Elsa at One

On Sunday (the 24th) Elsa turned ONE YEAR OLD.

And has been home with me for 5 months.

So, here are some nuggets about Elsa as she reaches this big milestone:

Big news!! She now WALKS!! God help me.

She is still in great health – well mostly. Right now, she has a cold – which is most likely the result of all the crazy traveling I’ve been forcing upon her… we both were holding up until the last trip really pushed the lack-of-sleep envelope.

She is happy, happy, happy. Remarkably. Like almost frighteningly.

She is huge (still) - official weight TBD at an upcoming doctor's appointment, but unofficial puts her near 24 pounds(!)

Consistent with the previous item, and her entire existence as far as I can tell, she continues to eat like a truck driver.

She eats anything I put in front of her, and is continuing her transition from pureed foods to table foods. She loves feeding herself and when I have the time I just let her eat her whole meal in her adorable uncoordinated manual fashion. Takes forever and is a huge mess. But makes her really happy to eat with her hands.

Except for a recent bout of late-night awakenings (because of her cold), she’s a good sleeper – sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. Thank you God.

She has two volume settings: silent (when sleeping) and really, really, REALLY loud.

Elsa loves the nanny, Marta. And so do I.

Even more than the nanny, Elsa LOVES her Aunt Kate and her Oma. And so do I. :-)

She loves to be outside. Squeals with excitement as soon as my hand touches the front door handle (if I’m holding her, that is!)

She seems to have adjusted nicely to my return to work (I, on the other hand, am still a bit wiped out by it, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon).

Every day brings something new, and I aspire to greet all new experiences like Elsa does: with delight.