Sylvie is 15 months!

Health and growth:

Sylvie now weights 17 lbs, 12 oz (5%) and stretches to 29.75 inches (19%) [for those interested, Elsie weighed 18lbs, 8oz (2%) and was 30.5 inches (51%) at this age - and yes, the percentages have changed since Elsie was little!.  She wears size 3 diapers (when she uses disposables), 18 month clothes and size 4 shoes.

Sylvie still wakes three or four times a night to eat, and consistently takes 1-2 naps a day, totaling about 2 hours. 

Sylvie's abilities have expanded so much in the last three months!  She easily navigates stairs, climbs down from beds or couches, climbs onto tables and chairs, and even climbs ladders!  She loves to dance, bounce, and chase- she runs faster than I can walk!  She is learning to blow bubbles with Elsie, and loves to carry the bubbles around the yard until she finds someone to open them for her.  Her other favorite outside activities are sliding, swinging, and chasing Elsie's bicycle down the sidewalk.

It was funny to look back at Elsie's notes from her 15-month well-child appointment and realized that Dr. Lo made the same comments about her little sister three years later!  He commented on both their verbal abilities ("very advanced, on par with a two-year-old"),  and their inquisitive natures, noting that each was "exploring and easily opened the exam table drawers", something he doesn't expect to see until two-year check-ups. 

As Sylvie grows up, it is delightful to see how similar these two are becoming...the same smiles, humor, attitude, desires, and energy.  They are starting to make each other laugh on a daily basis, and regularly engage in cooperative play (Elsie is definitely the ringleader, and Sylvie is very good at following her orders).

When she first wakes in the morning, Sylvie runs out of the bedroom yelling, "She-she!  She-she!" until she finds her big sis.  She loves to share kisses with everyone, and especially thinks it is important to give Elsie a hug and kiss before she takes her afternoon nap.  When Andy comes home from work at night, she literally sprints to the front door, yelling "Dadadadada!" a the top of her lungs and demanding to be held. 

Communication:

Words Sylvie says:
Mama, Dada, ma (milk), ja (yes), no, bottle, baby, down, up, more, food, book, ball, She-she or Esh (Elsie), shoe, nose, ear, woof (dog), meow (cat), Go (Pongo), out (outside), "all da" (all done), "all ready", Cece (Sylvie), foot, booberry (blueberry), flower (and a few more that I keep intending to add, then forget as soon as I sit down at the computer).

Signs and words Sylvie understands:
Too many to count!

Watch me grow:

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

 

15 months

And just for fun, Elsie at 15 months:

 

The amazing Papa Todd.

While driving home from school in an utter downpour:

E: "Mama, we aren't wet inside Kermit car, but Kermit is very wet!"
M:  "That's true."
E:  "How does Kermit go?"
M:  "His engine turns and makes his wheels go around.  Maybe next time Papa Todd is here, he can show you how a car works."
E:  "Papa Todd knows how cars work?  Wow!"
M:  "Papa Todd even knows how to make cars.  He can take a lot of little pieces of cars and put them together to make a new car that you can sit in and drive!"
E:  "WOW!  Do you think Papa Todd can make ME a car?"
M:  "Maybe you can ask him when you are older." 
E:  "Okay.  Papa Todd can make cars!  Wow...(thinks for a minute)...hey, MAMA!  Does Papa Todd know how to STOP THE RAIN, too???"

Outdoor Spring Fun

Elsie flying her owl kite all by herself.

Sylvie deciding she is big enough to climb the ladder at the playground.

Sylvie enjoying a picnic in the grass.

Sylvie and Henry "driving" a spaceship.

Sylvie grabbing some ice cream on a hot night.

Grilling with friends!

Easter

We headed to Iowa to celebrate with Andy's family on Saturday.

The kids' favorite game was "Throw things over the baby gate and down the stairs."  Even Sylvie got in on the action.

The brave egg hunters (Sylvie and Augie decided to sleep through the festivities).

Big kids chasing bubbles.

Back home in Madison, Sunday morning...

We finished out the weekend with a Easter morning egg hunt of our own.

Sylvie was confused..."Wait, WHO put WHAT in our yard?"

And distracted..."Ball!!!"

"This is kind of a silly game, guys."

"Next year, try not to leave so much stuff on the lawn for Elsie and I to pick up.  Sheesh."

And....Elsie showing off our hand-made eggs filled with little animals (and a few jelly beans).

May Miscellany

Elsie's description of her day at school:
"The sun got all crazy and moved like this (waving arms) so we got to go outside!"

(yep, it was a fire drill with flashing lights)

***

"Mama!  How come all M&Ms have 'E's' on them?  Are they 'E's' for Elsie???"

***

"Mama, you may not know who I am.  I am the fairy that is a Super Fairy Ballerina and I go around and when people forget to buckle, I buckle them so that everyone stays safe in the car.  That is who I am."

***

 "Mama, don't forget to get the picture of me and my dolls out of the computer so that I can show it to Ms. Kerri.  I want in in my hands, so I can hold it, not in the computer."

***

"Best. Doughnut.  EVER."

* Bonus quote, because I am still laughing a week later:

Our dear friends were visiting the Museum of Natural History in Washington.  Their daughters, 1.5 and 3, didn't quite understand the stuffed animals on exhibit, and kept tapping on the glass partitions, saying, "Baby animals, look at me!  Hello animals!".  After much explaining about extinction and taxidermy, they thought that there was some level of understanding.  When they got home, Auntie asked the girls where they had been.  Their answer?  "We went to see the animals at the ZOO!"  Parenting fail.

Spring Miscellany

Elsie sporting her Fairy duds at a Rainbow Sparkle Fairy party at the library.

 ***

Elsie: "It's so nice out!  We should walk to school today!"
Mama: "I think it is a little bit too far for us to walk."
Elsie: "Well, Mama, I can run and you can skip!  Then it won't be too far!"

***

Elsie won a plate of cupcakes on the Cake Walk at the Spring Fling!

Sylvie "competed" too...she had no idea what was going on, but she loved walking on the pictures, listening to the dance music, and stopping when all the big kids stopped!

***

Other funny things:
Elsie giving a baby horse "mama milk" by nursing it on a very well-endowed stallion.
Elsie farting loudly and Sylvie bursting into laughter.

***

Elsie and Sylvie showing off their findings at the library egg hunt.  Best moment:  Elsie seeing a gold-covered chocolate coin and yelling out, "Mama, I found a gold doubloon!"

***

 

Elsie's response when Daddy tells her he has to work late and won't be coming home to have a pizza-and-movie dinner party with us:

"Well, I can just put Daddy's pizza in the mailbox and when Char (mail deliverer) comes I could say, 'Would you please deliver this to my Daddy at work?'  and then you could have pizza like I am having!  That will work!"

So this happened...

Taking care of Lexi.

 Recently the girls were given the job of taking care of their cousin, Lexi Rabbit, for a weekend.

Elsie and Lexi had a great partnership, in which Lexi allowed herself to be petted just long enough for Elsie to get settled on the ground before she ran off again.

Sylvie, on the other hand, seems to be something of a bunny whisperer (or perhaps Lexi thought she was a bunny in that fuzzy white sweater?).  Whatever the reason, Lexi liked to follow Sylvie around the room, and calmly submitted to all types of toddler petting with no complaints.

Sylvie's first birthday!

Elsie made Sylvie a birthday banner.

It didn't start 'til Daddy came home with the cake and pizzas!

Playing with Annie (the hat didn't last long).

Partying with Auntie Kristin.

Yummy cake!

You guys sure this is for eating?

Look, guys...we're gonna need more cake.  Lots more cake...

Playing with new jewelry from Huck and Lily.

Pictures from Sylvie's first year.

There were a few tears...but only because Sylvie walked behind the table and got stuck.

Five minutes left in the party, and we found Sylvie had shut herself in the bathroom with her milk bottle.  I guess she needed some alone time after such a wild party...or she was embarrassed of her frosting-encrusted hair-do!