Happy Birthday, Elaine Rae!

Miss Elaine turned one yesterday! Hurray! Mark and I took the day off and Grandpa Bob came to visit from Ohio. What a day we had...a trip to the park, balloons, and presents--we didn't make it to the cake. We don't know if it was too much excitement, reaction to her immunizations, a case of overeating or just a nasty stomach bug, but right after dinner Lainey lost most of her dinner and then about 30 minutes later lost the rest and her afternoon snack. She was a very sad little girl and I was a very sad mommy. After we got her cleaned up the second time, she drifted off to sleep and that was the end of her birthday celebration. I was really disappointed about the cake--still am. But, as Mark said "the good news is, she isn't disappointed." And it's true. Before she got sick, she had a blast of day (other than that pesky trip to the doctor for her check-up and immunizations). And, we'll get a second shot at the cake this weekend, when we visit Moline.

In other updates...

The newest news on Lainey is she is walking! This actually isn't new news...she's been walking for a few weeks, but we wanted to surprise her grandparents with Skype performances, so I couldn't post before now. I actually knew she had started walking a week before Mark, because she took her first steps at daycare on June 9 and I got video footage from them on June 11. I told the teachers not to tell Mark and kept it under wraps until he could see the action for himself. Aren't I a good wife? She's all over the place now...no stopping her!

In addition to her new moves, she is getting one of her top front teeth and her vocabulary continues to grow "up/down," "mom (not mama)/dada," "hi/bye," and "uh-oh." She also says "gentle" because the teachers at daycare are constantly having to show her how to touch gently instead of smacking other people. Every night I come down the hall to her room and hear "Gentle, Lainey, gentle." She can say the word, but she's still struggling with the concept.

Finally, an update on her stats...today, Elaine weighed in at 23 pounds (90%), 29 3/4 inches (75%), and her head is still sitting large at 18 7/8 inches (over 95%).

Below are some pictures from the birthday festivities (pre-puke...we didn't document that) and the link goes to her 12-month album...enjoy the cuteness! Lainey's 12th Month

She LOVED the balloons!

She also loved her activity table...but, we do not. I discovered today that the music is just too annoying.
We're taking it back and getting the Fisher-Price model. Sorry, Laineybug!

The cake that didn't get eaten. : (