Ellie ~ 18 Months

Height: 34 inches ~ 97th percentile

Weight: 22 1/2 pounds ~ 23rd percentile

3 Month Recap:

* The bottle is gone! (7/18/14)  At Ellie's 15 month appointment I asked Dr. Horkley when I should get rid of the bottle and he said, "2 or 3 months ago...oops! I may have forgotten to mention that!" (Probably because we talked about getting rid of the binkie and he forgot to mention the bottle too.)  I decided to do it cold turkey, no sense in prolonging the inevitable.  So the next morning there was no bottle.  And of course it was the first time she went to the fridge and says, "Ba ba?"  AH!  Of course you're asking for it now!  I guess I caught it in the nick of time.  She didn't really like having milk out of a sippy cup...I even bought her new ones to maybe help her be excited about it but she was not having it.  So she has hardly drank milk since but the doc tells me it is fine.  At least she loves yogurt so she gets that a couple of times a day.  Tho now she wants to eat right when she gets up (she gets that from Landen, not me by any means!)...and I'm not even awake yet, I'm still a zombie!!!  At least all I have to do is put yogurt in a bowl and she's happy :) This has definitely been an interesting transition...hopefully one day she'll like milk again.

* She knows where to take her dirty diapers after I change her!  Figured I'll teach her early to clean up after herself ;) Also, when I change her stinky diapers she'll wave her hand in front of her face like I do!!! It's pretty funny. 

* Ellie is so tall most of my hiding places are not usable anymore!  I have to make sure stuff is pushed to the center of the dining table or away from the edges of counters.  And we can't keep anything we don't want her to get on our side table by the couch because she can climb up on the file box that used to block that area...oh the joys of toddlers!

* 8/4/14 Ellie bit Parkyr.  Yep.  It happened.  She finally stood up to Parkyr and got her right on the finger.  Oops!  We were visiting them and were outside playing and everything Ellie touched Parkyr would run over and take it away and say, "MINE!"  This kept happening over and over and eventually Ellie bit her.  That night I got home and checked my email and had one from Baby Center and what did it talk about???  Having a child that bites!!!  This happens so often that those emails know exactly what I'm going through!  It talked about how her inability to communicate, feeling threatened, and having her space invaded are all factors in why she may bite...check, check, check!!!  She hasn't done it since then so I hope it was just a one time thing.  One day those girls will be really good for each other :)

* 8/11/14 Ellie has been a very slow talker.  She only says mama, dada, and yeah.  Today I taught her how to say more.  It is so adorable and I can tell the difference from ma.  It's nice when she is eating to know if she wants more :)

* Grandpa Tom taught Ellie the "hang loose" sign. It is ADORABLE! She doesn't get her thumb and pinky stuck out, but she shakes her hands. I love it. 

* I feel like we are already starting the terrible twos! This girl is quite opinionated. She knows what she wants and what she doesn't want and she'll let you know!  And she is stubborn!  This may be the death of me...it doesn't inspire any hope when Dr. Horkley said, "Those annoying behaviors are going to get worse."  Boo.  I know one day I'll look back and miss these times, but right now they can be quite frustrating!

* Ellie loves going on walks and collecting leaves. She will get handfuls and just carry them around. 

* 10/6/14 Oh my gosh! I couldn't sleep tonight and was up super late.  It was really quiet in the house and all of a sudden I hear Ellie talking and babbling...she didn't cry or whimper at all like she usually does if she wakes up, so I'm pretty sure she was sleeptalking!  HA!  It was so funny to listen to her!

* 10/12/14: Words Ellie says now: mama (which she uses for just about everything she doesn't know the word for yet...), dada, poppa - meaning Grandpa, mama - meaning Grandma, more, baby, ball, yes, no, bye (for the record, she will NOT say hi, she just waves!), thank you - it's kind of jumbled but I know what she's saying, WOW...she says it with so much interest...I love it!, tu-tle (turtle), mo-mo (Elmo), DA! (Daniel Tiger...enough said!), TOE! (toes), TEE! (teeth), CHEE! (for cheese the food and cheese when taking a picture!), BA! (bath) and of course UH-OH!

I cannot get enough of this girl.  She is definitely not a baby anymore!  My little girl is growing up, but what a joy it is to be her momma and watch her learn and grow every single day.  

With turning 18 months old Ellie was finally able to go to Nursery at church!!! Hallelujah!  I had gone in with her a few times before today, but this was her first day all by herself.  She did okay.  They came and got me at one point because she was really upset and not calming down and they didn't want her to hate them...and I don't want that either!  I went back in with her while they did singing time and a lesson and she seemed to be having a good time, so as we were switching rooms to go have snack I snuck out.  She did fine the rest of the time.  Yeah!  I don't think it is that she misses me as much as she is overwhelmed by all the other kids.  She takes awhile to warm up to other kids in general and when you put her in a room with about 10-14 others and she's the smallest one, I'm sure she's a little freaked out.  I have to say I'm proud of her for doing as well as she did for her first time alone.  I'm sure she will be an old pro here in a few weeks :)  I'm so excited to be able to enjoy and pay attention in the last two hours of church again!  This last picture is her on her first day of Nursery.