Friday, October 24, 2008

[Belated] 12 Month Update



My apologies for the belated post, but without further ado, here is Ellie’s 12 month update.

Stats:
  • 31.5 in.
  • 20 lbs. 12 oz.

For a baby born off the charts in all regards, she is evening out in her “old” age.

Standard Physical Milestones:

  • Stands on her own
  • Cruises along furniture
  • Climbs everything (Our barriers are now ineffective!!)

Language Milestones:

Ellie is very vocal. As I mentioned in the previous post, she has acquired quite a vocabulary for a 13 month old. Here are her spoken words, in no particular order. And for extra credit, see if you can find the pattern:

  • Mama/Mum
  • Dada (Yay! Jeremy is no longer the same word as “dog.”)
  • Ga (“dog”)
  • Ka /ke ka (“cat” or Kee-kat)
  • Ball
  • Bubbles
  • Hi
  • Bye bye
  • Ba ba (“bottle” – she wakes up in the morning by standing up in her crib, taking the paci out of her mouth and clearly saying “Ba ba”…and it had better be to her pronto!)
  • Baaaa (“Lamb/sheep”)
  • Mmmmm (During mealtimes, especially if it is officially Mom's food)

Ellie is also taking a Sing and Sign class, and she has recently begun signing like crazy. Here are her signed words:

  • Hello
  • Goodbye
  • Bubbles
  • Ball
  • More/again
  • All done
  • Brushing teeth
  • Lights
  • Phone

And now here is the “Parent’s Brag List,” which are things that she does but doesn’t really have a category other than it blows us away with pride:

  • She can locate any one of her books by us only saying the opening lines.
  • She loves to sing, and actually sings the chorus to one of her songs…ON PITCH (!). Granted, the chorus is not from a Verdi opera, or anything like that – just “La la laaaaa.”
  • She can be “gentle” with the cats, and actually pets Thomas very nicely now. Although she had a relapse the other day and had him pinned to the ground with a fist-full of fur…but everyone backslides a little.
Ellie Interests:

The local park. Ellie loves swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides, and just getting plain ol’ dirty. She does “clean up” the leaves, though, after watching Jeremy do it several times.





Talking on the phone.


Fashion. I think we have a little Fashionista on our hands. Ellie loves trying on shoes, in particular, and holds up her little feet for me to slip different styles in the store.


Brushing her teeth. She signs this at all times of the day -- even when it is so random and out of context with anything that we are doing…




Whew! I hope this mammoth-post has satiated all those Ellie fans out there.

And now I will conclude this with an update of my own. Remember when I was concerned about becoming one of “Those Moms,” and was bemoaning the fact that we had just acquired a garish piece of furniture called an “exersaucer” for Elinore? Well. Here’s how that whole concern is shaping up:






Friday, October 3, 2008

Happy Birthday, Elinore Grace!

[Today, we have a special guest blogger, Elinore Grace Peterson..]
So, today was really a weird day.

It started off normal. I woke up at 4:45 a.m. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (it's a new time I have been trying out the past week...). Mommy and Daddy tried to ignore me for a long time -- I think they really hoped I will go back to sleep! -- but I was hungry aaannnd ready to play! So I let out several drawn-out and high-pitched cries that I have found to have a high success rate in getting the lights turned on. By 5:30 a.m., both Mommy and Daddy greeted me with yawns...and a SONG about a "Happy Birdy," or something like that. What the...??! This was certainly new!



After I was changed, fed and had played a little bit, everything seemed to be normal again. Daddy went to work, and Mommy and I went to my Sign and Sing class with Ms. Jennifer. Today we learned the signs for different animals, like kee-kats and cows. Then I went home for my nap, but when I woke up, I had a fun surprise: Daddy was home early! Yay! Then he gave me some strange, brightly colored things that I, of course, tasted and touched.



So cool! They ended up being new books and clothes, which is great because I needed both. My books were getting so boring, and I always like looking cute.



Then, I got this totally awesome drum. I looooovvve drums, and just about anything I can bang around, general. This drum plays music and lights up. I got into a groove and started dancing while I was playing. It was addictive! I was so into it, that when Daddy picked me up, I kept drumming...but on his HEAD! But, he didn't make music when I banged down with my hands. Oh well!






I think I was so revved up by the drum and cool stuff that I had trouble going down for my afternoon nap. In fact, I just laid in my crib and cried into my lovey until Mommy came and got me. Then we had to go to Daddy and Mommy's bible study, and they took me, puffy, red eyes and all. But I cheered up when I got there, because my friend, Adam, was there. We played and had the adults all chasing after us left and right. It was so fun! Then, it got all weird again. Everyone was singing the "Birdy" song again, and they were all looking at me. Then, I saw these little lights in front of me, and I wanted desperately to reach out and touch them, but Daddy and Mommy wouldn't let me.




After all the singing (and the temptation of those little lights) had past, Daddy gave me a strange tasting food. It was so good! I had a great time digging my fingers into it, and licking them off.


In the end, I looked like this:


So that was my weird day. I hope tomorrow is even weirder!