Letter to Elise at 19 Months

Another month with you, my sweet little Elise. It seems like months are flying by faster than I can keep up. I noticed I had a lot of notes about you and what you are up to now and then looked at the calendar only to realize your month birthday was 2 days away. You are not the always wanting to snuggle mommy kind of baby but you are snuggly and sweet and oh so hilarious. So many times each day I laugh so hard at something you do or say. You are goofy and already have a sense of humor. You like to make us laugh and will repeat things over and over to get us to laugh. Just they other day Carter made a comment that he wasn't a baby, that you were a baby. So you said, "I baby!" and we all laughed so you sat there all dinner long saying baby over and over to get us to laugh. You'd be eating or drinking and we'd think you were done and then you'd suddenly drop your fork or sippy and yell out, "BABY!!!!" Carter and I were just dying. It was so funny that you would do it so nonchalantly like you were finished saying it and then would all the sudden bust it out again.

 

You are becoming more and more vocal by the day. You tell us what you want, what you don't want, what you want to eat, when you want more. It's so cute to hear all the words coming out of your little mouth. You will yell, "look!" and point at something you find interesting. You will say "side" when you want to go outside. There have even been days that as I walk in your room to get you after your nap, you say "side" the minute I walk in your room because you want to go outside to play. You have also said milk, water, and drink. You've started saying "I love you" more and I love it. I've heard you say it to me, but I'm not sure if you've said it to anyone else. We'll be playing and you'll all the sudden look at me and say, "I love you." It is amazing and melts my heart. You answer our questions with "yeah" instead of yes which is hilarious. If we ask you if you want more you'll either say yeah or no. Last night daddy was giving you a bath and he'd ask you if you wanted him to pour water over your head again. You'd excitedly say "Yeah!" You love to wave at animals and anytime you see a dog or a cat you start waving and saying hello. One day we were walking away from the car to go into a museum and you said, "Bye bye car," while waving at our car. My favorite new word you've picked up is avocado which you say "ca co". When you see something you want you point at it and say "mine". You will also point at something that is yours that Carter is playing with and say mine. It amazed me the first time you said it because your brother always said "Caca's" instead of mine. When you want a spoon to eat with you'll say spoon. When I'm counting, you always yell 2 when I get to 2 and then say 2 for every number after that. You still love shoes and talk about them a lot and it's always shooooooooes never just shoes. You also talk about socks and make sure I get you socks to go with your shoes. Your comprehension is quite impressive. If I ask you to put things in a certain place, you will. You also help clean up and will go get things when asked. One day you and Carter were sitting down eating breakfast and I went into the other room to get you a sippy cup. You started saying "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" when I left the room. I told you, "I'll be right back," and you said, "Okay!" I love that we can communicate so much easier now. You are starting to pick up other people's names. Outside of calling Carter by name you also say your friend Charlee's name as well as her sister, Kyra's name and your friend Finley's name. Sometimes you combine Charlee and Kyra's names by calling Charlee, Kyee. It's so cute. You also call your friend Addison, Addy which is precious.

Telling me, "no pictures!"

The look says it all!

There have been a few times when I couldn't understand you and Carter told me what you wanted. He really is a wonderful big brother and you love him so much. He still takes toys from you at times and pushes you when you are both running around the house, but he loves you fiercely. He takes care of you and stands up for you. One of his friends butted in front of you when you were waiting your turn for a toy. Carter told her, "No, it's Elise's turn. She's been waiting. You have to wait." He loves to teach you things and gets so proud of you when he sees you do something new. Every day during naptime he requests to check on you on the monitor before he lays down for his nap. Anytime he gets himself a drink or a snack he makes sure to get one for you too. I love hearing him talk to you and teach you things. One day you wouldn't sit down in your car seat so I could strap you in and were fighting me so much that I decided to load the stroller and then go back to strap you in. I heard Carter tell you, "Elise you have to sit down to be safe. If you aren't strapped in we could have a wreck and you'd get hurt." I know you will listen to what he says and follow his directions before you will follow mine so I love that he is a good example in so many ways! He's always been good about letting me know if you have something in your mouth or if you try to eat something you shouldn't. You've gotten to where you spit things out on command and will then open your mouth wide to show there's nothing in it. You have also brought me things that you must've wanted to put in your mouth and as you hand them to me you open your mouth wide to show it is empty. If you hear Carter tell me you have something in your mouth that is food, usually that something had spilled on the floor and you picked it up to eat it, you'll quickly swallow and then open your mouth wide to show me that it is empty. It is so funny and I can't help but crack up when you do it!

You didn't smile for a single picture until Carter came in!

 

 

You are one tough little girl. You can hold your own, even with kids much bigger than you. If someone tries to squeeze up next to you and there isn't room or they aren't giving you space, you'll just push them. One day you were standing on a toy and an older girl got up next to you. I'd guess she was about 5 years old. You just turned and pushed her and she fell off. You have also gotten into tug of wars with Carter over toys and even won the toy a few times. It's impressive. For how small you are, you sure are strong! You aren't afraid of much either. Now that you have conquered swings and aren't scared of being in swings you are queen of the playground. You have no problem going up steps and riding down slides all on your own. You are careful of openings on the side of equipment where you could fall off. Now when we go to playgrounds I give you space to play and stay on the ground following along the outside of the equipment rather than walking along behind you the whole time. I've found you usually find a spot you like where you can climb a ladder, walk a little ways on the equipment, and then go down a slide. You will find a spot like that and just go up the ladder and down the slide over and over, never going to a different spot on the playground. It is so cute to watch you. Slides and climbing are definitely your favorite. Most younger kids I've seen will get toward the top of a ladder and get a little nervous about stepping off onto the equipment, you don't even hesitate.

 

 

Thankfully you haven't been falling as much this month. Last month you were very accident prone because you run pretty much anywhere you go. I joke you only have one speed and it is running because it's rare for you to ever walk. You were not quite as stable and were more likely to fall down. Now you are falling less and doing a better job of catching yourself. The main problem we face is when you are eating snacks at the playground or somewhere. You refuse to let go of the food that is in your hands so you can catch yourself. Instead you sacrifice your face when you fall. It is also difficult to convince you to sit down to eat when we are out and about. Food is a huge love for you and you are a big eater. You would snack all day if I let you. When were are with friends you mooch food from pretty much everyone even after eating all of your own snack.

The big exciting news this month was that you became a cousin! Your baby boy cousin, Wyatt, was born on October 13th. Now that you aren't the baby of family any more you have decided there need to be some changes around here. You stopped sitting in your high chair to eat. If I put you in it you throw your food on the floor and cry until I get you out so you can sit on my lap. Then you eat all the food off my plate. It got to where I would have to force you into your seat so I just put the high chair away and got out the booster seat. You love that you get to sit next to Carter and have a plate at the table just like him. Our only problem is that you like to put your feet on the table supports underneath the top and push off. One day you accidentally pushed the chair over while I was fixing my lunch. It was pretty scary for all of us. As I was running over Carter was running to me to get help for you. You also like to drink out of cups and do a really good job. One day you started to set your cup back down with part of it on your plate to where it would have tipped over. Daddy saw and said, "Watch out!" You looked down at your cup, grabbed it with both hands, and moved it over onto the table. We were all impressed! You also climbed out of your crib once this month. Carter came into your room as I was getting ready to lay you down and got you all riled up. As we were leaving your room I was thinking, I hope she doesn't decide to climb out of bed because of the way you were acting. By the time I got to my phone and pulled up the app to check on you, you were standing at your bedroom door. I think you probably climbed over and down onto your elephant chair and then down to the floor from it. I went back in, rocked you for a couple of minutes, laid you back down, and you went right to sleep. You haven't climbed out of your crib since and it has been a week since that happened. I'd like to keep you in your crib for a few more months at least, so hopefully you don't do it again.

 

One of your favorite things to do is climb into our closet to peek at Skippy who hides in there. You like to pet him and look at him. You also like to find my parents' cat, Angel, and pet her. She's really good about letting you and not running away, you love that. You also like to wear necklaces and bracelets. I put any medals I get from races that are attached to ribbons in Carter's toy box. You like to put them on and wear them around the house. You also love your baby dolls. You will carry them around saying, baby and really freak out if Carter tries to take one from you. You love to pet Harper and chase her around the house. I have to really watch you because every once in a while you'll grab a fistful of her fur and pull really hard for no reason. You love to jump on the trampoline and you like to play whatever Carter is playing. You still enjoy sitting down and looking at books but rarely sit and let me read one to you. When we visit the library you go over to the board book section and pick one book at a time, running over to the checkout counter and setting it down so I will check it out for you. I've tried to teach you to pick the books you want and put them in the stroller for me to check out but you insist on setting them on the checkout counter. You love your blankets and will wrap them around you or lay on top of them during nap time. You always point to them when I get you out of bed and want to carry them with us. You rub them on your face. When you first wake up you want to be carried so I'll carry you around as I make breakfast or as I get snacks after naps. That is the time when you are the most snuggly. You tend to get grumpy when you are really tired and if you are still awake at 1:00 have even tried to bite me. You still love your pink sparkly shoes but have gotten better about allowing me to put other shoes on you. It's hit and miss though. Some days you absolutely refuse other shoes. If I put other shoes on you, you'll tell me no, stick your foot in the air and insist I take it off. Then you'll say "shooooe," hand me your pink shoes, and put your foot in the air so I can put it on.

 

 

You had your first semi-temper tantrum last week. We were at a program called Museum Babies at our local art museum. During the program we walk around an exhibit and then go back into a large room set up with toys where they serve cookies. You remembered the cookies from the last time we were there and went right over and pointed at one saying, "mine." I gave it to you and you kept wanting to walk around with it. I took you over to a table and told you that you needed to sit to eat your cookie so you didn't make a mess. You immediately got down and tried to take off so I took your cookie and set it down on a napkin on the table. You went over and got it and tried to walk away again. I told you that you had to leave your cookie if you wanted to go play. You then started scream crying and wouldn't stop. I tried getting you to sit down to eat your cookie and you wouldn't, so I put your cookie down and tried to get you to go play but you kept running back toward your cookie. Finally I walked you over to the trash can and threw your cookie away. Then I cleaned your hands and we walked over to play together. That was when you calmed down. You wanted to hold your cookie and play and were so mad I wouldn't let you do that!

 

You have a fascination with the potty chair. You like to go sit on it and will watch to see if there's any potty when you are done, even taking the pot part out to dump it. That's not really anything new. The new aspect is that you will go sit on the potty chair after you've pooped so I know to change your diaper. I'm hopeful that you will be ready to potty train early because you have terrible issues with diaper rash. We had to switch from cloth diapers to disposables around a year old and each time we've tried to go back you have broken out terribly even after I've tried multiple things with the cloth diapers, even stripping them. Even with disposables you get pretty frequent diaper rashes. Your pediatrician said you have really sensitive skin and will just struggle with rashes until you are potty trained. Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother you too much. When you get a really bad, red rash you will scream when I lay you on the changing table because you know I am going to change your diaper. It is so sad. I am definitely ready to get you out of diapers but you just aren't quite ready yet and after the struggle we had with Carter, I've learned it's better to wait until you are ready. I'd like you to be able to pull your pants down on your own before we try to train.

Elise Kay, you are the sweetest little girl. I love you so much and enjoy spending my days with you. I absolutely love watching you play with Carter. I also enjoy playing one-on-one with you while Carter is at school. You continue to be an easy girl when it comes to naptime and bedtime, you are a big eater, and quite the cuddler when you are in the mood. You are also very independent and have quite the take care of myself attitude when you run into problems which is a good trait to have. There are so many times when you do things and I can't help but smile because it's your daddy shining through in you. You also do funny stuff like say my name over and over and when I say, "What Elise?" You very emphatically yell, "NO!" at me. You are such a treasure and I enjoy figuring out your personality, little pieces at a time.

Now on to Daddy:

You are really starting to show your personality little girl! As you are getting more talkative and expressive, you do not hesitate to let others know your wants and needs, likes and dislikes with quick, sharp little words!

You are also starting to get braver with some things, such as bath time. Just a few days ago, I was pouring water on your head to wash out the soap (something that you used to hate) and you laughed a little bit. So I asked you if you wanted me to do it again, and you said, "yeah," so I did it again and again and again because you keep saying yes when I asked. Carter even came in and ask and he did it for you. Then, when we were all done, you grabbed the bucket and did it one last time and giggled so hard!

You are still our little sleep champ! Easy down, late to get up. When I put you down you let me bounce you a few times then you lean into your bed and want to be put down. A few weeks ago I let your Oma put you down, and told her what you would do. Oma thought, sure that sounds nice but she won't do that for me. But, sure enough, a few bounces and then you wanted down and that was it!

Love you sweet little girl!

Back when they both fit in the chair together and now that they are both big kids.