Elise Marie Benson

Our Ellie-bellie turned one today. It makes me happy and sad all at the same time. We didn't do much for Carter's first birthday and I have always felt bad about that (my mentality then was that he would never remember, I still feel that way but I will remember :) so I stayed up super late last night putting streamers up and blowing up balloons to put all over her floor and the house for when she woke up. Carter was more excited than she was but she does love those balloons, she can't quite figure them out. Elise is SO different from Carter! She loves to hold things, especially soda bottles or cups with lids and straws, and will turn into a crazy person when I try to take it away. She is a very opinionated eater and refuses to eat anything slimy (bananas, pears, baby food, most healthy things) so I have had to get really creative to keep her alive. Since she weighs 22 1/2 pounds I think we're okay though:). She didn't crawl until she was 10 1/2 months old, probably because she knows exactly how to manipulate her mother (who can do almost anything now with only one hand). Joe taught her how to throw a ball back and forth and now she LOVES to play with balls and if we walk by one in the store she must hold it, or else. And "else" isn't pretty, she can throw quite the convincing tantrum. Carter was not a tantrum kind of guy. I knew having a girl was going to be quite the roller coaster ride. We've never called her "princess" or overly pinked her up, she's more of a tomboy in our eyes- probably because we only have boy toys at our house. She loves her paci and blankie and when she is REALLY tired she will lay her head on my shoulder and snuggle to sleep. She loves the beach and swimming- she has only done each activity once but she was SO adorably happy. She loves her big brother and although he has discovered the joy of antagonizing her she always wants to be near him. She loves the bathtub and thinks she can crawl, stand up and lay down in the there so I have to bathe with her for her safety. She sticks EVERYTHING smaller than a tennis ball in her mouth, Carter did not do this!! It's probably for the best though as my house gets swept and vacuumed a lot more these days. The last year has been wonderful, though my right arm still gets a little sore on days when Ellie really needed the up-close view of me cooking dinner or changing the laundry or grocery shopping (which I almost refuse to do with kiddos right now). I know these days aren't going to last forever but for now I will relish every moment of being her whole world. We love you Elise. We waited a little while for you, with the miscarriage and everything that happened before and after, you were worth the wait. We're sorry we wanted a boy so very badly- really we just wanted an Ellie-bear.

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