15 Months Old!

Ellen turned 15 months old on Jan. 27 and, boy, is she a busy little girl! She spends most of her time running around the house, organizing her toys and moving things from one place to the next. She is also chatting more and more. Recent additions to EVB's vocabulary include:

• Hotdog (as in the Hotdog Dance on "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," not cased meat)
• Peez (please)
• Dee kee (thank you)
• Uhlmo (Elmo)
• Bye-bye
• No, no, no (whilst shaking a finger ... this is done both when singing along to "Five Little Monkeys" and when mocking mom or dad when we tell her, "no")

Ellen's 15-month checkup isn't for another week, so official weight and height will need to wait until then.

14 Months Old!

Hard to believe, but Ellen is 14 months old! She is still as sweet as ever and growing by the day. At 14 months, Ellen is:

• a super speedy walker
• very friendly (she says "hi"/waves/blows kisses to everyone she sees)
• continuing to add words to her vocabulary ... the latest additions include "Santa," "ball," "cracker" and "pretty," among others and she is starting to put two words together (e.g., "Hi, baby")
• still taking two two-hour naps during the day and sleeping for about 11 hours at night
• sporting a five-tooth smile
• wearing size 3 and size 4 diapers (we're working through our last pack of size 3)
• wearing 12-18 month-size clothes and size 4 shoes
• starting to feed herself with a fork
• self-consious when it comes time to do her "business"
• a lover of bath time
• a fan of sitting underneath blankets (not sure why)
• very expressive with her hands during conversation
• attempting to put her clothes/socks on and change her own diaper
• turning into a fashionista ... she especially loves to accessorize with bracelets and watches (note the green sparkler on her wrist in the picture below)

Our little peanut is getting so big!

Christmas #2

Ellen had a wonderful second Christmas! She celebrated by attending a number of family gatherings, eating yummy treats, giving and receiving many nice presents, and staying up way past her bedtime on several occasions. Christmas is the best!

About a week and a half before the big day, Ellen visited Santa at the mall. She was very excited to meet the big guy and as we waited in line kept saying, "Tanta!" and "woof" to Santa's reindeer; however, when it came time to sit on Santa's lap, EVB was anything but excited.

After church on Christmas Eve, we headed to Omma and Boppa's where Ellen had a great time playing with her cousins, Gavin and Sophia.

Gavin and Ellen loved Omma's nesting Santas ...

and Boppa gave Ellen a tour of tree.

Then it was time for presents!

Ellen loved everything, but was especially proud of her new froggy hat ...

and her awesome tunnel!

On Christmas morning, Ellen awoke to discover that Santa had delivered many special presents while she was sleeping, including an Ellen-size chair! EVB was beside herself with excitement!

Now Ellen has her very own spot to sit!

EVB was also thrilled that Santa left some puffs in her stocking.

Later Christmas Day, Ellen went to Grandma and Grandpa B.'s where she played with her cousins, Madelyn and Scarlett, and opened more presents!

Ellen got many fun things of her own ...

but was most impressed with Scarlett's cool tent. In fact, she spent most of the afternoon sitting inside it and squealing with delight.

It was a very Merry Christmas!

13 Months Old

Ellen turned 13 months old Nov. 27 and She is a very busy and very happy little toddler. Ellen's walking skills continue to improve and it is now her preferred method of mobility. Ellen has also fully converted to sippy cups (woohoo!). She's still wearing size 3 diapers, but wears a size 4 at night. She wears a size 4 shoe and mostly 12-18 month- sized clothing. She's still taking two two-hour naps a day, but is showing signs that she may be ready to alter this schedule. In other sleep news, Ellen has been waking up in the middle of night for the past week or so ... This is very uncharacteristic considering EVB has slept straight through the night since she was just a few weeks old. Could it be that our luck is finally running out?! I hope this is just a phase!

EVB showing off her five chompers!

Getting ready for the holidays by reading her reindeer book ...

More reading - this time after finishing a yummy breakfast at Capital View Cafe

Tired Turkey

Ellen had a very busy Thanksgiving. She was lucky enough to spend time with both sides of her family. EVB sampled some mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey, but didn't seem all that impressed with the yummy spread ... Hopefully she'll enjoy it more next year. We didn't have a chance to snap a picture during any of the festivities, but managed to get a photo of EVB all tuckered out on the drive home!

Walkin' & Talkin'

Over the past few days, Ellen's walking skills have improved drastically. She can now take about 5-8 steps unassisted and she's getting even better at standing and walking while holding onto furniture with just a finger or two. EVB's vocabulary is also improving ... Here's a list of the words she says that we can actually make out:

• gock (duck)
• qwa qwa (quack quack)
• woof (puppy)
• moo (as in "what does the cow say?")
• jeez (cheese)
• ha (hi)
• baby
• pee (peek-a-boo)

Ellen's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Ellen's birthday with a small gathering of family at our house. Ellen had a great time playing with her cousins and, of course, eating cake. EVB was the gracious recipient of many lovely gifts ... she is a very lucky (and very loved) little girl!

EVB showing off her party dress. (Ellen borrowed this dress from her cousin Sophia who wore it on her 1st birthday!)

Cake for Ellen's guests. (Ellen had her own personal cake to dig into.)

EVB trying to figure out why everyone is singing to her ...

After a brief lesson from mommy about eating frosting ...

EVB definitely got the hang of it.

Messy Ellen!

Despite having a head caked in frosting, it was time to open presents!

As was expected, Ellen liked the ribbons and bows best (and had fun wearing Sophia's headband).

Mom and Dad and a tuckered out birthday girl!