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 ;)