New Developments

Penelope is walking! She took her first few steps at the end of 12 months. She would barely lift her feet off the ground. Weeks later she could stand with out any assistance, take a few steps, fall down, then get up and try again. Now she is walking all over the place.

Here is a video of her toddling around!

She's back!

P-E-N-E-L-O-P-E, Penelope… Glamorous, Glamorous! She’s back and cuter than ever! I just received Nellie’s 12 month photos, and I am so pleased with the results. I’ll add an album of the still shots onto Facbook, but you’ll have to wait until after Christmas. I want the Grandparents to enjoy their gifts first.  

This year we worked with Kelli from France Photography. She is a local photographer, and I love her! She is extremely talented, and is a pro with working with little ones. She and her videographer captured Miss P so well.

Click on the link to see Nellie's video on France Photography's blog...don't forget to leave Kelli some great feedback!

http://francypantsacademy.com/2011/11/trash-the-cake-cinematic-session-colorado-springs-birthday-videography/

 

Below are some pictures that I took of her shoot. Such a fun day!

12 Month Check Up

Penelope had her 12 month check-up yesterday. It started off fine. She was happy playing with the toys in the waiting room for 20 minutes. She was even happy when the nurse was taking her measurements. However, once the nurse left, we sat in our room waiting on the doctor for about 40 minutes! It was well past Penelope’s nap time, and she was livid. I tried everything to soothe her, but nothing seemed to work. So everyone in the office had to listen to her scream.  I was irritated that things weren’t moving along faster so I packed up our things and was ready to walk out, but once I opened the door, I could see the doctor was heading our way.

The day started off great

Happy Baby

While Penelope was still screaming, crying and thrashing her body around, the doctor informed me that Miss Penelope is estimated to be 5’9” as an adult. She also said that she would be very slim. This was interesting to hear, esp. about the height…I can’t imagine my baby girl being 3” taller than me! 

Here are Penelope’s current measurements:

Head Circumfrence: 18 ¼  80^th percentile

Height: 30 ¼” 75^th percentile

Weight: 22lbs 3oz 80^th percentile

Peneleope’s teeth are coming in fast. Needless to say she is very irritable these days. She already has 4( two on top and two on bottom), but she has a molar that just broke through the surface, and 4 others well on their way. The doctor was surprised to see her molar coming in. I guess that’s an 18-24 month tooth.

Dr. Crossley was impressed that Penelope can say 3 words: “Momma,” “Papa,” and “Dada” and signs 4 words: “more,” “milk,” “to eat,” and “all done.” She said that 15-18 month old children have 3-5 words in there vocabulary, so Penelope is progressing quickly.

I was asked to put Penelope on her feet and show the doctor how P can walk while holding my hand. Really lady? Clearly my very sad little girl wasn’t in the mood. Tears and screams only got louder as I tried walking with her.

To add to Nellie’s fury, she received two shots-poor babe.  The doctor promised her a flavored tongue depressor before we left, but she forgot. So I grabbed a lollipop out of the jar and gave it to her. This calmed her down quite a bit, and I was able to get her into the car with little screaming.

Sad babe

And finally...a calm baby, thanks to the lollipop

Whew…long day.

Cupcakes Galore

Penelope’s birthday party was a success. Her theme was CUPCAKES! Who doesn’t love a cupcake? They are delicious, pretty, and the perfect portion. Cupcakes were everywhere… they were on her invitations and on her banner. Of course, we had them as dessert, and as favors.  We even had a giant cake in the shape of a cupcake! We’re saving the cake for her 12 month photoshoot coming up in a couple of days. Look out for the return of Penelope Coco Stanforth Glamorous Glamorous.

Invitations

Bunting Banner

Yum!

Little signs in the Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Raspberry

Lemon...with Lemon Curd...yummy!

The cake!

Homemade favors for our guests

Don't forget the cupcake stickers...adorable

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting

We had quite the turnout!  The Colorado Stanforths(Kraig, Karen, and Maddie) were able to make it. I had three out of towners too. My sister -in-law flew in from Arizonia, and my BFF flew in from Michigan. My mother-in-law Lynne drove from Michigan en route to her new home state-AZ. We even had some Skype time with Pops(aka Grandpa Stanforth) as well as Daddy! Talking AND seeing Devon was the best gift of all! So grateful that he was available.

Momma with the Birthday Girl

Cutie

Angela

Aunt Lorri

Aunt Chanelle

Lynne putting the toys together

Graham got toys too

Karin with a very sleepy Owen

Waiting for Papa to get online

There he is!

Showing Devon her presents

Pops

Penelope loves all of her gifts! She got toys, clothes, miniature Camelback water bottles,high floating high chair, video baby monitor, shoes, and books. My favorite gift was one from Pops. He got her bib that reads, “I love chapstick.” I got the matching water bottle. Like mother, like daughter!  

Violet was a hit

Hat hair

We all had fun watching Nellie devour her cupcake. She was timid at first, but then she really dug in with both hands. Again, who doesn’t love a cupcake? Nellie and Graham loved their Key Lime Pies.  Here are some photos.

She knew exactly what to do with the candle...lick off the frosting!

Mmmm....

"Here Mom, you try some"

Graham used two hands

Here are some more of my favorite pictures of Miss P.

Happy Birthday

Okay, my original intent was to post a slideshow of Miss P from birth-age 1. It was to the Livingston Taylor's version of "Isn't She Lovely." A real tear jerker. Since it didn't work, P's 1 year old photo will suffice. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

                                                                    Penelope Coco Stanforth
                                                                            September 16, 2011

Isn't she just a doll? We are very fond of her. :)

Today(Sept 17, 2011) is her birthday party. I'll definitely have my camera glued to my face so look out for party pictures soon!

Since you've been gone...

It’s been exactly 1 month since Devon has been gone. Penelope and I miss him tremendously, but we’re surviving. Colorado has been treating us well. The weather has been warm(usually high 80s), but there is no humidity, which is nice.  

As you can guess, we’ve been spending majority of our time with the Clarks. It’s been fun hanging out with my adorable nephews. They are the sweetest little things. Penelope loves hanging out with Graham, even when he’s grumpy.  I think between spending time with Graham and playing at Gymboree, Penelope’s learning a lot. She’s finally crawling! Yup, she started about 2 weeks ago. She was timid at first, but now she’s all over the place.

Let's read a book.

Uncle Alex supervised while I chatted with Devon on the phone.

Pop those bubbles.

This onsie says it all!

My favorite photo of Owen!

Lorri and I were feeling brave and took the kiddos to the zoo. It was only a 3 hour trip(most of that time was spent sitting under the shade and feeding them).  The zoo is in the mountains. It makes for beautiful scenery, but it also means lots of hills. Pushing the strollers up and down a mountain meant that we got our workout in for the day.

Load them in...

Big kids in the double stroller

Birds eye view of Colorado Springs

Lunch time

Group shot

A lot of people have been contacting me about Devon. I heard from him last week, and he says that he’s well. He sounds tired, but I’m sure he’s been busy. I recently received an email from his battalion commander. It explained how well Devon’s been doing as a platoon leader, and it included a photo of the two of them. I’m so grateful that the LTC took the time to write; I imagine that he has more important things to do.

I’ve been recording a lot of Ms. P’s cuteness on my phone and emailing it to Devon. Now, that he’s seen some of this stuff, I’m ready to share with everyone else. Below are videos of our baby girl crawling, cheerleading, and talking.