Every month she is talking more and this month was no exception. She is saying so many sentences and can really communicate. Sometimes she wants to be a part of our conversation so badly, she'll just say random stuff. One night at dinner Carter and I were telling Ty about our day and Elise chimed in saying, "Isaac hit Carter!" Carter and I both started laughing because that hadn't actually happened. At storytime one day she walked up to the librarian as she was reading and said, "Read this book," as she handed her a board book from our bag. It was hilarious and the librarian handled it wonderfully. She will say, "I want help, please." She calls pretty much all bugs "bees". She loves roly polies and will pick them up. One day she was holding one in her hand while poking it and saying, "Roll up!" Whenever we are playing it's pretty much a constant chorus of "Look at me, mommy," or "Watch this, mommy," as she shows off for me. She says "Love you," all the time and it is just the sweetest coming from her little mouth. When I leave to run in the mornings, if she's awake, she'll say, "Have a good run, love you!" She calls Carter "Carty" which is adorable and is hard not to do when hearing her say it all the time. Carter doesn't mind her calling him Carty but if I do it he'll tell me not to call him that. She knows her full name and will tell people her name is Elise Kay Cox but only sometimes, often times her name is still "no". She loves to look at pictures on my phone and will name everyone she sees. When I say "Bless you," she always says, "Thank you, mommy!" Often times she says it over and over. When I tell her thank you, she also likes to say you're welcome over and over. She likes to sing Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday, I L-O-V-E Love You, and I Like to Move It. She loves the soundtrack to Trolls and will dance by hopping up and down when she hears it. Sister recognizes more animals and will say what sound they make as well. My favorite is that she pants instead of barks for a dog.
Elise is still doing a wonderful job in her big girl bed. She's also still waking up early around 6:30 most mornings. I think related to waking up earlier she has also been napping a lot more during the day. Some days she even takes a 3-4 hour nap! She loves watching a little tv before bedtime with Carter. Her favorite is The Garfield Show, I think because she loves cats so much! Every once in a while she asks to play on the computer at the library. When she does she asks for the kitty game which means Daniel Tiger games on PBS Kids. Cats are definitely a favorite for her! She also really likes books with cats as the main character.
I think she's pretty close to ready for potty training. She told me one morning she needed to poop and when we took her to the potty she actually pooped on the potty! She still has moments where she'll be going without a diaper and suddenly is surprised to be going potty. One night she pottied on the potty chair twice! Another time I was mopping the floor so I had her potty chair up and out of the way. She walked over to the potty and started crying because she wanted to use it and couldn't get to it. I would try potty training now but I feel like it would end with lots of accidents and I don't want her to get upset. She also gets upset when I tell her to get on the potty. She only wants to do it when she feels like it. She still likes to go sometimes when we're out and about and Carter and I are both going. I'm thinking she'll be like Carter and not be very motivated by rewards. We've tried giving her treats to let us brush her teeth and that doesn't work. At the beginning of this month she decided she doesn't like her teeth brushed and makes it extremely difficult. For a while I would pull up a song on my phone and let her watch it as I brushed so she'd lay still and let me brush her teeth. Recently that's stopped working and I just have to pin her down to brush her teeth. It is an unpleasant experience for us all!
Little Leesey loves to build. She pretty much always builds something and then yells, "Ta da!" It is simply adorable! She has enjoyed the concerts we've gone to for the summer reading program. She claps along and yells back during concerts. She'll also dance along, following the dance moves that go with the songs. Her dance move is hopping up and down over and over. She likes to gallop and often times gallops down the hall. Sis has no fear and loves to play games that Carter finds a little bit scary. Rocky was playing monster with the kids during their last visit. Carter would run by, acting a little bit scared. Elise would run up and stare the monster down, sometimes even growling at him. It was so funny! There are times at the playground when all the little girls are playing together and Elise is off playing with all the older boys instead. She loves playing with the older siblings of her friends just as much as her friends.
Her favorite toys are cars and things to build with. She still loves her baby dolls and especially likes to cradle them and carry them around, giving them bottles and wrapping them in blankets. We had a garage sale and afterward I let each of the kids pick out a small toy at Wal-Mart for $5 or less. Elise picked out Paw Patrol bubbles. Shoes used to be her favorite and now she never wants to wear them. I feel like I'm always chasing her around in public trying to put her shoes back on, the little wild woman! She has really taken off with reading and loves to be read to. She will sit and look through books by herself, talking about what she sees on each page. She will also sit through me reading multiple books in a row. When I'm reading to Carter she pretty much always wants to take the book from us to look through. For some reason if I'm reading just to her, she'll sit and listen. If I'm reading to both of them, she wants her own book to look through as I read. Sometimes she does sit and listen as I read to them both. Otters are still her favorite animals. She wants to stand and watch them for the longest time at both the zoo and the aquarium and she gets so excited when she sees otters in a book!
Elise's best friend is still Charlee. She also loves playing with Nora and, as I said earlier, is often off with the big boys instead of her friends closer to her age. She loves seeing pictures of her friend, Addison, and yells "Add-sin," when she sees her. She now calls Wyatt "Wydit" which is adorable. Looking at pictures and videos of Wyatt is her favorite. She adores him. I am so excited to see her with him during our upcoming trip! She is much gentler with babies now than she was last time we saw him in March. She adores her friend, Finley, and likes to play pretend with her. Last time we were at her house, Elise was following Finley around as Finley gave her a tour of the zoo. I love that Elise seamlessly falls into our pretend play games. She picks up whatever Carter makes up and plays along wonderfully. They were playing that they were caterpillars in a chrysalis while playing in hammocks and Elise just jumped right in. Carter and Harper are still her best friends and she adores Skippy. She likes to run into the closet to give Skippy cat treats. It's so cute!
