the farm wife post: one year!!

          Elsie is a year old and I just have so much to say about my girl I don't even know where to start.
          One of her favorite books right now is I Love You Through and Through, and there is a page that goes, " I love you silent, and talking". One the silent page I always purse my lips and stay quiet for a few seconds and I go blah blah blah on the next page and she laughs and laughs. Today she brought the book over to me when I was folding laundry and mimicked what I do exactly!! I am amazed with how quickly she picks things up. In her Wee Little Chick book, the mom hen says, "Tut, tut, tut, she's my wee little chick, and she's just big enough!" Elsie likes to say "tut tut!!" I die. I also tell Elsie that she is my wee little chick and she's just big enough, it's kind of our special book.
         She has been initiating walking all by herself and can walk a few feet before she is done! She smiles so big and is so proud of herself. When she took her first steps I cried. I am just so very pleased with her and blown away by how quickly she is growing up. She talks a lot, she has so much to say. Words we can make out for sure are momma, dada, kitty, dog, and grandpa. She will copy something you say right away, but then forget about it and not say it anymore, like animal noises and things. She has a fisher price noah's ark toy and she knows lion, elephant, and zebra if I ask her for them.
         The cutest thing she does right now is shrug her arms when we ask her where something went. She will hide a toy in a drawer and raise her arms up like " Where did it go!?" She will knock food off her tray and shrug, too, like she has no idea what happened to it. It's hilarious. And messy.
           She is so kind! She has so many hugs and snuggles for her stuffed animals and likes to pretend feed them and make little munching noises. She loves kissing, and when I am putting her to bed she sometimes puts her forehead on my lips repeatedly because she wants a little kissy. Elliott will kiss me and then she will kiss us both. He says she has my French genes hahhah as she likes to just stick her tongue in your mouth!!
         She is getting so brave. She thinks everyone is her friend and at church she wants my friends to hold her and goes around taking toys and generally owning the place and demanding people's smart phones. She loves the slide at the park and play dates with her little friend who is close to her age.
         She loves to go for wagon rides around the farm and visit her grandpa's black lab and the chickens. She loves to ride in the main compartment of the grocery cart and munch a cheese stick. She loves reading books and "helping" me with my household duties throughout the day. She likes to take a wipey and wipe the floor and walls. She always tries to hug my Swiffer duster. It's so fluffy, like an animal.
         My fantastic eater is going through a picky phase, and I joke you not would not touch her birthday cake!! That is when it started. I think it has to do with teething and life being too interesting at this point for her to settle down and eat, so I spoon feed her a lot to make sure she gets enough these days.
         Ever since our swaddle days ended ( around 8 months) full nights sleep are few and far between. I will NOT have future babies be swaddle dependent for sleep!!!! It's actually a point of struggle for us and any stretch over three hours I am really happy with. My under eye circles are pretty impressive at this point! She wakes up and wants to nurse, which I think is primarily a comfort thing, and I am so tired I just do because it puts her right back to sleep. She has always struggled with reflux and it still bothers her. Most babies her age are sleeping through the night at this point and I do feel envious, but every baby is different and I figure she will sleep through the night someday!  I am trying to push whole milk during the day so she gets her fill, she only nurses at night and sometimes when she wakes up in the morning lately. Post nursing boobs get two thumbs down, oh my goodness.
       I feel like a lot of people announce their second pregnancy around babies first birthday, and I started to feel all this pressure as though I am not fulfilling my measure as a woman if I am not knee deep in dirty diapers and spit up or something. I don't want a huge gap, but I am not quite ready yet. I vacillate between wanting no more ever on really hard days and like 100 babies all over me. So we will prob settle in the 3-4-5 range. On the really hard days note- Elsie has discovered how to flush the toilet. And the bathroom is her favorite ( insert sobbing emoji). Two toilet binks today. Two.
      You are probably wondering how long I am going to ramble but I hate to end talking about sleep deprivation and binks lost to the questionable waters of the toilet because that is such a small part of it to me!! It is such a joy to be a momma. Husband said to her the other day, "kid you make life hard but you make it better." Amen. But really, doesn't that sum it up perfectly?