Elise is 18 months old!

I can't believe Elise is already 18 months old!  It's going too fast!  I want my baby back--although she's at a really fun stage now too (except the stubbornness and defiance, "uh-uh," and the tantrums that are starting...).  At her 18 mo. check-up, she weighed 20 lbs 5 oz and was 30.5 in. (a peanut in the 18th and 12th percentile)

18 months is a big deal at church, because then she can start attending nursery and Mom can actually go to Sunday school and listen rather than chase/entertain a toddler!  Elise is enjoying it so far!

Elise walks and runs, she's a climber--always getting up on the table, she has a sweet tooth (she loved Halloween candy), she loves animals (her grandparents' dogs especially), she loves books (we go to story time at the library each week), she loves to dance and give kisses.

Video of Elise dancing (that I can't get to embed--but I guess you can click the link...)
http://youtu.be/WSpVHn7HROY

 

Her hair is long enough I can french braid it (hooray for having a girl!)--although that means I have to fix it each day too or she has crazy bed-head hair!

She thinks she's as old as her brothers--here she is doing Ethan's homework! 

She loves to draw and color--although, she's my first child (at least this early and often) to color all over her body, her clothes, furniture, the floor...

She is saying more and more words each day.  Her current list:

• nods her head for yes
• uh-uh (says this a lot--she's pretty stubborn and likes to do things her way and by herself)
• out
• up
• apple
• ball
• uh-oh
• baby ("baba")
• mama
• dada
• bubba (what she calls Ethan and Grant)
• grandpa ("apma")
• grandma ("amma")
• hot dog ("ot og")
• poo-poo
• banana ("nana")
• turtle
• Brody (g'pa and g'ma's dog--"bo-bo")
• Apollo (other g'pa and g'ma's dog--"pawo")
• more ("mo")
• doggy (it sounds a lot like dada--maybe a slight change in inflection, to her she's saying and meaning a different thing)
• bye-bye

She points at the fridge or pantry when she wants something out of it and will point at her mouth when she is hungry or wants more food! She's really interested in animal noises (when we read animal books/do puzzles, etc)--she blows air in and out for a dog barking, she also meows and moos!  She likes to wave hi and bye.  If I ask her where someone is (and she doesn't know), she'll put her hands up like 'I don't know'. 

She loves her baby dolls!  Here's a video of her rocking and singing to her baby:

She is such a daddy's girl!  She often cries when he leaves the house and totally lights up and runs to him when he returns home!

Elise is such a sweetheart!  We can't imagine our lives without her!