Wow! It's been a long time (two months) since I posted, so a lot has changed with Elphie! I started a post a while back, but IE messed up and it was erased.

     She can crawl super fast, which is scary. We have a pretty baby-proofed upstairs, so we just close all of the doors and let her crawl around wherever she wants. She can also walk really well while holding on to things. She loves to stand! She is starting to stand on her own (without holding on) now, but not too much. Another thing is dancing. This girl will dance to anything! Her toy pig snorting, a car commercial, elevator music, and of course the radio or any music we have playing.

     Elphie has quit saying "uh-oh" so much, but is starting to say "thank you" more and more. She still points and says "that" or "wassAT" a lot. Other than that, she babbles baby talk all the time. Oh, and she loves to mimic Rick or me laughing.

     I have pretty much weaned her from nursing. I miss it, but it's also kind of a relief, as far as nighttime feedings. She only wakes up once during the night now, but I don't produce milk anymore, so she'll probably quit waking up at night soon. I don't think I could have or got her to quit so well if it weren't for my new job at Key West. Two weekends ago, I didn't get to see Elphie for a few days (Rick was in SC for a family reunion), so I was unable to nurse her and was very full. After that, my body quit making much milk. Then there was this past weekend (Mother's Day weekend), and my grandmother kept her the whole weekend because I had to work all day every day, so that also kept me from being able to feed her, so now I'm not making milk. Oh well, I guess it's good since she'll be a year old NEXT MONTH!

     It is really hard to believe that it's going to be her birthday. My mom has given me a lot of clothes from my little sister, Emmie, so we have plenty of 12-24 month sized clothes. That helps us out a lot, having Emmie's hand-me-downs. We haven't really bought her new toys for her age yet, but we figure it can wait till her birthday. I do buy her 4 or 5 books from Walden Books about every two weeks, I think that is good for her. She likes being read to, especially when the books are shiny or textured.

     Another thing, we got her ears pierced at Claire's on the 11th. I was going to have them done on her birthday, and also have her hair cut the same day, but then I figured that since she has to get her 1-year shots the day after her birthday, I should get her ears pierced now so she doesn't have a really bad couple of days. Right? I got 14k gold earrings with the June stone. I kinda wanted to get pink, so she'd look even more prissy, but the blue color of June is pretty too. Elphie did pretty good until after the second ear. I felt so bad when she cried, but it didn't last long.

     Well, I'm going to go soon to eat dinner, but one last thing: Elphie is getting her own bedroom! Since Rick and I are moving out and into our own apartment, she'll finally be out of our room! Hehe, I love having her so close, but it'll be nice to have more space. Cramming all of her stuff AND our stuff into one room is really tight and stressful. We are going to make it Care Bear themed. We already have a crib set from my baby shower that Mimi and Popop gave us, and I have a small blanket, but we don't have too much else. I've got my eyes on some Walmart stuff, like a toy catcher and lamp. I did buy Elphie some Care Bear dishes, spoons, and cups with silly straws. She can't use them yet, but I'm sure she'll like them in a few months, right?

     Ok, time for pictures!

     So, Elphie is almsot completely weaned now. She only nurses at night, or during the day if she misses me I let her paci. She can now pick things up pretty well with only her forefinger and thumb (pincer grasp), so she can eat puffs or cheerios or bite-sized pieces of food on her own. She can also sit down from standing better than she could before. She used to just plop down kind of hard, but now she kind of bends her knees and eases herself down. She also says "mama" and "dada" a lot.

     Yesterday was a milestone for her because now she has been both inside of me for 9 months and outside of me for 9 months. Tonight is a milestone for me because I'm letting her spend the night with my mom. eeek! It will be our first night apart. I miss her already, I've been away from her for most of the day, since mom keeps her while I'm in class. I hope she's good tonight for mom.