Well it's been over a month so there's lots to tell, but I'll try to keep it short. We all suffered through the flu, Elsie's very first sickness. It was horrible, but she was a trooper, smiling and laughing when she wasn't throwing up. I'm sure she found our incessant worry very amusing. Charles and I, however, did not smile and laugh our way through the flu. Nor did Grandma Sandy when we shared it with her.....oops, sorry. But thank you for your help when we were sick!
Elsie said her first word - "mama"! But don't ask Charles about this because he refuses to acknowledge it was a word (I do realize, of course, that she has no idea she has said a word, or that the word refers to me, but I really don't care - she said MAMA!). So after a consensus of the grandmas, Charles caved. It helped him along when she followed a day or two later with "dada".
Fully recovered from our flu bugs, we were off to Cannon Beach to celebrate our second anniversary. Having decided easily that we were not ready to be that far away from our girl for three nights and four days, we packed my parents (yes, that's right....my parents....for our anniversary trip). Charles and I stayed at the Stephanie Inn, a beautiful place on the beach that doesn't allow children or pets. It's really an amazing place. Next door to the Stephanie is the Ocean Lodge, perfect for people like us who bring their kids and parents to romantic weekends away. My parents stayed there with our girl. What a wonderful thing! Now you would think with Elsie right next door, that we would sleep peacefully knowing that all we had to do was walk across the parking lot to see her. Oh no, not at all. The first night was rough. I'll admit it...I cried. I didn't fully understand the frequency of my visits to her room at night until I couldn't have them, and I didn't fully appreciate what those visits do for me. I also realized that I am not alone. Elsie's daddy was a bit lost. We managed and really enjoyed our time exploring around with her on the beach. Charles and I did enjoy some time alone together, too. I am so in love with that man... On the way home (10/7, our anniversary), we went to the lighthouse at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and had lunch at the Shellbourne. Elsie was a great kid, as usual.
The day after returning (10/8), Elsie crawled for the first time! It wasn't pretty. She was wobbly and unstable but she managed to get across her bedroom floor to her books and proceed to pull them off the shelf. She's refined her skills a bit over the last couple of days and she's very proud of herself. It's so much fun to watch her learn and explore.
Some photos from our trip:
