One Whole Year & a Half!

November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving - the day we left the hospital

Our little baby is growing up. Last Tuesday she turned 1 1/2 years old. She is becoming a little girl and not my little baby. I wanted to keep a memory of some of the things she can do, so I can put it in a book later. She understands a lot more than she says, it really surprises me when I ask her to go get something, or do something, and she does! Sorry, this post is so long, but I think I'll be glad that I took the time to write it down.

Some of the Words Ellie Knows
no (or our favorite no no no no)
yah - (rarely does she say this)
mama, ma my (mommy)
papa, da die, dadee (daddy)
eye
no (nose)
err (ear)
mouf (mouth)
tee (teeth)
ticka ticka (tickle)
ba (ball)
cah (car)
loon (balloon)
waz tat (What's that? ---yes she speaks in sentences already!!)
why
mine
tank tee (thank you)
peas (please...and this week she started saying, "Petty peas?")
sahwee (sorry)
bah bye (with a wave, and sometimes only the wave and after the person is gone she'll say the words)
hi - with a wave sometimes too
lel lo (hello)
jell lo (yellow)
Me me (Minnie Mouse....though this only gets used when we try to point out the different characters, otherwise she is just Mickey Mouse)
Ma mow (Mickey Mouse)
Deedee (Donald Duck....this one she doesn't use freely, only repeats it after we say Donald Duck. When she hears Donald talk, she laughs and laughs)
Lee lee or Lelly (Ellie)
gog (dog)
kiky (kitty)
ca ca
too too (toot toot - this one always makes her laugh)
baby - (she loves seeing babies, and little kids too)
show (shoe)
bow ber (flower)
petty (pretty)
pon (phone)
goo grl (good girl)
crac ar (cracker - which is everything from actual crackers, to goldfish, animal cookies, to potato chips)
ree (read - she loves books! We just started giving her a bedtime story because she has been hard to read with, always wanting to turn/rip/eat the pages and close the book. Since we started reading to her every night, she has been really good at sitting still and listening and always wants us to read more)
mo (more)
go (as in "Where did it go?" or "Where are we going?" she says this with her palms up and shrugs her shoulders)
lie (light)
some words are even harder to decipher unless you know what she is trying to say
uh (up...if she wants to be picked up)
ha (hot - she usually thinks food is hot and she'll blow on it)
sta (stuck - if she is stuck somewhere, like when she tries to climb around under the table)

Ellie with cousin Ally - Easter 2009

Ellie and cousin Wyatt hugging - May 2009

Just Some of her Amazing Accomplishments!
- knows what a dog says - ruff ruff
- and a kitty - meme
- and a birdie - twee twee
-and a duck - wa wa
- and learning a horse - heee heee
- whenever she sees a dinosaur she growls
- can point to her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, toes, head, hair, belly button, foot and she just learned elbow, fingers, and leg
- plugs her nose and says "stinky" when she is
- can help take off her clothes, puts toys away (sometimes)
- gives kisses & hugs
-and she loves music so she can dance!
- fakes laughs (laughs and covers her mouth and puts her head down like she just heard the funniest joke)
- can spin, clap, pat-e-cake, goes up & down stairs, sometimes by holding the railing by herself, except at our house, too many stairs, she needs to hold our hand, or go on her tummy, puts shoes on by herself (sometimes even on the right feet! She does like to put one shoe on and walk around like that.), uses a fork/spoon (not perfectly, but she tries), drinks from a cup (sometimes without getting wet at all), brushes her teeth (loves to get her 'tee' done, every time she is in the bathroom she thinks its time for, "tee?" brushing her teeth)
-she loves talking on the phone! She has plenty of play phones, which she loves to play with, but she'll turn anything into a phone, from papa's belt to a toy block. She likes talking to her Chico Gram & Grandpa especially!
-she also loves purses, and will carry any sort of bag around with her, and her wallet too
-she gets time out, last about a minute or two, and she'll actually stay in her time out spot until we tell her to get up, and say sorry. I know she doesn't completely understand, but she knows enough that she did something bad and she needs to start learning now about consequences of bad behavior! (mean parents aren't we?)

She is the most frustrating and amazing person I have ever met! Frustrating, because most of the time I don't know what I'm doing and I don't always know what she wants/needs and I'm worried I'm going to ruin her! And amazing, because everyday she is doing something new, and she is constantly cracking me up and surprising me. Ellie loves other little kids and usually is good at sharing, but doesn't understand when the other kids don't want her to grab/share their toys too! She loves her papa so much, she is lucky to have such a great dad who loves to rough house with her and wear her out, after she has already worn me out! She has so many people that love her, and she loves them too. We hope she continues to grow up happy and healthy.

Ellie & next door neighbor Tianna - May 2009

Just Relaxin' - May 2009

Ready, Set, Go.....

and she's off.....

Ellie is Growing Up Fast!

Ellie Laughing

Ellie is sleeping right now, but I promise to get photos of her soon! I do have a video clip Brian took the other day of her laughing.

Hotel Swim

After Cameron's Graduation and a yummy celebratory dinner, me and Ellie took a dip in the pool.

She loved splashing....even when she got herself!

Hangin' with the girls!

Cleaning Time!

Since Ellie now has 2 teeth coming in we thought we better start her down the road to good dental hygiene.

Here is her first tooth brushing.

On Her Own

I thought she would sleep in her cradle in our room for about 3 months, but we're going on 5 and she is still in our room. Well...tonight she is in her own room, in her crib. I got some really cute bumpers and sheets from my nieces work, they were going to throw them away, but she thought I might want them instead. Thanks Reanna & my sister Bonnie too! I put them on her crib today and now its almost 1am and Ellie is sound asleep, in her crib, without mommy by her side. I hate this, but I know its the right thing. Brian went to check on her before he went to bed, thought she was so cute, and took a picture.

She slept all night, except one little squeak. Didn't miss me one bit.

New Toy!

Daddy built Ellie's Easter toy. She hasn't quite got the hang of it, but she still seems to like it. Soon she'll be a little taller and be able to bounce all around. Right now she kinda leans forward too much even though her feet touch the bottom. It still needs some batteries, but then again, maybe not.

Getting Regular - TMI

While we were visiting Grammy & Grandpy, when Brian was in San Francisco to be with his mom, Ellie was her not so regular self. (She wasn't pooping everyday) I never thought I would care so much about another persons poop as I did that week. Everyday I would call my mom to see if she had pooped yet....nope, and every night Ellie would cry and be uncomfortable. My mom had me go to the store and buy baby lax, yup there is such a thing, now its called Pedilax though. Luckily my mom loves Ellie enough to be the first to do that for her....I just couldn't. But, a couple days later, after Brian was back, I did end up doing it myself too. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're lucky!!! Anyway....it worked. Ellie pooped, but she still wasn't regular. Then we tried some prune/apple juice. This was Ellie's first real taste of something besides formula. She wasn't so sure about it at first. The look on her face was something like, "Holy crap, what is this???" but then she tried it again, and thought, "This isn't my normal formula!!! What is this???" Then she thought, "hmmm, maybe that wasn't so bad" she grabbed the bottle and drank it up, and she has been regular ever since!

Doing Some of Her Favorite Things

Ellie loves eating her fingers and her hand. Sometimes I think she is going to chew her little pointer finger right up! Since she drools so much as well, she usually has a bib on. Here she is with her new blanket from family friends, Martha & Charles in Atlanta Georgia, and her socks made in Germany.

Ellie also loves her little blanket bear, Pinkie. She was fussing a little and I went to get Pinkie for her. As soon as she saw her bear she smiled and hugged her little friend.

All by herself.....

I know some of you are getting sick of all of my Ellie posts, but for our California family that doesn't get to see her very often these events are pretty important. At least we think so! I can't believe I've turned into one of those gushing moms...."Look what my kid can do!"

Stuff El Can Do!

I know some of you might get bored of my Ellie news, but I can't help it. This is a short clip of her getting her pacifier in her mouth without my help! I'm such a proud mommy!

She Really is a Turner

Even though she has done it before, I've only seen her after the fact, when she was already on her tummy. This was the first time I actually saw the rolling over and I got it on camera too.

Starting to Turn

Even though she is a Turner. . .

she hasn't quite done it
Yet!