Friday, February 26, 2010

Elise- 15 months.


Our sweet Elise is 15 months!
Current stats:
  • Weight- 20 lbs 5 oz- 15%
  • Length- 30 1/2 inches- 53%
  • Tooth count- 9! Four on the top, four on the bottom, and her first molar has cut through. That explains the night wakenings... though it doesn't explain why she only wakes when Dad's out of town and Mommy has to work the following day!
Elise is a full fledged toddler! She is either walking or running everywhere and is into everything! She's quite destructive. If she sees my shoes lined up, she must go over and knock them down. If her sippy cup is upright, she knocks it over. Toys in the basket? Oh no, out they come!! She is so active and loves to play outside, even just walking up and down the hill in our backyard. She usually likes to find a souvenir, like Jaws' collar, to take along as she wanders the yard.
She is a very happy child, laughing and squealing all day long. Her favorite go-to word is "Dada" and she will randomly shout it, all day long. She also says Mama, baby, ball, book, light and a lot of other gibberish that I don't fully understand but I know has meaning to her. She is smily and pleasant to everyone she meets, strangers love to talk to her wherever we go. She loves playing with other children and she has no problem taking whatever toy they are currently playing with. We'll work on manners soon enough. She still attends Mother's Day Out on Tuesday and Thursdays. It is a great situation... she has never, ever cried when being dropped off and when I go to pick her up, she often runs from me, looking back with a massive grin. I take that as a very good sign that she is happy there. Every other Friday she attends Moppets while I attend my MOPS meeting, and she's making friends there as well.
We have weaned from nursing and Elise no longer uses bottles; she's becoming such a big girl! She has dropped her morning nap and is now taking about a 3 hour afternoon nap, starting usually around 12:30. I was dreading when she would drop her morning nap, but I've changed my tune. It's really freeing to me, knowing that we have all morning to run errands, have play dates, and just get out of the house. Her bedtime is still around 7:30 and she usually sleeps for 12 hours. Her eating habits have improved and I no longer stress about her not eating enough or getting proper nutrition... this month anyway. That said, her manners are still terrible, but we're working on it. She loves to taunt me with her sippy cup, dangling it over the side of her high chair. Sometimes she'll drop it, sometimes she'll put it in its proper place, and other times she'll launch it across the kitchen and look at me for a reaction. Same with food. And if she's full, she can't stand to have anything on her tray; she'll sweep it all to the floor where Jaws is usually waiting for permission to "take it."
Elise loves to sit in my lap and read books. Her favorite books have real photos of children in them. She is really just darling, sweet, and a fun little girl. She brings such joy to our life and I can't wait to see what Spring will bring!

Yes... that is a dog collar around her neck. She put it there, not I.



It's hard to tell, but Elise's hair is now long enough for piggies!!!! That was a big day for us ;)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! We started off the week of love with a fun playdate at Alecia's. The kids exchanged valentines and had a heart themed lunch. Sadly, no pictures were taken of all the kids together; they were a busy bunch and were all over the place!

Elise and Audrey playing with the balloons.
Elise playing peek-a-boo while out to dinner...
Peek-a-boo!!!!! She would do this for hours if we let her.
Of course our little Valentine was spoiled on Valentine's Day. She received Rody and a monogrammed backpack from Matt and me and her first doll with a stroller from GiGi and Tompa.
Rody was a hit!
As was the "Bay-Bee" and stroller...
Except poor "bay-bee" has been ending up on the ground. A lot. Quick, call CPS!
Uh-Oh!
Um, Elise? I think you're missing something...
She's becoming such a sweet little girl and growing so fast!
Oh yes- that is sass in her eyes! Wonder where she gets that from???
After our little Valentine was tucked into bed, Matt and I enjoyed a scrumptious meal together. I hope your Valentine's Day was just as special :)

A few new pictures....

So sorry for the lack of updates! This has been a very busy month for us!

The weather has been really nice lately and we've been spending a lot of time outside.
Elise is finally big enough to enjoy our neighborhood park that is just 5 houses away.
Whew- Elise has finally turned a corner at mealtime! I was struggling about a month ago to get her to eat entire healthy meals. She wanted none of it... unless it was a cheerio or cheese :) Then the poor thing caught her first stomach bug and really lost her appetite for a full week.
But when she recovered, she recovered with a full appetite and has been eating everything I put in front of her since. Favorites are green beans, peas, spinach balls, raspberries, grilled cheese, veggie burgers from Costco, and yogurt. She has become such a good little eater and I am thrilled!!


I have been reading to Elise since day one.. being a former reading teacher and all, books and reading are super important to me. And when I say I have been reading to Elise since she was itty bitty, that means I have been reading picture books to myself while Elise wanders around the room, not paying attention one bit. However, when she turned 1 it clicked! "Books are cool!" And she hasn't turned back since. Books are a favorite and she will bring no less than 134 books to me to read. "Boo..." she will say. Then she hands it to me and strains until I put her in my lap. We finish one and she's off to find another.