Right now.

Right now, my heart is about to burst out of my chest with love. This hasn't been an extraordinary day, but perhaps it's the sheer normal of it all that makes me want to freeze time and just hug the moment to death.

I just put Elle to bed, and I'm listening to her call out "Elle Belle! Elle Belle? Elle Belle!" like I do when I place peek-a-boo with her. This comes after a giggle fit that necessitated me calling Tim at work so he could hear the pure belly laughs of a silly baby who finds the act of her mother poking at her through crib slats in the near-dark to be better than anything Comedy Central will show, EVER. Elle was nearly falling down laughing as I blew her kisses through the crib.

I am so thankful that I'm able to be with her every night now - that I eat dinner with her, play with her for a few hours and give her a bath before our nightly routine of books and staring at the "stars" (projected by our dear friend, Twilight "Durdle"). As I rocked her for a few minutes, we looked at the stars and I pointed out the crescent moon. Elle pointed up at it and said "Moo." (Who can be bothered with an extra consonant when you're 14.5 months old? Not my daughter!) A minute later, she pointed to the moon again and said, "Manana?" It took me a second, but I realized that she'd processed the crescent moon as a banana shape. I then told her she's so smart it's scary.

She's talking so much now that I can't keep up with a list of words. And her pronunciation and diction is getting better every day. Just three weeks ago, she said "Melmo." Now, she says "Elmo." She says "dank du" for "thank you." Every fish is called "gookie." Some puzzling - but consistent - "words": Grams is called "mee." Muffins are "mommy." (Thanks, Elle.) Elle's versions of "flower" and "water" are pretty much the same - gotta look for context clues with this one :) And she's slowly figuring out that not all trees and bushes are flowers.

She copies my exclamations, with an "oh my" or an "uh ...... oh" or an "oh no!" thrown in every now and then. Proof that she's Tim's daughter: She says baseball ("bayball") and "touchdown!" (complete with hand motion).

"Touchdown!"

Proof that she's my daughter: Tonight her eyes lit up and she made a beeline for my "copy" (coffee) cup.

I told her the kitty, Sidney, was a good boy, and she said "Girl." (That's gonna be a fun one to explain.) Mario is now called Mar Mar. Sidney is "Tidnee."

"Mar Mar!" (Mario isn't as excited about Elle.)

Elle can say the names of her babysitters, although poor Jessica is relegated to "Essica," and Ashley is "Astley." She loves shoes and "dopping" (shopping) with Mommy.

Elle likes to tell you when she's pooping. But to her, farting equals pooping, too. So you'll hear "Poopy" or "Pooping?" a lot from her. Usually if there's a red face and a grunt along with her proclamation, you'll know there is something in the diaper for you.

The girl who once dropped to her knees and took off in a crawl if you tried to get her to put weight on her feet is now asking constantly to "alk?" So we walk. Up the hall. Down the hall. In to the kitchen. Back out. She'll sometimes walk by holding on to one of our hands, but usually, she doesn't feel confident unless she's holding a hand in each of hers. She'll stand on her own briefly - something she didn't do even four days ago. Baby Girl is going to be walking, and soon.

Loving her walker.

She's climbing on everything, too. Yay.

For Elle, if happiness came in TV form, it would be the Sprout network. Specifically, the Sunny Side Up show with Chica and Nina (or "Mina" as Elle says). She likes to sing Wiggles' songs - if you sing "Fruit Salad" to her, you'll get "Yummy yummy" back. She still loves her books, too - right now she is loving the Llama llama books (she calls them "ama ama"), Susan Boynton books and any "first words," "first colors" and counting books. If the book has animals, she'll read it over and over. She'll bring a book to us now, say "book," then "rea" and follow it up with a spoken and/or signed "please."

She loves spicy food. She loves fruit. She's eating three meals a day and 1-2 snacks. She hardly throws any food on the floor anymore during meals (I never thought I'd see the day that happened). She drinks water like she's been in a desert for the last 10 years, gasping to catch her breath after gulping, gulping, gulping.

The molars are s-l-o-w-l-y (and painfully) moving in, and she's sporting eight other teeth (four top, four bottom.)

She loves having her blankie - it's magic. She will lay down and/or start sucking her thumb the minute she touches it. When she was struggling with molars last week, she was constantly cuddling up with me and the blankie and sucking her thumb, which would have been absolutely precious except I knew she was miserable.

Molargate.

She goes to sleep easily - she'll sleep from 9 p.m. until 7:30-8:30 a.m. and then nap for about two hours after lunch. She LOVES taking a bath. If you so much as mention "bath," you darn well better have the water ready and the toys in the tub or you're going to hear about it.  

She goes by Elle Belle, Belle Belle, Belle, EB, Baby Boo, Boo Boo and Mimi. There are also several "Elizabeths" and "Elizabeth Irenes" thrown in nowadays. My favorite thing in the world, aside from her giggles and belly laughs, is hearing her identify herself in pictures or the mirror as "Elle Belle." I also enjoy her mocking me - when I'm making her meals, I'll often tell her "Hang on, Elle. I'll be right there." So now when she's frustrated that I'm not getting her something fast enough, she starts furiously chanting "Ang on. Ang on." She'll gleefully yell "gooooo!" when you set her up with a "Ready ... set ..." And if she knows we're going to the park, she'll say "wheee" repeatedly when we're near the swings.

She's stubborn and sweet - testing her limits one minute and then giving a hug the next. She squeals with joy when she's near the cats. She could help load and unload the dishwasher for hours at a time and be happy (she LOVES spoons). She's constantly keeping me on my toes and cracking me up.

She's amazing.

P.S. This serves as Elle's 14-month update. No stats from the pediatrician this month, anyway, and I broke format because I got carried away with wanting to remember exactly how she is, right now.