The 11 Month Lady Baby!

I didn't realize until about mid-day that today is Elise's 11 month b-day!  So instead of some glamor shot I got these pics:

To celebrate the day, Elise slept in. To my surprise she did it with a blanket around her head:

 I can't tell you how smelly all of that trapped baby breath in that blanket was. FooWee! She's her Daddy's daughter.

 This must have been why - her lips were open wide on the mattress.

She's been having a hard time with sleeping lately. She still could use 2 naps, but she's trying hard to transition to a one nap big girl.  I try not to fight what she needs & watch for her sleepy-girl prompts, but she fights it... it broke my heart having to wake her up when she was clearly so tired, but I had to get to a Presidency meeting. :(

While there, she might have said car... add that to wiggle/giggle, mama, & deedee (the sound she shrieks at Josh when she's mad at him) & you've got quite an impressive vocabulary for only 11 months.

Now, we're just counting down the month we have left to go until we can cut the formula from our grocery budget (hooray) & let her try a piece of my honey oat bread that she's been begging for. : )

Other things of the day - while Elise napped, I got out one of Caleb's Christmas presents - a dry erase easel - to play a game. I drew parking spots with numbers & had Caleb park his cars in the numbers I called out.  He did a fine job, but got tired of the game & wanted to draw. I gave him on of the letter pages & encouraged him to trace the letters. He did a great job for a first timer!

 After he finished, I'd move the paper so he could see his work. Not bad! Some of those letters are quite legible. We were both pretty proud & Caleb kept going till he'd tried all of the letters.

Something new Caleb's been doing is saying thank you in a cheesy voice (it kinda sounds like he's "doing" T-Bone from Clifford). This morning Caleb went potty, & came out with his pants around his ankles.  I told him "good job" for going potty, & he crinkled up his face & mouth & said his cheesy thank you looking like a Donald Trump impersonator. That, plus his pants down, was just too funny to forget about! (So sorry Future Caleb if you're reading this.)

Total Side Note:
I'm a bit of an obsessive blogger, but this is the first time I've ever kept a journal/log so faithfully. It's because I  love all of these fun/funny moments with my babies & I'd hate to forget any of them.  Today my mind's been wandering to our upcoming cruise. Until now I've been thinking about how we'll be out of contact for everyone else, but today I realized I'll be out of contact with my babies!  They'll have a whole week of funny sayings, & trying new things that I won't be apart of!  I know they'll be loved & cared for with my cousin & her family, there are no worries there, it just breaks my heart to think of missing that time with them & all of the experiences they'll have.