Elsie now weighs 22.4 lbs, oz (4%) and stretches to 33 inches (30%).
She's finally moved up to size 18-24 or 2T tops, although she still wears 12-18 month bottoms (yes, even with bulky cloth diaps!). She is wearing size 6 shoes.
Communication
Elsie has mostly stopped signing, though she still when she says "milk", "food", "more", or "all done" she often does the sign also. She also tends to sign when she really wants to emphasize what she is saying. She doesn't like to talk around new people, though, so her signs are more prevalent in public than at home.
Her vocabulary is too big to count these days- she pretty much mimics anything we say, and normally speaks in multiple-word sentences.
An example sentence (well, paragraph) from today, while we were driving in the car:
"Mama in front, Elsie in back, Mama driving car. Elsie go in front, Mama in back, Elsie drive car. Okay, Mama?"
Sure, kid. Sounds like a plan! Another one from yesterday:
"Mama come with to Elsie's room and find Elsie's swim suit now, please? First find swimsuit, then clean up lunch. Thank you!"
She also is very good at being polite, and offers thanks throughout the day- after nursing, after I bring her a meal, after helping her down from her stool, etc. We are pretty proud of our uber-polite little lady!
School
Elsie is working hard at "school" every day- she recognizes about a dozen letters and a handful of shapes, too. Her fine motor isn't quite developed enough for her to write yet, but a few days ago while coloring with chalk she accidentally (or on purpose???) made an "M" and she was exceedingly proud of herself ("Mama! Mama! M! M! Mama M!"). We are also working on color recognition...she knows a few (red, blue, green, white, pink, purple, yellow), but most of the time when I quiz her she isn't interested enough to pay attention to what I am pointing at, so she just says "Red, Mama!" then giggles.
Activities
Elsie's days are pretty full. She wakes up at about 5:00 and likes to take her time adjusting to being awake. We usually read stories for a half an hour or so before she is ready to get up and have breakfast.
We try to do one big activity every morning- grocery shopping, a play date, a new park, yoga class, going to the pool, visiting the zoo, Story Time at the library, etc. After lunch, Elsie takes an hour nap (sometimes two hours!).
Our afternoons are usually outdoors- a run in the jogging stroller, a long walk, playing at the park or with toys on the deck. Elsie loves to help make dinner, especially when we make bread or pizza. She thinks bites of raw bread dough are about the best "treat" in the world. Elsie does very well using her fork and spoon, but when she is very hungry she forgoes them in favor of her fingers (it's faster!).
After that, we either have bath time or Elsie has quiet play time with Daddy before bed. We start bedtime stories around 7:30-45, and hope to have a sleeping babe between 8 and 8:30. Although she doesn't have a particular "lovey" she sleeps with, she always takes a few animals to bed. Her favorites are her Schliech (miniature, plastic) puppies (which she sleeps with every night), her baby dolls Paige and Owsley, and her stuffed pig, Ormie.
Play Time
Elsie loves imaginary play, and spends many hours playing in her kitchen or with her doll house. She recently discovered some old miniature tea sets that were mine when I was little, and she loves setting them up and having tea parties with Mama, Daddy, or her many animals. She also loves taking care of her many "babies"... rabbits, bears, dolls, they all need feeding and burping, dressing and rocking to sleep!
She spends a lot of time sorting the clothes in her closet ("That's pretty!" "Too big!") and in her dresser drawers. She also enjoys playing "dress up" for short periods of time- trying on Mama or Daddy's clothes (or shoes!), or just stuffing herself into last year's Halloween costume. She is working hard at learning to dress (and undress) herself.
Hide-N-Seek is another favorite, especially when she convinces Daddy to play with her. Her favorite hiding place is sitting on Daddy's lap, under a blanket.
Her other favorite Daddy game is "Sack of Potatoes", in which Daddy carries her around like (yes, you guessed it!) a sack of potatoes and pretends to bang her into various things around the house.
She still loves to sing, and is starting to sing along with Daddy and I. She regularly requests "Our friends are here today", "Three Bears Rap", "Ring around the Rosies", "Eensy Weensy Spider" (with hand motions!), and the alphabet song. Since I always sign the alphabet when I sing it, she is starting to try to mimic the letters with me (she knows most of the song, and will sing it herself if no one is around to do it for her). She also loves counting, and we often hear "two, tree, fur, fife, sis, seben, eight, nine, tin, weben, twelf...!" coming out of her room at bedtime (she doesn't like to start with "one").
Elsie also likes reading, coloring, painting, cutting, gluing, throwing, and going to the park. Perhaps I should have listed "going to the park" first, as Elsie would happily spend her entire day there if we let her!
Personality
Elsie definitely seems to have a type "A" personality...she loves sorting, hanging, and stacking, and gets quite upset if things don't line up the way she wants them to. She likes being independent ("Self, Mama! Elsie do it self!").
She is usually very shy in new situations and around new people in our house, but often shouts hello and waves at complete strangers (like at the grocery store or on a walk). Her daycare teacher at yoga class often comments that she is extremely helpful with the little kids, and gets upset when they cry. It is completely normal for her to spend the entire hour "rocking" a baby's car seat so they fall asleep or bringing a sad kid toy after toy to try to make them happy.
Watch Elsie Grow!
Comparison Photos:
One Week
One Month
Two Months
Three Months
Four Months
Five Months
Six Months
Seven Months
Eight Months
Nine Months
Ten Months
Eleven Months
Twelve Months
Thirteen Months
Fifteen Months
Sixteen Months
Twenty Months
Two Years
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