Goodbye Mullet!

Last night Elise had her first 'professional' haircut. Yes, we cut her bangs (poorly, I may add) during the winter but now it was time to even out that baby hair. Goodbye mullet!

Our hairstylist friend, Julie, made a house call to her new client. Elise sat so very still as Julie evened out the back of Elise's hair. Funny how we got a bunch of pictures of the actual haircut but no after pictures... I'll have to post some soon.

It's also kind of funny that Elise kept her head down the entire time. It's like she's done this a million times!

Easter 2011

Happy Easter everyone!

We started our Easter preparation a good week ago. First, Elise made Easter cards for her grandparents. Both Nana and Pops Nilsson and Grandma and Grandpa Kaiser got

customized cards with a freehand crayon picture on the front and Easter stickers on the inside. Elise spent a lot of time personalizing her cards and placing them in the mailbox for the mailman.

On Easter morning, Elise got her 'basket' from the Easter bunny. He was extra creative this year by not using a traditional basket but rather a new yellow Bilibo. The shell is left

for the child to use their imagination- to invent their own games and to have fun in a creative way. He also left some new Clifford books, Dora watering can and a magnetic puzzle game. It was a hit.

(Warning: Neither Elise nor myself dressed for this picture!)

Then it was time to get dressed and get ready for our brunch. Elise even donned her sparkle shoes (well at least for the duration of a few pictures).

Elise has even been practicing her smile... or maybe it's a smirk.

Then everyone began to arrive. Nana and Pops, along with 'GG' (great-grandma) had come up the night before. Grandma and Grandpa Kaiser, Aunt Amy, Uncle Chris and Uncle Rik came over mid morning for the brunch. All of the food was fabulous and we ate until we were stuffed.

Who is filming who?!

Elise wearing a pair of rabbit ear hairclips-compliments of Aunt Amy.

Let me put it this way, we were so stuffed that by the end of the meal, only Elise could fit into this blue, rubber basket.

Bragging Rights

Ok- I'm warning you right now. I'm here to brag about my little girl. Let's face it, all of my previous blogs about Elise's developmental milestones have been milestones that are late compared to her peers. We've been delayed. We've worked hard together since the day she was born- with intervention, hard work and of course Elise's strong perseverance.

We continue to go to speech therapy every other week. Elise has grown to enjoy these times with her therapist. We talk about our friend Lauren (her therapist) at home and she's actually happy to leave my side and play with her alone.

So, here's my bragging session..... a mere two weeks ago, Elise was barely putting two words together and now she's starting to put three together. As her therapist puts it (after yesterday's appointment)- 'it's amazing'! She used that 'amazing' quote multiple times so I know I'm not making it up! Elise is making up so much ground in such a short amount of time. She's using nouns, verbs and adjectives, and she's making words plural if it's correct to use. Ok, ok, I know this is some boring stuff to most of you- but not to us. We're proud of her and finally I can say we are making up a lot of ground. We continue to count our blessings and today this is no exception.

Slides are Fast

This past Sunday we celebrated Zoe Brujic's 3rd birthday at Sylvania Playland (where we go for our Wednesday Help Me Grow playgroup). However, what made this visit different from other trips was that daddy got to join us. Elise loves the slides... the faster and bigger... the better. It's amazing that this little peanut of a girl went down slides (over and over!) that the 'big' kids were afraid of.

And when they say 'fast'... they aren't kidding! Daddy's only trip down the slide ended up with a rough landing!

The bouncy house was also a hit for everyone. Just look at Daddy and Elise's faces!

Birthday girl Zoe and her daddy Mile.

Party goers Anna and her mommy Julie.

Elise, Eliza and Tommy loved the pizza and cake too! Elise chowed down on two whole pieces of pizza and a slice of cake all by herself.

Zoe gave everyone little party favor bags. Garth claimed the purple necklace as his own. He looks handsome too!

Even after a huge lunch, Elise was up for a dinner out at Claddagh (an Irish restaurant). When we were leaving, there were two acoustic guitar singers. We decided to sit on bar stools and listen for a bit. Elise was moved so much that she chair danced for at least 30 minutes. Sorry for the grainy, dark video but you can see how she was enjoying herself. Luckily she doesn't know what a 'drunken sailor' really is!!

We also took a short trip to Medina to visit with Nana and Poppa (renamed 'Pops' by Elise).

Elise began composing her first Concerto... after all she needs a leg up on Mozart.

We also visited Granny at her assisted living home. Elise hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving. Granny enjoyed spending time with her only great-grandchild and could hardly take her eyes off Elise.

Friday Date Night

Funny how Friday night 'date night' has changed since having Miss Elise. It's a standing tradition to go out to eat on Friday night in our house.

A favorite venue would include noise, other kids, and plenty of things to look at if we lose interest in coloring. Of course a place with claw game to win balls for 50 cents doesn't hurt- and a daddy who has mastered it! We're talking about BW3-- which has more 2-5 year olds at 5:30 than college kids. Plus, the waitresses serve a mean glass of white milk and the chefs know how to prepare chicken tenders to boot...

Dear Weather

Dear Weather,

While we appreciate such a warm and wonderful day, we must admit that we will be depressed tomorrow when it will be 55 degrees and rainy. We thoroughly enjoy your warm and bright sun but you are just teasing us. Next time you bless us with 83 degrees and sun, please make sure you stay a bit longer...

Love, Elise and her dogs

Big Enough

Elise is big enough to help pick up sticks in the yard but young enough to think this is a fun job!

Even Brutus is happy to have some action in the back yard! Old man Garth couldn't be bothered to help with the yard work as he was inside taking another nap.

Finally Elise is starting to say two-word sentences... unprompted! After some time with the speech therapist and a lot of hard work at home, she is starting to say cute little phrases like 'Green turtle', 'More milk', and 'Purple Hippo'. Well, that's at least some of my favorites. Everyday she debuts something new... it's worth waking up in the morning!

Can you find the little Elise head?!

On a side note, Elise just went through an entire week of no afternoon napping. Aside from many frustrating temper tantrums, early bedtimes and tired parents, we realize there may of been a reason. Whenever Elise is working on a developmental milestone (rolling over, crawling, walking, etc), she has a significant sleep disturbance. So, if we had to give up a daily nap for some new words and phrases, it's definitely worth it!!! Don't worry, she's back to napping... Zzzzzzzz.