Ellie {14 months}

I used to do a monthly update on Ellie, but after they turn one it seems kinda silly.  But she has been doing more "things" now.  here's a post about her a couple days early cus sweet goodness I had time for once!

People constantly tell me what a happy girl she is, bright eyes, big smile, and her wonderful personality.  I don't know what I would do without her these past 14 months.  Her smiles are contagious.

11.2.13

Her favorites new "tricks" are: 

• peek a boo (seriously so precious when she covers her eyes and the look on her face while doing peek)
• "SO BIG" is a constant thing now.  One time I was talking to someone saying, "So..." and she lifted her arms up high! :)
• A very stern "No."  (and nods her head) She knows "no" now and uses it to get what she wants.  Jon and I talk constantly about how to try to figure this out so it doesn't become an issue as she grows.  Otherwise the "tiring twos" as I call it, will be VERY tiring!  She says no when she doesn't want another bite of food, when she doesn't want something done to her, etc.

Our picky eater has changed a bit.  But we still had to give her baby food jars on Thanksgiving.  Who doesn't like turkey and mashed potatoes?  Apparently my daughter, well at least for today.  (However when she saw my plate of dessert she had no hesitation to eat some!) She can like one thing one day and not like it the next.  It seems as if we have a toddler already.  She loves spaghetti, so we at least can branch off of baby food from time to time.  She is so picky on the texture of food.  But knowing her favorite options I can help mix things together to help her become more open minded to the idea of trying new food. :) 

Her favorite foods include: sweet potatoes, apples (prefers them to be smooth), organic applesauce, toast/bread, ground beef, spaghetti, pears, french fries (she knows you have them even if you try to hide it), and baby food.  Her least favorites that I'm working on: chicken, bananas (what a bummer), and random veggies like carrots.  Like I've made homemade baby food of separated chicken and apples and mash them together to help her get used to the chicken texture. :)

Funny story about food: When eating at Pizza Ranch she now knows there is dessert pizza.  We can hardly get her to eat anything cus all she wants is that sweet goodness!  Do you blame her though?? :)  The first time we ate there with her she took my mom's piece and stuck it in her mouth!  We got a video & pic of it on my dad's phone.  So funny!

She still loves music.  Even if you just sing to her or make a tune for her she'll boogie down! :)  I love the smile on her face while she does it.  Melts Momma's heart. :)  (Figure you got to enjoy something that your daughter has that is like you while she looks like her Daddy!) :)

I've been doing better at video taping her from time to time so I'll have to put some videos on here sometime soon.  As soon as I have Jon's help of course. :)  She is really starting to "talk" nonstop and it's absolutely adorable.  She even "talks" to us while in the car.  Her vocab is: no-no-no, Mamama, Mommy, Daddy, Go get (I tell her to "go get Daddy" constantly and she caught on to the phrase), num-auh-num (food/nursing), Abby (my parent's dog), hi, baby, ball, and a few other words I've heard her say but has not repeated or not sure if she realized she said them.

try to tell me that's not contagious! :) 

Some other random things I'll want to recall:
-Climbing up the stairs, but not comfortable yet with not being there to catch if she falls

-She's not walking yet, but I'm not not consistent with teaching her too.  I know what happens once they learn that ;)  Some day I know I'll all of a sudden look over and see her walking.  I know she'll get comfortable with it all of a sudden and let go, but for now she still goes down to her knees in fear.

-two naps a day now (I don't know when third nap dropped off but it has, except when traveling or whatever and her normal nap is shortened.)  Bedtime is usually around 7:30/8:30 depending on how long afternoon nap was.  I don't see her ever getting rid of naps anytime soon. :) this girl likes sleeping if it's not time to eat :)

-She is wearing 6-12 month pants (Gap) and 12 months or sometimes 18 month shirts.  Onesies are still 6-12 months or 12 months.  I don't even bother with socks or shoes.

-I don't know how much she weighs right now but the last time I weighed her it was around 17 1/2 lbs.  My long, lean peanut is so sweet! :)


-Jon and I got her a new car seat and it will be coming in the mail soon.  I can't believe I won't be carrying her around in that infant car seat anymore.  The only times I'll miss it...when she falls asleep in the car.  Then I might cry.  I like the option of keeping her in her seat and put on stroller for errands.

-She's not attached to anything.  Except that one time we couldn't leave the house without the plastic carrot.  I could hardly buckle her!

-She LOVES baths!  I put her in there by herself now.  Which is weird.  She looks SO old!  And she loves it!  This last Sunday night she even leaned her head back for me to wash her hair!  The water heater was broken and the poor girl was freezing in the room temperature water.  but other than that, she loves baths. :)

-Still desires to nurse.  The time is shorter (except before bed and morning), but I don't see her stopping anytime soon.  I get asked when I think I will stop and I usually respond with "It's up to her."  I'm not going to force it on her to stop for my convenience.  Even though making sure I have pumped milk available can get annoying and difficult.  But I know it's what she wants and has the deepest desire for, and if this is something I can give to her (free might I add), might as well!  She is drinking some whole milk but not as consistent as my milk.  If we hadn't miscarred I'm sure things would've been different with her getting used to having to share Mommy's milk, so back when I thought through the length of time I was going to nurse her I decided to just see what happened.  Maybe she would've wanted nursed because it's something she could share with just me and her or something to give her comfort as she adjusted to not being the only baby?  But instead we don't have that situation right now.  So I'm just taking a day at a time.  And today I know she wanted my milk.  And I know tomorrow morning she still will.  I wouldn't change that for anything.  It's so special.  Soon I'll wish she WOULD nurse just to have that extra snuggle time and wonder where my baby went!  :)

the end of this sweet cuteness.

*more pics will have to be added later.....
**added more things later on that I forgot to mention the first time around...


**Typical Day at Home with Ellie**
-wakes up around 6:30/7:30 nurses, diaper change (small talk with Daddy if he's here) and returns to crib
-wakes up around 9:30/10 and plays, bye-bye to Daddy (if he slept over/not in Ames) eat breakfast with Mommy, playtime, nurse
-nap around 1.5hrs/2hrs after woke up (nap lasts about 1.5 to 2 hours)
-Around 12:30 wakes up and eat lunch, playtime, nurse before nap
-Nap around 2:30 or so (lasts usually around 3 hours, but sometimes is only 2)
-Around 5pm wakes up, eat dinner, family time, nurse before bed or more if needed
-Bedtime depending on length of awake time from afternoon nap.  Usually around 8pm or so.