Elise, 18 Months

There is no way on Earth that I will be able to write down everything that has happened in the last 6 months with Elise, but I will try. :)

My sweet girl is so much fun! I keep looking at her and wondering where my baby has gone! I'm not sure when it happened, but the baby is definitely gone. :( 

She took her first steps at 15 months, and has been walking ever since. If she is holding or doing something that she isn't supposed to and sees me coming, she usually "takes off" thinking that I can't catch her; it's the cutest thing! Sometimes she even throws the item before "running" away from me, or hides where she thinks I can't find her.

Her favorite tv show is Sesame Street, although she'll watch anything that her brother and sister are watching (Wild Kratts, My Little Pony, etc). She loves Elmo, and calls him "Elbow."

I can't keep her still enough to read any books, although she will read books in her crib. We have to carefully watch her with paper books, though, as she tears them up rather quickly...

Anytime she wants anything, she'll grab our hand and take it to whatever she wants. If she wants to open the door, she'll take our hand to the doorknob. Or if she wants food, she walks us to the pantry, etc. She has always been good at communicating with us! She's also gotten very good at her sign language. She uses "more" and "eat" quite frequently, although I think that she really means "drink" when she says to eat. She'll also use "all done" and "please" several times per day. Actually, she has figured out much faster than the other two that she tends to get more when she says "please." I remember that it took FOREVER to teach Aubrie how to say "please!" We just had to break her, though, because now she is the sweetest kid ever!!!!!!!

I think that Elise has the most potential to have my curly hair! Aubrie's hair is amazing as it is long, with just the right amount of curl, and Elise's is curly like mine. (My girls are amazing and beautiful!).

I can't get Elise to eat grapes or oranges, and sometimes avocados, but she loves everything else! I really don't have to worry about her not eating, like I do with Aubrie, as she pretty much eats anything. Elise started wearing size 18 months on her first birthday, which has never happened with any of my kids! I'm excited to take her in for her checkup on Friday to get an accurate weight, height, etc. I'm fearfully behind on her shots, though, so I'm not excited to see how many shots she'll have to receive...

She absolutely LOVES her brother and sister! She loves climbing on the couch (which she's now able to do without my help; yikes!!!!!). Seeing the kids together is probably one of my absolute most favorite parts of watching the kids grow up together. I love watching them giggle, laugh, and play together. I hope that they are always friends and close!

Also, she has learned "The Look" all on her on! It's sort of a joke, but she started this after being around Aunt Clarie only a few times. Elise has the most amazing eyebrows for The Look, and we have a hard time not laughing when she does it!

She FINALLY says "Mommy!" She would always say "Daddy" when I asked her to say "Mommy," and it became a funny game to her. After months and months of joking around with her (but really wanting her to say it!), she says "Mommy" all of the time now!!!!!!!! She's still a Daddy's girl, though, at heart. :)

Here is a list of the words that she'll say:

Hi, Puppy (any animal), Daddy, Aubi (Aubrie), Bubba (Evan), Elbow (Elmo), Elga (Elsa), Biper (Diaper), Pops, yummy, hello (hewwo), yay!, uh-oh, cheese (for pictures), and ball. She's our little mimic, though, and she'll try to copy any word or sound that we make. Oh, and she shakes her head no and says "u-uh" to any question that you ask her, even if she really does want it!

Elise, as with all of my children (thankfully),  is very creative. She LOVES markers, but is not allowed to play with them as she writes on anything she can get her hands on; cabinets, washing machines, paper, her face, etc. Also, if it's quiet, then she is into something. :) 

(PS~Some of these photos are from Christmas when she was 15 months old, and I'm just including them because they're cute and I'm behind in posting). :)