June 14, 2014

elsie - sixteen months

Sorry E, I'm running a bit late on this.  But we've been busy and Daddy is working late and you hate taking pictures anyway.  Which is why they're aren't that many this month.  Oh well.

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oh, you want me to lay on the blanket?  that's nice.  i think i'll stay over here...

Yes, Miss Elsie Jo is sixteen months now.  I didn't weigh her, but she doesn't seem like she has grown all that much in the last month.  Maybe taller, and maybe her feet are a touch bigger, but overall, pretty much the same.  12-18 month clothes, size four shoes, size four diapers.  Her belly is still large and in charge, and her favorite thing to do remains more or less, eating.  At least it is the fastest way to cheer her up, get her to do something you want her to do, or redirect her attention away from something you don't want her to do.  She isn't as much as a vacuum, vegetables don't get shoveled in quite as quickly.  But if she's truly hungry and you refuse to give her anything else, she'll eat them.  The other day Grammy made chocolate chip pancakes and eggs and Elsie threw THE BIGGEST fit I have ever seen because we cut her off after more than an adult size portion.

Sleep is pretty much exactly the same as last month.  She'll give me a short stretch of sleeping until 6:30 or 6:40, but for the most part she is up by 6:15.  I miss quiet mornings.  All of her molars seem to be coming in so fingers crossed that after that she sleeps a little better.  However I said the same thing with Ryann and that sure as heck NEVER happened.

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Elsie's favorite words this month were 'no', 'mine' and 'why'.  Yay.  She's lucky that her little voice is so darn cute, because those can get annoying real fast.  Sometimes no comes out 'mo' and very aggressively.  Sheesh!  I was surprised she picked up the 'why' so early on, and absolutely uses it correctly.  I'll tell her we're not going to do something, or we are going to do something, and she'll respond with a 'why???'.  Sometimes she goes on and on.  I wonder who she learned that from... cough RYANN cough  Other words I've heard her say are raining (unprompted! she pointed outside and said 'ain-ing?'), dude, 'uck' (stuck), 'om-nee!' (help me!), hey, 'ain oo' (thank you), 'ar-wee' (sorry).  If I ask 'whose ready to do (whatever we are going to do)' she responds 'me!'  She also is doing a good job repeating the letters of the alphabet when I say them to her.  My favorite right now though, is where are you?  She just yells out "are you?!"  Freaking adorable when she is saying "Is-eee (sissy)! Are you?" or "Dad-dee! Are you?"

In the last week or so E has been very intrigued by naming an owner to lots of items.  Cups, toys, clothes, etc, she tries to figure out whose it is and tells me.  When I was unloading the dishwasher she pointed to a coffee mug "Dad-dee's?" and to a Camelbak, "Is-eee's?" And she can say her own name, though it is hard to distinguish it between Elsie and Sissy.

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this photo is necessary because of the cat bomb.  seriously.

We started back to the gym this past week.  The first day I dropped them off I snuck out before E really knew what was going on.  I expected to be paged 15 minutes in to my workout because she was crying, but it didn't happen.  45 minutes later I went downstairs thinking wow, she really didn't mind at all this is awesome!  Yeah, nope.  They said she cried for maybe 10 minutes and then just passed out on the floor.  Sleeping = doing great?  I don't know.  The second day I again expected her to get us kicked out because she was screaming.  She screeched horribly when I left her.  But I made it my three miles and then some and no page.  When I got down there I could see her and even though she wasn't playing, she wasn't crying, just sitting and watching the other kids.  Naturally, the second she spotted me she started all out wailing.

So now stranger danger is at an all time high again.  Even towards people we see on a regular basis.  I know that it will get better, Ryann quickly grew to love the gym child care center, and I'm pretty sure isn't shy in the least bit because I started leaving her there.  But man do I feel guilty knowing that it makes Elsie so upset, and I'm annoyed because on a 1-10 scale her clingyness has returned to about a 12.  It is a good thing though, for her to branch out.  Right?  Right...

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punk swiped my bribe

E is OBSESSED with her belly button.  She constantly has her shirt lifted up, playing with it.  She rubs it even when she's in a onesie.  And in the morning if she has been sleeping in footed sleeper, she gets all giddy when I unzip them.  It is definitely her comfort thing.  Haven't had any paci lovers or thumb suckers, nope I got a lip picker and a belly button rubber.  I guess I can handle the belly button thing, for now anyway.

Elsie pretty much wants to be just like Ryann.  And it already drives Ryann nuts.  But that is beside the point :).  E follows her around like a little puppy, always needing to see what she is doing.  And she mimics Ryann's movements the best she can.  Every time Ryann practices any dance moves, Elsie will truly try to copy her, and not just dance around.  Well, after a while she usually ends up doing her own thing and spinning in circles, but she sure loves Ryann.  They fight, but they have a lot of fun together too.

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Elsie has become determined to climb on, over, through and in things.  Thankfully she still hasn't mastered getting up on stuff, but I have caught her on a chair in our family room about ready to dive off face first.  She loves trying to fit inside boxes, and if she sees any sort of tunnel like object or what not that she thinks she can fit through, she has to give it a try.

E loves being outside, doing chalk, swinging, and going for walks in the stroller.  She likes having books read to her, coloring, and when I sing songs (nursery rhymes and what not) in the car.  She has been having fun pushing a Pottery Barn doll stroller around the house, and gets this ridiculous little 'oh no' face every time she pushes it in to something.  Her play is becoming a little bit more interesting and imaginative.  She'll walk a toy horse around saying neigh neigh, or bounce a cat while screaming meow meow!  The other day she was pretending to feed a stuffed cat grapes.  And I seriously need a video of her dance moves, she is so funny and loves to boogie.

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Love you so much Miss Elsie Jo.  Can't wait to see what next month brings!  

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