Sky Top (number two)

Apple picture overload--but we had a great trip our 2nd go round.  Had some touch and go moments on the car ride up there and back--Elmo Singing with the Stars saved the day--but other than that, we had so much fun!

 We ate lunch at the Wrinkled Egg where Ellie actually ate an entire peanut butter sandwich, sans crust.  This is the equivalency of us eating 3 double cheeseburgers...she NEVER eats an entire sandwich.  

 She and daddy played magnifying class with her tupperware bowl.

 Look familar?  Everything except the weather--it was absolutely beautiful!  Sunny and a nice breeze but not cold.  Fall perfection.

 We had to be re-measured to get the entire tree in the picture this time.

 She would stand up by herself but would sit down before we could get a picture--so hopefully this last year I will be in the picture with her!

 Beautiful mountains.  

 This year we chose Fiji apples to pick--Ellie picked two but she really just loved putting them in the apples after Josh picked them--and I just took pictures.

 playing "clean up" is one of Ellie's favorite things right now, so putting apples in the basket was perfect for her.

 "is this a good one daddy?"

 "I think I'll taste this one"

 and an apple for the ride back up!

Park Swinging

I love my Wednesdays with Ellie...I took her to the park today to go swinging and she loved it!  We don't have a good tree in our backyard to hang a swing from so we're going to have to build a set soon (hint hint, don don!)

 Today was our first little taste of fall so E wore long sleeves and closed toe shoes for the first time this year.  Fall is my most favorite season of all and I've been looking forward to the crispness in the air for a while now.  New tv shows, pumpkin spice lattes, football, pumpkins and apples, and bundling up...just perfection.

 She thought her shoes were so funny when I strapped them on today--I think she likes the bows and the velcro sound.  We've had a time finding her fall shoes with some type of support that will fit her size 2 foot.  (random--but there was a 17 month boy at the park today whose mom said he weighed 33 lbs and wore a size 8 shoe...yes, he looked like a dinosaur next to E)

 oh, how I love that sweet smile.  She's still hanging with her 8 teeth (4 on top/4 on bottom) but I have a feeling her molars and eye teeth will be coming in shortly.  Her gums are super full--and trust me when I saw that she has been showing the teething symptoms!

We're looking forward to a fun weekend--hoping to re-visit Sky Top on Saturday if the weather decides to cooperate!

Little Talker

Ellie took off with imitating and combining words this weekend--so weird that Friday she was limiting her expressive language to "doggy" and "daddy" (although she had more words than that) and by Saturday afternoon she was imitating everything that came out of my mouth.  The speech pathologist in me finds it completely fascinating!

 First 2 word combination: "hey there" while sitting outside on the back porch

some new words (while imitating and labeling): up, bye bye, bubble, ball

Second 2 word combo: "kitty cat" while watching her animal dvd in the car

She looks in the mirror while we put her Aquaphor on her after a bath and Josh always asks her "who is that"--that night she just came out and imitated him.

 She's also doing a good job with her signs--she will sign "all done" and "star" with no prompting.  We don't spend a whole lot of time on her learning signs as I'd rather her just use vocalizations if she's demonstrating that she can, but there is something so adorable about baby sign language.

She also started shrugging her shoulders and flipping her little hands up when we ask "what happened" or "uh-oh!".

 Here she is sucking that silly thumb with her lovie.  Notice she grabs onto elephant's ears and rubs them on her nose.  So strange.

Ellie--the more you understand and the more you communicate, the more fun you become!  We love watching you grow!

Football Saturday

Clemson had a home game yesterday versus Furman--I sat this one out and stayed home with Ellie to have a girl's day and Josh went to cheer on the tigers for us (and see Sammy Watkins!).

 Ellie wore her new tiger shirt in support to Gymboree...she had another great class with a theme of "ramps and rhymes"--right up E's alley, as she is obsessed with climbing.  Her best bud from class, Ivey, was there in her Gamecock attire so her mom and I got pictures of the girls wearing their team colors.

 Grammy met us after class and we went to Strossner's for lunch--one of the ladies asked me if she could have a c-o-o-k-i-e (yes, spelled it out to me) and I agreed (thinking it was going to be a small Publix sized sugar) and she brought out a chocolate chip cookie the size of Ellie's head with a huge dollop of buttercream icing shaped like a fish.  This girl's got a sweet tooth so she ate a couple of bites before destroying the rest.

 We spent the rest of the afternoon napping (Ellie did anyway), ironing, cleaning, and watching the tigers get a win over Furman.  Here's to hoping we continue our winning streak this week versus FSU!

Go Tigers!!

15 Month Stats

Ellie had her 15 month appointment on Thursday.  Poor love, she knew exactly where she was the minute we stepped into the office and she wanted nothing to do with the sweet receptionists, nurses, or Dr. Dobson.  She pretty much screamed throughout the entire visit.

 15 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs, 15 oz (3%)

Height: 29.75" (26%)

They had to measure her head twice--the first time they measured she was screaming and flailing her head everywhere and it measured in the 66%.  Dr. Dobson asked the nurse to re-measure (while I had her in a tight restraint) and thankfully it measured an entire inch smaller--making it much more proportional to her size.

 Dr. Dobson was pleased with everything developmentally--I asked him about her walking and of course at that minute she made me out a liar as she walked from me to a chair.  He wasn't concerned in the least, and she actually has improved quite a bit in the past two days--although it's definitely on her terms when she wants to do it.  Holy cow, she is so head strong.

 He did mention her weight and he doesn't want her to drop below the 3rd percentile.  He said we could try Pediasure for some additional calories but of course, we tried it last night, and she hates it.  

 She did have to get 3 shots--that was loads of fun, but we survived and just like every other time she has shots, she handles them just fine when we get home and really has no side effects.

 I am slowly packing away Ellie's spring/summer clothes.  I have a weird attachment to them and panicked that I might not have a picture of her wearing some of them, so I'm making her take a picture before we take them off for her nightly bath.  

 The bloomer set at the top was actually a loaner from Addie Kate--I had bought it in 9 months already and AK let us borrow her 6 month, as the 9 never fit her this year.  I just love the little diaper cover sets and this was a favorite for sure.

 and tears may be shed when E can't wear bubbles anymore.  I bought this turtle one at a consignment sale for 6 dollars and I loved it on her this year.  This was Mrs. Denise's favorite--she is obsessed with turtles!

 and the onesie below...another loaner from AK but it's the only onesie she wore and I always thought she looked so sweet in it.  She took her first steps in this onesie.

I think I have a story behind every piece of clothing she has and can picture special memories in her sweet clothes.  I hope she will let me dress her like a baby and a little girl as long as possible!

Apple Picking Fail

We headed up to Sky Top Orchard for our annual apple picking...the weather was a complete bust, therefore our trip was a bust.  We will be back for sure this year to let Ellie enjoy the orchard, animals, and apples!  She was quite into it the 15 minutes that we were there.

 The wagon was great fun to pull in the sloshing mud!

 and of course I insisted on family pictures--just in case we don't make it back.

 Ellie of course spotted every dog there--and screamed "doggy" for all to hear.

 We are missing the top of the sign..."How Tall this Fall?"  

 I can't believe I actually let her stand in the mud--it for sure gave me heart palpitations and I had to scrub her sandals when we got home!  I know, I need an intervention.

 I made Josh take one more picture before we left...he was completely over the experience by this point and didn't even request one with him.  

We left with plenty of mud, some grumpy moods, a 1/2 peck of pre-picked apples, and a screaming child for the hour ride back home...good memories made!  Here's to a re-do!

15 months!

Ellie is 15 months!  The older she gets the more difficult it is for me to record all the "new" things she is into.  Her little brain is just like a sponge and I feel like I can literally see her soaking in the world around her on a daily basis.

 At 15 months...

We will go on Thursday for her 15 month well visit so I'll update her stats then!

She's wearing...

Clothes: 6 and 9 months (the stride is finally getting a bit snug on her 6 month clothes)

PJs: 12 months

Diapers: size 3

Shoes: size 1

 Her schedule is much the same, except she is waking up around 8:30/9--even when we put her down at her regular bedtime of 7:15.  We are not complaining!

She's still taking 2 naps--they vary from an hour to two.  I am anxiously awaiting the day that we cut her down to one afternoon nap a day, but she is not showing signs at all that she is ready.  Her nap schedule make it nearly impossible to make plans without having to worry about a grumpy pots due to not enough sleep.

New words this month: apple, bubble, go, there, yum

"Doggy" remains her most favorite word in the universe.  She literally wakes up saying it.  She points out every, single dog that we pass.  Girl doesn't miss a one.

I didn't realize how much I say "there" after I finish doing something until she started imitating the word.  (ex. I will change her diaper, get her snapped, and stand her up and say "there"...and she'll imitate after me.

She says "yum" while she's eating and really likes it.

She's at a point developmentally where she knows what she wants, yet doesn't have the words to tell us yet and it does lead to extreme frustration for all parties involved.  She does a lot of whining "uh, uh, uh" with pointing and we do a lot of guess work and having her lead us to what she's looking at.

 Her receptive vocabulary has dramatically increased.  I can tell her to go get something and she will crawl over to what I'm asking for and hold it up.  She also can follow simple 1-step commands (when she wants to).  She most certainly knows what "no" means, however like all toddlers, doesn't always obey.

She loves playing with her firetruck.  She will make it "drive" all over the playroom while making her firetruck sound.  I love that her pretend play is evolving.  She also likes to put her fire hydrant and firemen in the truck while she's driving.

 She's still loving playing "I'm going to get you...".  She becomes so silly and squeals in delight when she is playing.

"Peek a boo Barn" is her favorite Iphone/Ipad app.  It's pathetic, but she knows how to play it.

She started pointing with her pointer finger today.  

 She continues her love affair with her lovies.  She has started laying in our laps with her lovie and snuggling while sucking her thumb when she's tired or needs a rest.

She knows where her tongue, ears, eyes, and belly button are.  Josh taught her the tongue one--and she loves showing anyone where hers is by sticking it out.

 Gross motor wise, she is now crawling the steps very well.  She LOVES going up.  She has also figured out from Gymboree that to go down steps or the side of the couch she needs to turn on her belly and slide down.

She is able to stand up but will often immediately squat back down.  She has a mind of her own about walking/standing--we know she can do it because we make her practice daily, but she just has no interest.  and no courage.  She walked across the length of our playroom last week while holding onto a ball--she thought she was holding on to something.  Perhaps this is the month?!

Ellie loves balls and demonstrates pretty good hand eye coordination.  She is able to "catch" it when we roll it to her--and she loves rolling it back.  She also has practiced baby soccer in Gymbo and much to her daddy's delight, she has excelled in kicking as well!

 When she is mad at us, she takes her hair bow and rips it out of her hair and throws it on the ground.  Lovely.

We still have her rear facing in her car seat and plan to keep her that way until she's 2.  It seems like eternity until then--but luckily, we don't have to put her in the car on a daily basis.

As you can see, she is a busy, busy little girl and she keeps us on our toes for sure!

Ellie girl, we love being your mama and daddy!  You bring us the most joy and we love you so much!!