Elaine, 17 months

Today Elaine is 17 months old.  She is definitely growing and developing in personality with each passing day!  Here are a few things about her right now…

Elaine loves to be “grown up.”  Lately she doesn’t want to sit in her high chair, she doesn’t want to drink out of a sippy cup, she doesn’t want me to cut up her food or help her with her fork.  She wants to be in a big chair like Mommy & Daddy.  She wants to pick up a big glass (which is very hilarious to watch).  She wants to use a napkin and wipe her own nose.  It doesn’t matter what is in her cup, as long as there is a straw like Mommy.

Elaine is learning about her anatomy.  I haven’t even concentrated on teaching them to her, but somewhere along the line she has picked it up well!  She knows her ears, nose, hair, and tongue very well.  She is intrigued by belly buttons, and loves to lift her shirt to show hers off!  (Let’s hope she grows out of that before hitting adolescence!).  Sometimes she gets her eyes too.  Toes are too easily confused with “nose”, so we’re still working on that one.

On a sad note, Elaine is growing out of her morning nap.  I loved morning nap time – for my personal devotions, blogging, and a little cat nap of my own.  On top of everything she is teething.  She hit a point last week where anything involving her crib makes her throw a terrible fit.  She just doesn’t want to sleep.  We’re transitioning to just one nap to see if that helps.  She certainly is more tired this way!

Ben was hoping for a baseball player, but he ended up with a girly-girl.  She loves all things feminine.  When getting dressed she wants to put on her shoes and have a hair bow.  She loves to comb and brush her hair.  She has quite a few purses for such a little girl, and she doesn’t often carry just one!  Lotion is another addiction – if she sees a bottle she wants some to put on her hands.  She also likes to dress up – whether it’s a blanket, an apron, a coat, or a tutu, she loves to prance around in something she has added to her attire without Mommy’s help!

This rain jumper was mine in England.  Elaine saw it one morning and insisted on wearing it – over her pajamas and for the entire morning!

Something she gets from me is being a klutz.  Elaine does walk a bit pigeon-toed, and perhaps that contributes to the problem.  Regardless, she always seems to find a way to trip, fall, bonk her head, or get into precarious situations.  It seems like she always has a bruise or boo-boo somewhere, and they are almost all self-inflicted!  She loves to climb on anything.  This week she discovered the items on the back of the toilet lid.  She got into the bathroom while Ben was showering.  When I found her, she had unrolled a new roll of toilet paper.

A new fascination of Elaine’s are keys.  She loves to snatch up one of our key rings and try to stick it in the door.  Since our house was built in 1905, many of the doors have an old fashioned key hole just below the door knob.  We lock them with dead bolts higher up on the door.  Elaine loves to try and stick the keys into the key hole, and make them stay in place.  She is rarely successful.

Elaine is mesmerized with cop TV shows – at least one in particular – Adam-12.  It’s an old show from the ‘60s or ‘70s.  It’s about two patrol officers in L.A.  Many times the endings are lame, but Elaine can’t take her eyes off the screen when we watch it.  It’s a great way to get her to eat her vegetables!  As soon as the theme music comes on (nothing rocky) she starts swaying.  If I even flinch I get told an emphatic “no” – she is the only one allowed to “dance”!

Elaine likes to dip things – whether French Fries in ketchup, cookies in milk, a spoon in a glass of water, or her paci in the bathtub.  It’s funny to watch.

Elaine has also become more cuddly and attached to me.  Maybe she can sense that she’s about to lose her favorite child status.  Maybe it’s the teething.  But it’s for sure…I like it!