Cuz It's Fun

Because Staley's day care provider was on vacation this week, she spent Tuesday with her Uma (Grandma Sancken) and today with her Grammie (Grandma Walles) while I was at work.  To add to the excitement of spending time with her grandmas, Cade (Staley's 7 year old cousin) was at Uma's house all day on Tuesday and Elliott (Staley's 3 year old cousin) was at Grammie's house all day today.  So Staley soaked up quality time with her cousins.

Apparently she just couldn't get enough of them.  She played with them and watched them play and followed them around all day  On Tuesday morning, she reportedly was having a blast bouncing on the bed upstairs with Cade.  After her nap later that afternoon, Staley was playing downstairs with Cade and Uma.  She crawled over to the stairs, signed 'more', and said 'bounce.'  So when Zach showed up to pick her up, she and Cade were bouncing on the bed, and Staley was squealing and laughing and didn't want to leave. And according to Grammie, the last word Staley said before her nap today was 'Ayet' (Elliott) and the first word she said upon waking up from her nap was 'Ayet.'  I'm so glad that Staley loves her cousins and had so much fun with them.  My only disappointment is that I didn't get the joy of watching them together.

My Little Eskimo

Staley's First Christmas

I love Christmas.  And I love Staley.  So, of course, I LOVED Christmas with Staley.  We celebrated on Christmas Eve with Zach's family, Christmas morning at home, Christmas afternoon with my family, and the day after Christmas with the extended Sancken family.  It was a lot of Christmas, but Staley enjoyed it all.

Staley always loves spending time with family.

Cousin pictures are not always perfect...

especially when the cousins are distracted by ornaments.

Waterskiing with Papa is high excitement.

Spending time with Great Grams is always fun.

And although getting presents was good, the best part was...



...the unwrapping

...and playing with (or eating) the wrapping paper.

And even though Christmas was busy, Staley still found time to enjoy her presents.

Staley shared some literary time with Jake.

Staley was big stuff with her new table and chairs.

Beep, beep.  She's on the move.

And even new clothes can be fun.

Staley's first Christmas was great!  Family time.  Wrapping paper.  Lights.  New books, new toys, new clothes.  Christmas trees.  Did I mention wrapping paper?  There are so many things to love about Christmas...and now Staley loves them too. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!







No Means...Maybe?

Staley understands the word 'no.'  And to make sure that I realize that she knows, she will now tell herself 'no.'  Staley will crawl over to the DVD shelf, sit in front of it, look at me, and shake her head 'no.'  She will reach out, touch a DVD, pull her hand back, look at me, and shake her head 'no.'  She does the same thing with her wipes warmer.  She will open the top, close the top, look at me (because I think if I wasn't watching, she'd probably go ahead and empty it), and then shake her head 'no.'  Over and over again.  Eventually she'll take it a step farther (like pulling out one wipe and grabbing one DVD), I think just to test me--to make sure that it's still an off-limits activity.  (And it is.)

Staley is also starting to test some limits at meal time.  When she is done eating what's on her tray, she will grab a piece of her food, hold it over the edge of her tray, and look at me and smile. If I ask her to hand it to me, she generally will.  Otherwise she'll smile at me as she opens her hand and lets the food fall to the floor.  She does it with such a cute expression on her face that it's hard to stay stern.  But since Staley is testing the limits, we have to stay firm and remind her that no means no...not maybe.

Christmas

I've already got everything I want for Christmas.

'S' is for...

She may be an author.  She may be a journalist.  She may be an English teacher.  One thing is for certain.  Staley seems to love the written word.  Her love for books continues, but she has now developed a new love as well.  It's not just words that she loves.  Staley also loves her letters.  Staley has foam letters to play with in the bath tub.  We put about 10 letters in the tub along with her squirty toys, her bath cups, and her rubber ducky.  But although she plays with all her toys, lately her letters have been her favorites.  And the best letter of all?  S!  Staley can pick out her orange 'S' from the other letters in the tub and loves to say 'Esss.'  Tonight after bath time, Staley held onto her 'S' and her 'O' when getting out of the tub.  She didn't let go of them while Daddy carried her from the bathroom into her room.  She held one in each hand as she was dried off, lotioned up, and dressed in her PJs.  She fell asleep while nursing, still clutching an 'S' in one hand and an 'O' in the other.  Now I know what you're thinking.  'SO?'

Eleven Months

 My baby girl will be a year old next month.  I can't believe it!!  At 11 months, Staley weighs around 20 lbs.  She is starting to outgrow her 6-9 month clothes.  She still wears her size 3 diapers and her 6-12 and 9-12 month clothes.  Staley eats 3 meals (with her 8 teeth), nurses 3 times, takes 1 nap, and sleeps for about 11 hours at night (8 pm-7 am).

Likes:  Staley is still social and likes being around other kids.  She loves water--bath time and swimming are great fun!  She loves to explore, eat things she finds on the floor, and pull things off shelves.  Her favorite activities are emptying her dresser drawers, playing with refrigerator magnets, looking at books, and playing hide and seek.  Her favorite toys (apart from anything in my purse) are her Little People toys, her mega blocks, and her balls.  She still LOVES all her books.  Current favorites include:  'Good Night, Gorilla', 'Baby Play Things', and any book with pictures of cats, balls, or kids.  Favorite foods remain Cheerios, Puffs, fruits (peaches, pears, apples, prunes), soup, pancakes, and grilled cheese.  Staley still gets very excited about Jake and Elwood, she is intrigued with our Christmas tree, and her favorite people in the world are Mommy and Daddy.

Dislikes:  Staley does not like vegetables or eggs.  She is starting to exhibit some stranger anxiety.  (Just ask Santa.)  She can get fussy about diaper and clothing changes, although gets over it quickly if she has something to hold or play with.  (Her Desitin is always a super-fun distraction.)  Being strapped in her carseat for too long is no fun.  And 'no' is her least favorite word!

Skills:  Staley amazes us on a daily basis.  She is a crawling champion, can crawl up stairs, pulls to stand, and cruises along furniture.  She will even let go when standing and stand alone for a few seconds.  Staley is starting to enjoy pointing and poking with her index finger.  She loves to gently touch the Christmas tree and Christmas ornaments, point at things in her books, and poke her finger in holes (which is why we have to make sure all the outlets are covered.)  She loves to put things in and take things out.  She is good at activating cause and effect toys, and loves to lift flaps, pull tabs, and push buttons in her books.  Staley is talking up a storm with 36 words and 4 signs.  Her favorite words remain 'up', 'book', and 'hi.'  Staley loves to imitate what we do and say.  She understands much of what we tell her.  She can identify or point to objects in books and pictures.  She can follow directions that we give her, like 'get your ball' or 'give me your bow' or 'put that toy in.'  She can identify her own toes, tummy, and nose.  She can identify eyes, nose, mouth, and ears on someone else.  She can tell us what the fish say, what the snake says, what the bunny does, and what the ladybug does.  She can give five, give hugs, dance,  blow kisses, do actions to 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', and raise the roof.  But the one skill I would list as my absolute favorite is the way she fills each and every one of my days with joy.

Eleven months of joy!