Elle's 13-month stats

The title of this post is misleading, because a) I don't have stats and b) I don't really care because c) she's almost 13.5 months old and d) I'm wayyyy behind in posting and e) the last six weeks have been full of Elle-is-changing-and-learning-new-things-every-five-minutes-so-this-post-can-just-preserve-what-she-is-up-to-at-13-months-instead-of-that-she-grew-a-sixteenth-of-an-inch.

So. There's that.

I have about a half dozen half-finished blog posts in draft status, twice as many floating around in my head and a to-do list that refuses to shrink. And also, since this is a few weeks late and I've been working on it in my spare time, it's extra, super-dee-duper long. You're welcome.

On with the show!

Current developments include pulling up to standing and having improved balance and leg strength, talking more and more (I'm losing track of the new words!), blowing kisses, lots of waving hi and bye, signing (milk, more, done, please - she won't sign eat any more for some reason), pushing up on all fours, rockin' six teeth, growing more hair.

The helium-filled primates.

Elle is totally a lover of animal noises - the newest ones she's learned are owl, bird, lion and monkey noises. The monkey one cracks me up - we were at the grocery store and there were helium balloons of cartoonish monkeys in the produce section. Elle started to say "Ooo! Eee!" at the balloons, which is her version of my "Ooo, ooo, eee, eee!" monkey noise. Then at the park the other night, a woman called Elle a chunky monkey (not accurate, but whatever), and Elle made the monkey noise again. Tim and Elle watch Sprout in the morning, and the "co-host" is a little bird named Chica. Elle LOVES to talk about Chica, saying it over and over excitedly as he takes her in to the living room in the mornings. Or randomly while we're driving somewhere in the car.

Elle now requests us to read particular books - "bown burr, bown burr" is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?"

She also helps read it (two must-see minutes of video):

"Go, go go" is "Go, Dog! Go!" Several of her favorite books have cows on the cover, so she'll point and say "moo." (Including "Mr. Brown can moo, can you?") She likes to repeat all of the animal noises in "Moo, Baa, La la la," including the "la la la" part. When Tim reads the last page ("It's quiet now - what do YOU say?"), Elle says moo :) She shakes her hand like she's scolding the monkeys in "Eight Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." She likes "Bubbles, Bubbles" and pats her head when the bubbles land on the Sesame Street character's head.

I often count to three to her, like when I'm going to blow on her hair or faux drop her from my arms, and she now repeats "two" (sounds like "do") and braces for the action coming after three. She seems pictures on our fridge and says "Abby" for my niece/her cousin and "Ahmee" for Aunt "Marti." We tried to get her to say "Ashlee" (which is my sister-in-law's name and one of Elle's sitter's name), but Elle says "Abidee."

And, always Mommy's girl, Elle says "cracker" and "cookie." :) She also says "bottle."

When she hears my keys jingle, she says "Bye bye!" She crawls down the hall, and we'll call "Elle!" - she responds with an "Elle!" back. She plays well by herself, especially with the books, but also has times (i.e. at church) when she wants to be constantly on the move and entertained.

Play date cuteness at a local children's museum.

Little Girl has also developed a lot emotionally. She's compassionate - she rocks and hugs a little teddy bear that I'd pulled out to sell at a yard sale (guess that won't be happening). She kisses her toys. She has been gentle with the kitties, petting them and saying "awwwwww." She gets extremely upset if she can't have something she wants or if she can't have something as fast as she wants. She often wants "dow" (down) and will let you know quite loudly if she doesn't want to be carried, picked up, put in the high chair, etc. She's got this "defiance warning" - she's smacks her thighs, the high chair tray, anything close by - to let you know she's not backing down from whatever she wants. If I use a stern tone of voice and a steady look, the little lip pops out and the tears and cries follow. It's a constant cycle - we're trying to teach her boundaries while remaining understanding and supportive as she explores things, including her emotions. Even though she communicates pretty well, between her words and signs, she still gets so frustrated about things, and I can totally understand that. She makes a growly "bahhhhhh" noise when she's emphatic about something.

And walking? Not doing it. She's cruising all over the place - along the inside of her crib, around living room furniture, etc. The exciting news is that last night she used her walker and took several steps for the first time. Like, plowed right across the living room like she'd been doing it for weeks. It was pretty awesome :)

Current loves include "helping" Mommy empty the dishwasher, eating, baths, throwing food on the floor, grilled cheese, spinach balls, books, repeating almost everything, grapes, playing in the crib and talking to herself when she wakes up, toy fruits and vegetables, books, books, books, keys.

Current nicknames include Elle Belle, Belle Belle, Ellie Bean, Sweet Pea, Cupcake, Boo Boo and Mimi. 

Current habits include taking a bottle of pumped breast milk once a day (after a little more than 13 months, Elle is no longer nursing - more on that in a later post), drinking water from a sippy cup throughout the day, eating three meals of solids a day with 1-2 snacks, sleeping 11-14 hours at night and making a rocky transition to one nap a day (usually around 2ish hours long). If she naps too early, not long enough or refuses a second nap, we end up with Elle Monster by the end of the day and bed time comes a bit early. She's definitely been fighting the second nap, and while I think she's ready for one and I think we could push her nap back a little bit to avoid the end-of-the-day crankies, we've got a trip and some other big transitions coming up that leave us just riding it out for a bit. We had been in a definite groove for about 5-6 months of knowing approximately when she'd be napping each day, which made it easy to plan our day. Now it's hard to know when she'll wake up for the day, when she'll nap, how many time she'll nap and when bed time will be. But we're rolling with it :)

She's kind of hit-and-miss on the solid foods - some days she'll eat everything, other days she'll eat the same stuff, but only if it's on a fork. Other days she'll just play with everything. On Monday she might love one thing and if I offer it again on Thursday she refuses it. We just keep trying. It's frustrating, and I try not to take it personally when she won't eat food that I've made for all three of us with the hopes that she'd absolutely adore it. She seems to eat a lot more earlier in the day - she'll often have her bottle, her breakfast, part of my breakfast and part of Tim's breakfast. Then she'll chow down at lunch, too. And merely pick at her dinner.

In summary, I can't believe anyone except me is still reading this, and Elle is super fun.