13 and then 14 months

Where does the time go? Everyday Elle gets older and I get more annoyed with myself about not recording all her new tricks, quirks, and changes in personality.

I'd written down a few things about Elle when she turned 13 months but then never finished the post. Life got a little hectic, we drove across the country, moved back into our townhouse, and now she's 14 months old.

So, to jump back a month and a half ago. . . here's what I wrote and some of the pics I took of Elle during her 12th month of life:

Elle's such a busy little body these days. Sometimes I find myself getting frustrated with her desire to empty everything and get into everything, but then it's that huge adorable smile she'll flash afterwards that gives me a little added patience.

Not only is Elle obsessed with emptying things but she then loves climbing into the bucket, box, basket (or whatever it is that she emptied) afterwards. I never knew a simple basket could provide so many hours of entertainment.

Along with her desire to explore, Elle's obsessed with any and all animals (birds, dogs, cats, crabs, ducks, fish, etc). "Duck" was actually a new word this month.

She's also:

- almost walking (stands unassisted for long periods of time then takes a couple steps

- down to one nap on most days (usually 10:30am - 12:30pm)

- still only has 2 teeth

- not a big milk drinker (finishes maybe 1 sippy cup full a day) and prefers 2% over whole

- takes such good care of her baby- pats her back, gives lots of snuggles, hugs, kisses, etc.

- already developing food preferences- shakes her head "no" when offered food she doesn't want

- obsessed with sunglasses and putting them around her neck

- very determined

Elle's quite the fighter. She doesn't give up very easily. One morning (in Camarillo) while I was off on my run, Elle was at the front door playing with shoes while Madi was watching Dora. Madi looked up, saw Elle holding her flip flop, ran over and snatched it out of Elle's hand. In telling this story, Spencer was amazed at how quickly Elle belined it over to Madi and fought to take the flip flop back. In the end it was Madi who gave up.

I was glad I'd recorded all this because even just 2 months ago seems hard to remember. Right after Elle turned 13 months her two top front teeth came in and she started walking more. It was day 2 of our cross country trek when we checked in our hotel and Elle (probably sick of sitting in the car all day) walked across the room! Spencer was out getting dinner, so he missed it, but Madi and I were cheering for her. Elle ate up all the attention, and was thrilled to keep performing. She'd pop up, walk some more, and then with her hands up, give us a big grin- almost like asking for the applause.

Now, at 14 months old, Elle no longer crawls. She walks everywhere (and is very determined to do it herself). She's not as cautious as her big sister was at this age. Elle's actually quite the opposite. Madi was never one to climb onto things, get into stuff she wasn't suppossed to, and do things after I told her no. But Elle's got her own agenda. She climbs, she explores, she laughs when I tell her no, and loves scattering things around the house (usually in places I would never think to look). She's got a mind of her and will fight to have things her way. I learned quickly that I have to be tough with Elle. She's at the age where she totally understands what I'm saying, can respond with a shake or nod of the head, and needs to be held accountable for her actions.

Elle's already had to be in time out. Luckily it went over nicely. She sat where I told her to, didn't move, cried the entire time, then walked right over to Madi afterwards to apologize with a hug. It was a great moment for me- mostly just to see that she knew she did something wrong, was obedient with my orders to sit for one minute, felt remorse for being unkind to her sister, and fixed her action with a big hug.

It's good to be back in a routine with a regularly scheduled nap, same bedtime, and bed. I think Elle missed it. Now that she's down to one nap she's finally sleeping 12 hours (7pm-7am) at night (it'd been 11 hours up till now).

Elle's been having lots of fun exploring her new environment- probably too much fun. Last week of unpacking was exhausting. One day I climbed up to the attic to put a few things away while the girls were playing down below. When I turned around to come down, Elle was already half way up the ladder!!

Other things to note about Elle now that she's 14 months:

- Not sure if it's possible, but I'm pretty sure she loves babies more than Madi.

- She's got two teeth up top and two on the bottom with a few more coming in.

- She's becoming a lot pickier with her food preferences. Not sure what was going on this week, but she refused almost everything I gave her. Ahh... here we go again!

-Luckily she finally likes milk, but she also likes to stand at the fridge and whine for her sippy.

- As much as I work with her, Elle refuses to sign and she doesn't talk much. She's said words here and there, but doesn't use them consistently.

-Instead of talking, Elle likes to whine. She whines for her sippy. She whines for her binky. And she whines for her giraffe. Those are definitely her three comfort items.

We sure love our silly little girl!