Because Elsie's besties (whether they know they're best friends or not is up in the air, but they are dangit! :o) are a few months older than her, I've felt like she has been 18 months for a while. But we're here, closer to two than to one. I still feel like Elsie is my baby, I'm sure the fact that she isn't speaking in sentences yet
like her sissy was helps that out, but the baby is starting to really disappear.
At the rate I'm going getting the post done, I could have waited until Elsie's well check to get her official stats, but in my attempt to weigh her at home I got 25 pounds. I think that might be a tad high, but I'd also believe it. She just doesn't look as petite as she used to. But that is just fine, her round little belly is adorable. I need to pack away a significant portion of the 12-18 month clothes, some of the shirts don't cover her belly and she is busting out of her jammies. Dresses are still fine though. I've been lazy about it because it has still been in the upper 80's and 90's (because it is August in Kansas, duh), but all the 18-24 month clothing I have from Ryann is cold weather stuff. It is crazy that their birthdays are only seven weeks a part, but that makes such a difference in the clothing department. I think we'll be fine though. There are a couple pairs of boots in the size five box from Gap that I'm worried she'll grow out of before she gets to wear them. We're still in that awkward 4's seem to small but 5's are too big phase. Still rockin' a size four diaper.
I think Elsie's molars are almost all the way in, and she has nearly cut one of her canine teeth. Either she has done better with teething than Ryann did, or I just forget that it can be a contributing factor to her grumpy moods. Lately there are some days where she is just an emotional mess, or just plain being a pain in the butt, and I attribute it to her being tired or something. But I'm sure there is a high likelihood that she is in pain. Those gums don't look too comfortable. I'm sure we'll both be happier once teething is behind us. She drives me nuts grinding her teeth every time a new one starts coming in. Eeeew.
Despite her becoming more and more picky, Elsie still really is a good eater. Chicken sausage, meatballs, fruit (but not kiwi, just the sight of kiwi is offensive for some reason), pancakes, waffles, guacamole and yogurt covered raisins rank among her top favorites these days. Along with sweets of course. Carrots have become the vegetable of choice over asparagus, though she'll eat both, as well as corn. But green beans and broccoli are pretty much no longer acceptable. She also isn't really in to crackers as much as I would expect her to be. The girl can sniff out food and spot someone eating from across the room. And as soon as she pinpoints someone with an edible substance, she just opens her mouth with an 'ah ah ah' noise, waiting for a bite.
Bedtime has sort of been pushed back to 8:00pm, partly because has been napping a little longer, and partly because the girl just hates having to go to sleep. So some days it has been easier to have her and Ryann go to bed at the same time. She pretty much runs at top speed until you force her to go to sleep. She wakes up somewhere between 6:15-7:15am. Depending on her mood and our schedule for the day, she is asleep for her nap between 12:30 and 1:15, and sleeps for 2-2.5 hours. Whenever we go back to her room for bed or nap, Elsie likes to turn on the sound machine and put the monitor on her dresser for me. I thought it was incredibly cute the first time she did it, a little less cute now that she'll randomly go to her room and do it, and has dropped the camera a few times. We never mounted it anywhere, fail.
Elsie's vocabulary keeps on growing, I truly have no idea how many words she knows. She will try to repeat almost anything I ask her, and even though her pronunciation and articulation still aren't the best, her words are getting clearer. At least to me. I know other people have a hard time understanding her, but if you listen a few times and try to place the context, decoding her gibberish can happen :o). One of the most used words this month has been 'move'. If I ask her to get out of the way she says it (sometimes followed with a beep beep beep!). When I need to set her plate on her tray and her cup is in the way, or any object is in her way it gets a "move move!" And definitely if a person is her way they get a gentle shove with a "move move." I've started fixing her hair in the morning (getting it wet so we can detangle the rats nest that happens when she sleeps) so spray and fluff have been added to her vocabulary. She has finally started saying on instead of off when she actually wants something on. And she calls ketchup 'bup bup' just like Ryann did. That makes me smile. Oh and I love the way it sounds when she says 'messy'. Her voice is so cute. When she says sit it sounds like shit, and I laugh every time.
Currently she is obsessed with Jayhawks (Rock Chalk baby!), but it sounds more like 'hot-hawt' when she says it. She has a Jayhawk t-shirt, and wore it at some point for three days in a row before I snuck it in to the laundry. Someone at the gym has a Jayhawk tire cover, and she can spot it from way across the parking lot, and gets very sad if that gym goer doesn't happen to be there at the same time as us. We might have to pick up some more KU gear for her so she can rock it all through basketball season. I'd say football season, but while I support my alma mater, I don't exactly get amped up about KU football. Sorry boys.
E has definitely been trying to count, and occasionally will make it to five with a little prompting, but for the most part I get a lot of "1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 3!" Often followed by gibberish. The other day from the back of the car I heard "2 1 2 o y 3!" So apparently letters and numbers are combining, or she has the code to something. I don't know. She gets very excited about letters, but for the most part everything is still 'y'. She can clearly repeat most of the letters if I say them. Except W. That one isn't even close, which is kind of funny. If I ask her what color something is she always says blue.
Coloring continues to be a big hit. She scribbles and exclaims she wrote a 'Y', makes me giggle all the time. Her control has gotten a lot better though, she can make round scribbles and calls it an oval, or will carefully draw a straightish line while saying 'yiiine'. If I draw shapes for her she demands I give it a face, well, she demands eyes but wants it to have a face. She has discovered where we keep the crayons and pencils and such and constantly drags paper and utensils out of the cabinet. That is fine and all, minus the part where I can't keep the markers in there for Ryann anymore. Markers are WAY too messy for Miss E.
Elsie is definitely learning the ways of manipulation. The other day Chris and I were eating Chinese take out after the girls had already eaten. They were watching a movie, but naturally Elsie sniffed out our food and wedged herself right up next to me. I had a side of vegetables with my dinner, and was only offering her those, despite her requests for the crab wontons. After a bit she got bored with the vegetables, and took notice of Christopher eating. She started walking towards him, and in the cutest voice said "Hi!" with a sweet little smile on her face. She said it a couple more times. Then climbed on the coffee table right in front of him, and with a million dollar smile let out another "Hiii!" before opening her mouth as wide as she could, requesting a bite. I'm still kicking myself for not whipping out my phone to catch it on video. It was stupid cute.
E is also testing her limits and enjoys being naughty right now. I definitely remember this phase at 18 months with Ryann too. She'll stare at me as she opens cabinets and doors, just to see how I'll react. One of our outlets is crap, and she can pull the covers out, and does so just because she knows she isn't supposed to. A couple weeks ago, she waltzed into the kitchen, grabbed both my dish towels from the oven and the dishwasher handles, and ran out while saying "Byyyeeee!" just to be a turd. She isn't a huge fan of riding in her stroller in stores anymore (even though she loves going on walks) but tries to take off if I let her out. And she gets royally pissed off if I try and stop her from doing any of these things. I know it is just her age and learning her boundaries and such, but man it is annoying!! Well, sometimes kind of funny, but mostly annoying.
Elsie continues to warm up to people more quickly, but is still very much a mama's girl. She loves buckles,
Dinosaur Roar and doing everything that sissy does. She also loves driving her sissy crazy, but that is beside the point :o). She is constantly trying to kiss the cats and has become very attached to her owlie and blankie. She thinks playing on my phone is awesome, but not so much when it is time to be done. She constantly tries to drag my diaper bag all over the place. She loves to jump, but never gets any air. She also loves to 'pin' (spin), be it by herself or in your arms. Going 'round 'round makes her happy. She also finds it hilarious when I blow in her face. Silly girl.
Miss Elsie I kind of wish you could stay my baby forever. But since you can't, I guess I'll enjoy watching you grow, it is pretty amazing. I love you so much it hurts sometimes.
