cruise along furniture or toys that she hangs onto. She is very strong and is developing those walking muscles! Speaking of strong, this girl has quite a grip! Try to take anything from her hands and it's quite a struggle! She is wearing size 12 m or bigger in clothes. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but I am thinking they may start to pop through very soon. We are trying to get Ellie to be able to drink from a cup but at this point she still prefers Mommy as her beverage of choice - and cup of choice. Hopefully that will change soon!

What does Ellie like to play with? She still likes anything she can chew on but lately she is getting into some of the toys Asher enjoys - things that light up or make noise. She likes to stand at her Leap Frog table or at the little piano. She just started putting balls in the dragon toy that Asher used to play with...I'll have to get a photo on here. Ellie also enjoys swimming in the pool! She kicks her legs and smiles sweetly.

What does Ellie eat? She eats stage two foods - pretty much everything! She's had small bites of apple too and other things like that. I'll probably try her on the chunkier stage 3 foods soon.

Night time is difficult for Ellie. She needs Mommy to get to sleep and Mommy to get back to sleep if she wakes up. It's quite tiring on all of us and I hope to be able to break her of that soon. We've had to let her cry it out a few times and I think that will have to happen more often soon. I just bought her a Baby Tad of her own to help her sleep at night. That helped Asher when he was a baby and now Tad is his best friend. In fact, he has three of them...long story.

What does Ellie say? MaMa, Dada, Baba, and Puh-Puh. She also likes to sing! When we sing she sings along by saying "Aaaaah". It's very cute.

That's all I can think of right now...more later if I think of it!

Here's something! Ellie has had moments of standing on her own...she just had another one as I handed her a wagon wheel snack. She took it and stood alone and then reached toward me and took a step! She put her hand on my lap to steady herself, but it was almost like a first step!

Ellie 9 months and Today's Blessings

Ellie is nine months old...I haven't written about her yet so I'd better do it now!
The day she turned 9 months we went to Hershey Park with Jeremy's school kids who were singing there. She was a very good girl all day. The day before she turned 9 months she started crawling! I didn't get the first time on video but I got the second time. She's quickly made progress in the past 12 days since. He is always trying to stand up. She doesn't usually get it without help yet but she's building her strength. Tonight she crawled up into my lap and just cuddled her head against me for a minute. I took time to treasure it. Maybe she'll be my cuddler! I hope so!
She is still nursing a lot on demand, but she is also eating 2-3 meals a day of baby food. Ellie will eat pretty much anything in the stage two category of baby food. She had a biter biscuit yesterday and loved that.

She devours cheerios...that is, half of them. The other half end up on the floor or on her seat.
Ellie enjoys hanging out with Grandma lately. She'll sometimes prefer her over Mommy! I think it's because Grandma makes faces at her, makes noises and plays with her that way. One thing Mom does is stick her tongue out and Ellie imitates it. Ellie has started to stick her tongue out when she sees Grandma! Ellie enjoys looking at faces. She likes when you shake your head in a “no” motion and say “AAAAHHH!” She'll imitate that and it's really cute to see. She also makes a funny sort of kissy-face by pursing her lips together and sticking them out. I'll have to try to get a photo of it. She'll also make a kissing or lip-smacking noise, especially when she's eating.
Ellie has started waking up a lot at night. I think we will have to have Daddy put her back to sleep and me not nurse her anymore. It's keeping up bad habits of not sleeping through the night.
Ellie continues to say “Ma-Ma” and “Da-Da” and I believe she knows who she's talking about. It's so sweet. She's becoming very curious now that she can crawl and wants to investigate every thing she comes across. She like to play with Asher's toys too so Asher is learning to play “together.” She still enjoys Baby Einstein shows with Asher and now she's starting to laugh at things like the puppets. It's so cute to see her sense of humor coming out. In church when we take her in for music she kicks her legs and jumps in my arms. I think she's getting into the Spirit! :)
Physically I see her changing – thinning out a little as she gets more active. Her cheeks don't seem as chubby lately. She is so pretty. I love the contrast when she wears pink – her bright blue eyes really stand out.
Little Ellie – you are over 9 months and will be one before I know it! I cannot wait to see who you become as you grow. I love you so much and desire your heart to turn to the Lord Jesus at an early age. We are so blessed to have you in our family, Sweet Princess Elisabeth Jane Groff.
Today we were blessed by God to be able to buy another double stroller. The one we had wasn't working out so well for Asher. We tried another one at the store and liked it. When I looked on Craig's List that night, there was one for sale at less than half the store's price. When we went to look at it today the sellers turned out to be a couple who is preparing for the Mission field. She said she received other emails about it but I guess hadn't heard from the people. We loved the stroller and bought it. It's such a blessing to have for the summer events. Asher fits in it much better and it's more convenient in so many ways. Yay! Now I pray that the Lord will send the right buyer for our sit and stand.
Asher was so cute today. I asked him who his best friend is, and he said Mommy! Aw! He also said it when I asked him again and then when I asked him a third time tonight he said, “Mommy Daddy.” Aw. Love it!
Asher had a GREAT day playing in the pool. We both sat outside and watched him and it felt like a wonderful, picturesque day. These are the days I live for. Jeremy will be starting grad classes soon and that will be hard. It would be so nice to have him home for summer fun.

Another thing is Asher peed on the potty today - twice, actually! He's getting better about it! I think it might be time to buy some pull-ups soon and do this regularly! I'm not pushing anything to hard yet, though. I'm pleased with how he's doing right now. I made him a potty chart and he enjoyed putting stickers on it today :) His first "chart"! I love it!

Here is my big boy - he learned to hang from the bar at the playground last weekend.

And here he is trying to hang "[up]side down" like the little girl he saw next to him. He thought that was hilarious!

Here's some more photos of Ellie - 8 months.

Ellie is 8 months old - 8 1/2 months, actually, at this point! I'm a little behind in getting her photos done. Ellie is eating solid foods like cereal with fruit, peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, banana pieces and avacado. She's learned pretty quickly to eat Cheerios and other puffs and can self feed. She LOVES to eat! She's still nursing a lot - I don't really count her feedings...probably 4-5 per day. She'll eat solids about 2 times a day - though I think I need to increase her solids a little bit.

Ellie is still a pretty good sleeper. Lately she's been needing "that last feeding" to settle her down for sleep. She's been rolling over onto her stomach and sometimes falls asleep like that. I always try to check on her and make sure she's not face-down, but her head is turned. Sometimes I roll her back over to her back to sleep...makes Mommy feel better. But I'm trying to let her figure out how to go to sleep on her own.

As far as movement, she is trying really hard to get around. She can scoot around on her belly and "go places" by spinning herself in a circle on her belly using her arms. She'll also roll to get where she wants, and has even been able to get herself from her belly to a sitting position on a few occasions. Occasionally she'll get her knees under her but she usually falls back to her belly quickly after that. Today I saw her pull herself up on her knees at the Leap Frog Table. She gets pretty frustrated if she's on her belly because she usually can't get up, or get where she wants to be fast enough.

If you sing to Ellie, she will try to imitate it in sing-songy baby talk. She says "Mah-Mah" when she's fussing for me, and "Dah-Dah" when she sees him and is happy. I try to get her to say "Mah-Mah" when she's happy too! Ellie loves her brother too, as long as he's not pushing her over. Asher tries to play with her but doesn't quite have it down yet. A couple times I've heard them giggling together in the back seat of the car. It's so sweet! And once they were sitting and playing with toys side by side, as nice as could be. I hope there's more of that in the future!

She's wearing clothing sizes 12-18 months - depending on the style. If it's a one-piece she definitely need the bigger size - she's so long! I'm excited now that it's spring - time to show off those chubby legs of hers!

Ellie enjoys watching TV - Baby Einstein, Sesame Street, and anything her brother is watching! We've recently begun to bring Ellie into church for the music. So far her response is a very wide-eyed look - just taking it all in. She has started to clap her hands (but not to the music or anything). She enjoys when I make her clap and say "Yay!" just like Asher did. I'm sure I did it more with Asher being that he was the only one at the time! She'll laugh when you say "Ah-Boo!" to her as well. I'm trying to play with her more...it's harder with two kids to split your time!

People often comment how sweet, smiley, and cute Ellie is. Of course, we think so too but we're biased! When she smiles people say she looks like Mommy. When she's serious she looks like Pop-Pop. She has the chubby Groff cheeks like Kearstin did as a baby - and recently she's made me think of Kaylee underneath the eyes too. Breaking it down, her eye color and expression come from Mommy, her chin is shaped like Daddy, and her ears are shaped like Mommy. I think he mouth looks like Mom-Mom's. And I think her nose is more like Daddy's than Mommy's. But, a lot of baby noses look alike and they definitely change over time. We'll have to wait and see! I guess she's just everyone!

Lets see...what else does Ellie enjoy? She loves to swing outside. She's even fallen asleep in there before. She still likes her exersaucer - as long as she's not in there too much. She recently figured out how to jump in the exersaucer and she loves that. She hasn't liked the johnny jumper though...maybe it doesn't feel secure enough for her. She was in the jumparoo at Aunt Anne's and liked that though.

Serious face