I keep trying to pretend Elsie is still my little bitty baby, and then she goes and starts putting together three word sentences or phrases and has a serious opinion (and a mad temper!) and shows me that she sure as heck is becoming a full on toddler. The fact that she is a heck of a lot of fun makes that realization a little easier to handle.
I didn't weigh Elsie this month, I'd guess she is somewhere around 26 pound mark. She is filling out 2T leggings (legging weather, YES) from Target, though they are a little long. Same thing with the 2T shirts. Eventually I know she'll slim down, and I foresee her being in a 2T for a long time, but we'll see! Shoes are still somewhere between a four and a five, and she is also still wearing a size four diaper. All of Elsie's 1 year molars have made their way in, and has still only cut one of the canine teeth. Teething hasn't been terrible for her, but I'll still be thrilled when we're done with it!
Elsie loves to play with doll houses and little dolls. My parents have the big loving family doll house at their place, and she loves it. She especially loves putting each of the little characters on the toilet, saying 'poop' and then flushing it. One would think that maybe she is inching closer to potty training, but HECK NO. She cries if I try and sit her on the potty. I'm in no rush to potty train her, at all. I learned my lesson with Ryann. But man, it would be nice she at least had an interest. She still hates pooping and resists it as much as she can. She'll kill me for this when she is older, but see the don't wanna poop stance below...
Food is still a big motivator for Elsie. She loves to eat. But as the months go on she is less willing to eat everything. Shrimp is a definite no. She has tried it multiple times and just spits it out. She isn't a huge fan of many vegetables, however she'll eat a squeezy of straight vegetables without a problem, so it can't be a taste thing. I have no idea. She is obsessed with bread, but isn't much of a cracker girl. If I give her raisins and goldfish she will eat all the raisins and maybe a few of the goldfish before moving on.
Elsie is definitely a better sleeper than Ryann is and was. E goes to bed between 7:45 and 8:15, and usually sleeps until at least 6:30-6:45, but also often sleeps until 7 or later. Nap time has been interesting throughout the month. She usually sleeps at least two hours, but sometimes it takes her FOREVER to actually lay down and go to sleep. She's started taking more and more 'buddies' to bed with her and sometimes they all have to play a bit. But aside from a few days she doesn't really complain much once she is actually in her crib. If you ask her if she is tired or wants to go to bed she always says no and runs the other direction.
E's vocabulary has been ever growing, but it is starting to explode. The words aren't always super clear, but if you really REALLY pay attention she is speaking in two to three word sentences. Seriously a lot of times she is just talking super fast. It is really funny. Some of my favorite phrases this month have been hi guys! no fun! come on and play it (with) me. Those last two have really cut in to my dish washing time, haha. It is hard to tell her no when she runs in to the kitchen saying "come on! mama! play it me!" and grabs my hand trying to drag me to the other room. The other day I asked her if she wanted peanut butter and jelly or a hot dog for lunch, she replied "no ot dog, jelly! elsie eat jelly!" She'll bring me a book, aggressively throw it at me and say "mama eed it!" We're working on being a little more gentle with that. And if someone is upset, or a toy falls down, she'll run up and say "it's o-tay it's o-tay" in the cutest little whisper voice. I die from the cuteness almost every time.
The first two weeks of MDO were kind of tough. Elsie cried at the first drop off and didn't sleep that first day. She screamed bloody murder the next week, but she took a nap. By week three though? No tears. And they got to do a little dot painting project and she was so excited to show me and said "boop boop boop!" describing how she put the paint on the paper. I wouldn't say she loves 'school' yet, but she doesn't hate it quite as much. Last week when I picked her up, one of the caregivers mentioned she loves food and she loves her belly button. Yep, you've got her pegged. She really is a pretty simple girl. Haha.
Elsie is great with her body parts, and can sort of count to 10 as long as she is somewhat prompted. She rarely names colors correctly, but she can sort things by color and match shapes and such. I can tell she is just getting smarter and smarter, her capacity for retaining memories is growing. She can recount different parts of her day to me. That has been one of my favorite developments. It is so cute to listen to her choppy word by word description of things.
She is starting to love books. Longer ones, that she finds in sissy's room. She loves coloring. She likes baby dolls. Songs have become a HUGE hit. Wheels on the Bus is her favorite, but really anything with hand motions gets her excited. She loves giving hugs and kissys to her family. Her Jayhawk obsession continues, we've talked about getting Jayhawk pajamas so she can wear them more often without me having to sacrifice days out of her adorable wardrobe.
Happy (slightly belated) 19 months sweet girl. I'm so thankful you're in my life, I love you to pieces!
