eloise {fifteen months}

{lion: jellycat via Nordstrom // dress: Oshkosh // book: All the World // hair bow: Hadley Girl}

{month fifteen} we are busy over here chasing our toddler around & it is no joke! I didn’t realize how quickly she would go from an infant to a toddler but I think it started around the time she learned to walk. Now she is ALL OVER the place & is very determined. However, she is such a joyful child – so, so happy! From the time she was a tiny baby until now, people always ask if she is always THIS happy. & the answer is always YES, she is always THIS happy! {well, she has her moments, & more these days, but all in all she is just happy!}

{sidenote: that book All the World that Eloise is holding in the picture was a birthday gift from a friend who has a daughter just one day younger than Eloise – they are BFFs! Eloise ADORES this book & basically wants to read it at least three times a day. If you ask her to pick out a book to read before nap time or bed time, it will be this book. Plus, it is a beautiful book! A simple story – more of a long poem – & great illustrations. Highly recommend for other mamas!}

When we were visiting Texas last month, Eloise & I took a big step & we weaned from breastfeeding. I knew it was coming & it was really an ideal situation because she wasn’t sad about it. We weren’t in our normal routine while visiting San Antonio (& sleeping was rough for all of us!) & Eloise was just really distracted with everything new as soon as she woke up the first morning, & we didn’t nurse. & then we didn’t nurse again the next day & she really didn’t seem to mind. So I called it quits. It was really bittersweet for me, but more on the sweet side. If you would have told me when she was born that I would nurse her for 14 months, I would have called you a crazy person! While I do still miss that time with her, I am happy to feel a little more free these days! Also, it may be a coincidence, but Eloise is liking (cow’s) milk way more these days than she used to!

Eloise has been signing for a while, but we have really noticed it this past month since she really is able to communicate with us as to what her needs are. She is very proud of herself when she signs & it makes things so much easier when I don’t have to guess why she is whining or pulling at my leg or pointing & grunting at something. Eloise signs: please, water, milk, more, all done. We are working on: thank you, help. Along with signing, Eloise is also babbling & talking much more! She babbles to herself (& to me) all day long, but there are some things she can actually verbalize, mama & baby being most of them. She does call me Mama (which melts my heart!) but calls other things mama as well, & also repeats mama when she is very sad & crying (its the worst!). She knows baby & will point to a picture of a baby & say “BABY”! We repeat words to her all day & I know she is learning them since she sometimes will softly whisper the first sound of a word I repeat for her. I feel like we are going to wake up one day & she is going to be talking!

Lately, Eloise loves reaching for things high up on shelves or tables. She is always up on her toes trying to look out the front window, or grab something off the dining table. We have had to clear out the third shelf up of our living room bookcase since Eloise is now tall enough to reach up there & grab things. Along with reaching, she also likes to lift everything up & put it up onto something – the coffee table, the bookshelves, my lap. I think it is because she wants to be standing & looking or playing with that thing at eye-level. She is getting an Eloise-sized table for Christmas & I hope this helps!

As you have probably noticed from photos (including the one above) Eloise’s hair is getting so long! The back is long enough to touch the tops of her shoulders & her bangs are growing into her eyes. I am not ready to cut it yet since I feel like we are in the awkward stage but almost thru it! Much like me, Eloise is getting whispy hair around her face & under her current bangs. I have started pinning her hair back with bow clips & she usually doesn’t mind them too much. I never liked the huge, huge headbands when she was little (or really any headbands!) but I am liking the simple bow clips, even though they make Eloise look so grown-up! While she only sports a Mohawk in the bathtub these days, she still has crazy hair! We give her a bath about every other night, & those nights she goes to bed with damp hair she wakes up looking like she stuck her finger in a light socket!

As was true last month (& even more so now) Eloise is into giving people things. She is eager to share toys & things that she is holding with you, & will be persistent if you don’t want to take it. Sometimes she wants the thing right back, & sometimes she really just wants to give it to you. It is pretty cute, especially when she tries to give Sadie her dog toys!

We are working on learning body parts these days & sing lots of “Head Shoulders Knees & Toes.” We have a copy of the song in a book & whenever Eloise sees it, she points to her head! She knows where her belly button is & will lift up her shirt & show you if you ask her to – the cutest thing ever! She (mostly) knows where her nose, ear, hair, & teeth are too. We also try to use the Spanish words for these body parts as well – bilingual child here we come!

As Eloise is more & more steady on her feet (& will be running so soon, I know it!) she wants to climb. She can’t climb onto much yet except for her little singing chair. The couch & our dining chairs are too high for her to climb without assistance (for now), so we are giving her lots of practice climbing up the stairs. She does so well! We also need to work on teaching her how to get down the stairs safely (backwards). I think she would do it on her own since she knows how to get off of the couch backwards, but we are pretty weary of letting her near the stairs since they are so slippery! When we have time during the week, we head to the local shopping center (University Village) where there is a great little covered play area. Eloise can climb up the stairs & go down the slide (with help!) & she loves it. I am eagerly awaiting the warm spring weather so we can hit up the outdoor playgrounds!

Another thing that Eloise is obsessed with is light switches. If I am holding her in the living room, I will take her over to one of the banks of light switches & let her flip them on & off. I think she gets what they do since the room goes dark & then light, but I think she mostly loves the movement of the switch. But sometimes she wants to switch the lights on & off & I can’t hold her up (or am taking a break!), so then she throws a small tantrum because she can’t climb up the wall & switch the light on & off… oh boy.

Eloise is still taking two naps a day & sleeps 12 hours at night (from 7:30 pm to almost 8 am). It is a schedule that works really well for us still & allows us to get out in the early afternoon for errands or a play date. However, after traveling & just being busy, we have found that Eloise can get by with just one nap per day in the afternoon. I think she is going to be ready to transition soon, but she still sleeps pretty well in the morning during nap time so I am not ready to give it up just yet. We will see what the coming month will bring!

We go in to see her pediatrician for the 15 month check up at the end of the week & I am eager to see what her height is. Recently people have been telling me that they think Eloise is getting so tall! I don’t really see it, but I am also with her all the time. Even Aaron thinks she is taller these days.

{weight} a few weeks ago she was 24 pounds, so let’s go with that!

{hair} dark (reddish) brown.

{teeth} four bottom teeth & four top teeth, four molars & the start of all four canines.

{eyes} dark brown.

{clothes}  12 month, 12 to 18 month, 18 month, & some 18 to 24 month.

{diapers} full-time cloth {bum genius freetime, pocket, & elemental} & honest company size 4 diapers at night with a bum genius diaper cover.

{feeding} during the day, 4 hour cycles. no more nursing! 2 to 4 oz of milk in a sippy cup at mealtime.

{likes} books, mama & papa’s cell phones, toys that squeak or rattle, singing & music, Sadie, standing, FaceTime, bathtime, standing, her snack cup, shoes, mama’s (diaper) bag, laughing, lifting things up onto tables or someone’s lap, carrying heavy things around, hugs.

{dislikes} having something taken away from her that she really wants to have, diaper changes, (sometimes) her carseat.

{nicknames} Bug{s}, Love Bug, Baby Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Love, Bugaboo, Ellie or Elle.

Happy fifteen months Eloise!

M

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