Eighteen Months

My goodness my girl is big.  18 months old (tomorrow).  A full-blown toddler?

This precious 18 month old can:

- Say semi-sentences.  Just the other morning she said to Ross, "Mom teeth brush wawa."  Which translates to, "Mom is brushing her teeth with water."  (don't worry, I always brush my teeth with water)  She can tell us what she wants about 90% of the time without much trouble. Rarely does she just say one word anymore when she is trying to communicate; it is almost always two or more.

- Run with the big dogs.  She tries to do everything Amelia does and I let her try as many things as I can without having a heart attack.  She is a daredevil and has had more skinned knees and tumbles than Amelia has had in three and a half years.  

-Stay outside for hours.  Her favorite thing in the absolute world is to swing.  She asks to "wee" about a million times a day and can swing forever and ever.  If she can't be swinging, then she wants to be digging in dirt or sand and strewing it from head to toe.

-Steal your heart with a smile.  Elise has a smile that will light up an entire room and she has been that way since she was born.  She stops people in the grocery store to tell them Hi.  She peeks around to a full table at a restaurant to wave.  She inches down the pew during church to touch the knee of the lady sitting alone and then runs back giggling.  She makes people happy and it is infectious.  She makes her mommy giddy every single time she flashes this smile.

These warm months are heavenly for her as she is crazy about the water.  My little buggy boo loves our water table and sprinkler and pool.  She honestly would be content staying outside from sunup to sundown. 

FAVORITES

Foods:  strawberries, blueberries, peaches, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter crackers, Gerber melts, and cookies of any kind.

Books:  Shake a Leg, Goodnight Spot, Where Are You?, My First Words

Activities:  Climbing, running, following Amelia, Digging

Words:  Mommy, Sissy, Now, Please (peese), Drink (dink), Cookie (tookie), Swing (wee)

Songs:  Row, row, row Your Boat, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Elise,
It makes me incredibly happy to watch your personality form and see you develop into a little person who expresses thoughts and ideas and joins in as we play family games.  You crack us all up with your funny little sentences and make me take a deep breath when you decide to stand your ground on something.  I thank you for helping me judge less and accept more.  Fear less and trust more.  Stress less and live more. But, most of all, I thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share and care and love and hug and teach.  You have a special sparkle my little bug and I'm so proud to be your mom.