Eliana's Recommended Reading List

Eliana has been super cute lately and wanting to read books all the time!  The other day at daycare, she pulled all of the balls out of the ball bin and sat in it "reading" a book to herself.  The caregivers said she was so adorable, lounging in the basket, babbling the story out loud.  When she is at home, she will often grab a book, hand it to you, then stand there waving her hands in a "pick me up" fashion.  She is telling you to pick her up and read the book.  I love that she loves to read!  Some of her favorite books lately:

Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill
A great lift the flap book that includes animal sounds.  All of Eliana's favorites!

Trucks by Debbie Powell
A book as basic as it gets but with really colorful, simple pictures.  I was really surprised she liked it so much, but I think the simplicity appeals to her.  Plus it has truck sounds, and Eliana likes it when you make silly sounds.

Love, a Baby Max and Ruby Book by Rosemary Wells
A short rhyming book about the love in a family.  Also has some nice sparkle added to the illustrations.

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
I love the illustrations in the book!  Very visually appealing.  And slightly more interesting for a baby's board book.  I think Eliana likes the repetition in the book. 

Now you know what Eliana has been reading lately!  I feel like I have become quite an expert on children's stories.  A friend of mine said that she wanted to read 12 books this year (a book a month).  And I thought to myself, ha I read 12 books a day!  But I guess she probably meant a book with more than 10 pages...

First Birthday

Eliana had an ABC themed party.  I used her toy blocks.

Eliana opening her first birthday present with Uncle Ray and Grandmama

The activity for the party - making sock puppets.

Here is a sample of the new sock puppet friends Eliana has from the party.

Eliana took a late nap during her party, and woke up in a very bad mood.  She just wanted to sit in Mommy's lap and eat pizza.  Oh well, it was her party so she can cry if she wants to.

Eliana's smash cake.  I made her a Pumpkin Apple Cake as a healthier alternative to the traditional cake.  Plus, she LOVES pumpkin, so I thought it would be a good treat.  To make it, all I did was bake the cake in an 8x8 square pan, then cut out two small squares.  I stacked the small squares to make a cube to resemble an alphabet block.  I used my Aunt Rita's buttercream frosting recipe which is great for decorating! To finish, I put a big E on top for Eliana. 

The cake for the rest of us, also decorated with Aunt Rita's buttercream frosting.

Eliana was not in a good mood and did not was to smash her cake.  She mostly touched it and cried.

However, she did like to eat it when Aunt Rebecca fed it to her.  In fact, once she got started, she would cry when Aunt Becca didn't feed her fast enough.

Opening presents with Uncle Ray.

She got a glowworm!  Eliana loves this glowworm.  She is sooo cute when she cuddles it close to her.  I tell her to "Give Glowworm a kiss!" and she will lean in with her mouth WIDE open and slobber on its face.  So adorable!

A collection of all of her month photos.

Decorations for the party.  The last sign is the one her daycare friends made for her.  They signed it with their footprints!

What's with the face?

Dancing in her party dress

"Thanks for coming to my party!" Eliana says.

Since Eliana is almost 14 months old, I guess it is about time I finish the blog post about her birthday party.  Eliana had an "ABC" themed birthday party that my brother and his fiance kindly offered to host at their new place.  We had a lot of fun!  Eliana was the center of attention and loved every minute.  She didn't really get into the whole birthday thing.  She elected to let her Aunt Rebecca smash her cake for her and her Uncle Ray open her presents.  She didn't get a good nap in before the party, so she was a little moody.  Luckily she's cute, so no one really minded.  :)  It really is incredible how quickly she has grown.  Can you believe she used to fit in the crook of your arm?  Now she is like a little person with lots of personality.  I sure love this beautiful girl God has blessed us with!