My sweet Elise, I love you so! It won't be long before you reach your 2nd birthday and that seems crazy to me. You are growing up so much! You are definitely a full-on toddler, no longer a baby. You still refer to yourself as a baby though and it makes me laugh every time. You will randomly yell out baby and you also call yourself a baby when you see yourself in the mirror. You are such a sassy pants or sassafrass, as Carter calls it, at times. You definitely know what you want and are very vocal about it. If you don't want to be held you will wiggle out of my arms. You are also the sweetest girl. You are just a bundle of love, joy, and happiness. You love to sit in my lap to play and love to snuggle up with Carter. I enjoy seeing your personality emerge more and more as you grow up. It is amazing to see how you are so different from Carter in so many ways but just alike in other ways. I used to take Carter to Museum Babies at the art museum when he was little. They would have crafts and toys set up after we went through an exhibit and discussed the artwork. Carter never once did a craft and always played with the toys instead. You sit down and do each of the crafts and hardly even play with the toys. He also never noticed they had cookies out so I never gave him one. You noticed the cookies first thing when you went the first time and now always run right over to where they serve them and fuss for one. You are my big eater for sure!
One of your favorite things to do is play with light switches. When you are in your crib you will say light because you want me to turn your light on so you can turn it off. We play that game over and over. You will also climb up onto your chair to turn the light on and off. One day you were crying a little while after I laid you down for bed. I pulled up the monitor to check on you. You had turned the light on. When I pulled you out of your crib I realized you had pooped. We joked that you turned the light on as a mayday that you needed help since you pooped. You still haven't climbed out of your crib again yet and I am hopeful that you won't. We found a few princess dresses for $4-5 at Goodwill before Halloween. For that price I had to buy them for you. There was a Snow White dress, a Cinderella dress, and a Belle dress. I wasn't sure whether you would like them yet or not but you love them. You will bring me one and bounce up and down excitedly while I help you put it on. You wore the Snow White dress for a couple Halloween events. The other two are a little bit big but you like to wear them while playing at home. Other toys you like to play with are the princess castle given to us that used to be Lauren's, the sit in car, and anything you can dump out. You want to play with pretty much anything Carter is playing with. Most of the time you guys play really well together but you still don't understand how to play with certain things which causes problems. You accidentally pull down the My Little Pony castle and tear up train tracks as well as knocking over Duplo which all irritate Carter. Your guys' favorite game to play is chase. You will run up and down the hall chasing each other, laughing the entire time. It is the cutest and my favorite to watch!
You've always liked to carry around socks and would pull socks out of the dirty clothes to play with. Your new thing is pulling my dirty clothes out of the hamper and trying to put them on. It never fails that you will be walking around the house with a sweaty sports bra or a dirty pair of my underwear around your neck. You always pick my clothes and I swear you pick the stinkiest, picking out my running clothes more often than not. It's strange but it's also hilarious to see you attempting to put them on. You also love carrying Carter's underwear around but thankfully pull them out of his clean undie cubby. Instead of attempting to put his underwear on by wearing them around your neck, you actually put your legs into the holes. Sometimes you get them in the leg holes and other times through the waist hole. If I try to help you get them on, you refuse. You have let Oma help you put them on and then were so proud prancing around in his undies. Oma is still a huge favorite and you take her over anyone else. You will reach for her while I'm holding you and you scream out Oma anytime you see Opa because you know she must be nearby.
Since you love wearing Carter's undies so much, I let you pick out some undies of your own at the store. You picked out some striped training panties. It won't be long until we are needing them. You have actually pottied in the potty chair and even did a small poop in it. One night after dinner you told me, "poop". I asked you if you needed to go poop and you said yes. I asked if you wanted to sit on the potty and you said yes so I got you out of your seat. You ran over to sit on the potty. You often times want to sit on the potty but don't do anything so I didn't think much of it and went about my business cleaning up from dinner. As I rounded the corner I heard you going potty in the chair and went running over to congratulate you. Then you tooted and when you got up there was a little poop in the chair. A few days later you wanted to sit on the potty and were tooting quite a bit. You got up to look in the potty to see if you had pooped and when you were looking down, you pooped on the floor right in front of the potty chair. I was so proud of you both times. When we are at home for long periods of time, I take your diaper off and let you run around naked from the waist down and encourage you to try to use the potty. Often times you go on the floor but not wearing a diaper helps you notice you are going and is making you more aware of what is happening. Plus you still have the worst diaper rash issues. It's been about 9 months now of terrible diaper rash off and on. We had to completely abandon cloth diapers because your whole bottom gets so red no matter how I treat the diapers when washing them. It's so sad! You aren't quite ready to potty train but you are getting close. It cracks me up that you say poop for both poop and potty.
Your motto is "Anything brother can do, I can do too. I can do anything brother can do!" I think that will come in handy as far as potty training goes although it tends to contribute to lots of falls, scrapes, and bruises at the moment. You love to jump. You will stop what you are doing and all the sudden just jump up in the air. Your vertical is about 2 inches. It's adorable to watch. You'll jump over and over and over. You also like to gallop and randomly started doing it a lot. It's something I don't think you've learned from Carter. I've noticed he's started doing it more now that you do it so I feel like it's something he saw you do and thought it looked like fun and he should start doing it. When Carter climbs chairs, you follow right behind. When he jumps off something you are next to go. You are definitely brave!
You are a bit of a sly little girl and prefer food when it comes off someone else's plate. Carter likes to sit next to you at meals but it never fails that you are reaching over and grabbing food off his plate. You have the exact same food on your plate but his tastes better for some reason. You do the exact same thing to me at breakfast. You want to sit on my lap while I eat and then proceed to grab handfuls of my food as I'm trying to eat. Every once in a while you outright refuse a sippy cup and insist on drinking out of a regular cup like Carter. Sometimes you do a great job. Other times, like tonight, we end up with a mess. Usually it is an accident, but tonight you actually poured your entire cup of water (thankfully it was only about a quarter of the way full) onto your plate. Then you used your cup to scoop up water mixed with food and drank it. Super gross, sister!
Toward the end of last month you got to where it was absolutely terrible to get you in your car seat. You are crazy strong and fight it with all your might when you don't want in. I've found that if I bring you a snack and tell you that you can eat it when you sit down things usually go fairly smoothly but every once in a while you decide you don't want the snack and writhe around to where I have to force you down and restrain you while I buckle you in. It is not pleasant. I wish you were a bit more easy going as far as that goes, but it's a battle that I don't mind fighting. We've gotta get out of the house and go somewhere at least once a day! Once you are in your car seat, you are fine. You love playing with Carter and making faces at him while I drive. I absolutely love getting somewhere and going to get you out only to discover the two of you making goofy faces at each other. It is the cutest thing ever! When I take Carter somewhere without you he'll tell me he misses you while we are driving because he likes the funny faces you make at him. I know you feel the same way because you are always really quiet and seem somewhat sad in the car after we drop Carter off at school. It blows my mind how silent it is in the car when Carter is at school. If he's in the car you guys are always yelling back and forth at each other. If Carter is reading a book or something you scream no over and over at him just to get a reaction out of him. And you sure know how to do that! Carter will tell you, "Quiet voice for the car, Elise!" It's funny.
You have really taken off with speech this month. It seems like you pick up a new word every single day! One of your favorites is again which sounds like gee. Anytime we do something you like you yell out, gee! It is so cute. I love hearing you playing with Carter and then yelling out "gee" at him when he does something you like! My favorite word you say is yellow which sounds like lellow. You use it to mean the color yellow as well as pretty much every other color. You also say lellow when you want to color a picture. Blue is the only other color you say and you say it pretty darn well. Sometimes it's boo and other times it's blue. You say blue for the color blue and probably some other colors but I've mostly only heard you use it for blue. You also say blue when you want to play with the color tablets we put in the bath. You take after me in your love of chocolate. You even say chocolate and it is hilarious. You say it cho-co. One day we were Facetiming with Uncie Taco. You looked at the screen and said, Hewo Taco! We had no idea you knew his name and could say it. Shoes are still something you talk about a lot. You also talk about socks too. When you want to go somewhere you say go. You also say it when you want someone to go away. You still love to climb and have said the word climb. You will also say "I want..." while pointing at something. When I'm carrying you, if you want down you will say down or walk. Often times you point at the ground while doing so. If we forget to give you a utensil to eat with you will say, "a spoon!" When we were at the aquarium you and Carter made hats at Aqua Tots. You pointed at Carter's hat and said, "your hat." No is also a favorite of yours and you say it a lot. It is usually accompanied by a very severe head shake. You say mine a lot too. Anything you want, whether it actually belongs to you or not, you point at and say mine! Phone is also a new word. You'll point at my phone and yell out phone. You like to carry it around and sometimes pretend to talk in it. I have a hard time keeping track of my phone and you definitely make it worse!
You absolutely loves babies. Real babies, baby dolls, your reflection in the mirror which you describe as a baby. You will stop playing to go over and look at a baby. You will yell baby, get down in their face, and just stare at them. You are super gentle with babies which is pretty amazing considering your personality. It's cute to watch you play with your baby dolls. You will carefully place one in the baby stroller and stroll it around the house. Carter has always used the stroller to push around the house as a race car at break neck speed. You also like to fill the stroller with random stuff rather than a baby doll and I often times find Carter's undies in the stroller. Sister, I can't begin to describe how much I love you and how awesome you make my days. It's not just getting to spend time with you, it's getting to watch your interactions with Carter that I love so much. You are such a sweet and spirited girl. Not much brings you down and you are always quick to jump back up with a smile on your face. You may be feisty and challenging at times but I love you every moment of every day. I look forward to all of our future adventures and enjoy you so much. Although you are very independent you still like to snuggle from time to time and nothing makes me happier! I love you, Leesey Loo!
Now on to daddy,
Rolling with the bumps.
If I had to give you a motto for these last few months, this would be it. I am reminded of this because of the bruise on your forehead. You are not afraid to play hard, fall, get back up and keep going. You are one tough little girl and I am amazed at your resilience! It also probably doesn't help that your brother treats you like you're the same age as him and that is too rough, but you are quick to stand your ground or call for back up!
Every day now you are adding words, and listening to you cracks me up. Your comprehension is also very good and it amazes me how much you understand. We can get a pretty good idea of what you want by asking you yes and no questions.
The one thing that does drive me crazy is having to put your shoes on you every time we get out of the car. Sometimes you put some heat on them and it takes a minute to find them in the van! You have also started to get into the van on your own too. It cracks me up watching you shimmy up in it, then try and scurry to the front seats before someone catches you and puts you in your car seat!
Love you baby girl!
Since you love wearing Carter's undies so much, I let you pick out some undies of your own at the store. You picked out some striped training panties. It won't be long until we are needing them. You have actually pottied in the potty chair and even did a small poop in it. One night after dinner you told me, "poop". I asked you if you needed to go poop and you said yes. I asked if you wanted to sit on the potty and you said yes so I got you out of your seat. You ran over to sit on the potty. You often times want to sit on the potty but don't do anything so I didn't think much of it and went about my business cleaning up from dinner. As I rounded the corner I heard you going potty in the chair and went running over to congratulate you. Then you tooted and when you got up there was a little poop in the chair. A few days later you wanted to sit on the potty and were tooting quite a bit. You got up to look in the potty to see if you had pooped and when you were looking down, you pooped on the floor right in front of the potty chair. I was so proud of you both times. When we are at home for long periods of time, I take your diaper off and let you run around naked from the waist down and encourage you to try to use the potty. Often times you go on the floor but not wearing a diaper helps you notice you are going and is making you more aware of what is happening. Plus you still have the worst diaper rash issues. It's been about 9 months now of terrible diaper rash off and on. We had to completely abandon cloth diapers because your whole bottom gets so red no matter how I treat the diapers when washing them. It's so sad! You aren't quite ready to potty train but you are getting close. It cracks me up that you say poop for both poop and potty.
Your motto is "Anything brother can do, I can do too. I can do anything brother can do!" I think that will come in handy as far as potty training goes although it tends to contribute to lots of falls, scrapes, and bruises at the moment. You love to jump. You will stop what you are doing and all the sudden just jump up in the air. Your vertical is about 2 inches. It's adorable to watch. You'll jump over and over and over. You also like to gallop and randomly started doing it a lot. It's something I don't think you've learned from Carter. I've noticed he's started doing it more now that you do it so I feel like it's something he saw you do and thought it looked like fun and he should start doing it. When Carter climbs chairs, you follow right behind. When he jumps off something you are next to go. You are definitely brave!
Toward the end of last month you got to where it was absolutely terrible to get you in your car seat. You are crazy strong and fight it with all your might when you don't want in. I've found that if I bring you a snack and tell you that you can eat it when you sit down things usually go fairly smoothly but every once in a while you decide you don't want the snack and writhe around to where I have to force you down and restrain you while I buckle you in. It is not pleasant. I wish you were a bit more easy going as far as that goes, but it's a battle that I don't mind fighting. We've gotta get out of the house and go somewhere at least once a day! Once you are in your car seat, you are fine. You love playing with Carter and making faces at him while I drive. I absolutely love getting somewhere and going to get you out only to discover the two of you making goofy faces at each other. It is the cutest thing ever! When I take Carter somewhere without you he'll tell me he misses you while we are driving because he likes the funny faces you make at him. I know you feel the same way because you are always really quiet and seem somewhat sad in the car after we drop Carter off at school. It blows my mind how silent it is in the car when Carter is at school. If he's in the car you guys are always yelling back and forth at each other. If Carter is reading a book or something you scream no over and over at him just to get a reaction out of him. And you sure know how to do that! Carter will tell you, "Quiet voice for the car, Elise!" It's funny.
You have really taken off with speech this month. It seems like you pick up a new word every single day! One of your favorites is again which sounds like gee. Anytime we do something you like you yell out, gee! It is so cute. I love hearing you playing with Carter and then yelling out "gee" at him when he does something you like! My favorite word you say is yellow which sounds like lellow. You use it to mean the color yellow as well as pretty much every other color. You also say lellow when you want to color a picture. Blue is the only other color you say and you say it pretty darn well. Sometimes it's boo and other times it's blue. You say blue for the color blue and probably some other colors but I've mostly only heard you use it for blue. You also say blue when you want to play with the color tablets we put in the bath. You take after me in your love of chocolate. You even say chocolate and it is hilarious. You say it cho-co. One day we were Facetiming with Uncie Taco. You looked at the screen and said, Hewo Taco! We had no idea you knew his name and could say it. Shoes are still something you talk about a lot. You also talk about socks too. When you want to go somewhere you say go. You also say it when you want someone to go away. You still love to climb and have said the word climb. You will also say "I want..." while pointing at something. When I'm carrying you, if you want down you will say down or walk. Often times you point at the ground while doing so. If we forget to give you a utensil to eat with you will say, "a spoon!" When we were at the aquarium you and Carter made hats at Aqua Tots. You pointed at Carter's hat and said, "your hat." No is also a favorite of yours and you say it a lot. It is usually accompanied by a very severe head shake. You say mine a lot too. Anything you want, whether it actually belongs to you or not, you point at and say mine! Phone is also a new word. You'll point at my phone and yell out phone. You like to carry it around and sometimes pretend to talk in it. I have a hard time keeping track of my phone and you definitely make it worse!
You absolutely loves babies. Real babies, baby dolls, your reflection in the mirror which you describe as a baby. You will stop playing to go over and look at a baby. You will yell baby, get down in their face, and just stare at them. You are super gentle with babies which is pretty amazing considering your personality. It's cute to watch you play with your baby dolls. You will carefully place one in the baby stroller and stroll it around the house. Carter has always used the stroller to push around the house as a race car at break neck speed. You also like to fill the stroller with random stuff rather than a baby doll and I often times find Carter's undies in the stroller. Sister, I can't begin to describe how much I love you and how awesome you make my days. It's not just getting to spend time with you, it's getting to watch your interactions with Carter that I love so much. You are such a sweet and spirited girl. Not much brings you down and you are always quick to jump back up with a smile on your face. You may be feisty and challenging at times but I love you every moment of every day. I look forward to all of our future adventures and enjoy you so much. Although you are very independent you still like to snuggle from time to time and nothing makes me happier! I love you, Leesey Loo!
Now on to daddy,
Rolling with the bumps.
If I had to give you a motto for these last few months, this would be it. I am reminded of this because of the bruise on your forehead. You are not afraid to play hard, fall, get back up and keep going. You are one tough little girl and I am amazed at your resilience! It also probably doesn't help that your brother treats you like you're the same age as him and that is too rough, but you are quick to stand your ground or call for back up!
Every day now you are adding words, and listening to you cracks me up. Your comprehension is also very good and it amazes me how much you understand. We can get a pretty good idea of what you want by asking you yes and no questions.
The one thing that does drive me crazy is having to put your shoes on you every time we get out of the car. Sometimes you put some heat on them and it takes a minute to find them in the van! You have also started to get into the van on your own too. It cracks me up watching you shimmy up in it, then try and scurry to the front seats before someone catches you and puts you in your car seat!
Love you baby girl!
And I love the way she nods or shakes her head with such exaggeration when saying yes or no. :_
ReplyDeleteYes, that's so funny. I love that too!
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