Elsie 2 and a half

This picture pretty perfectly represents Elsie at 2 and a half.  She is our fun, beautiful, and crazy little daughter!  She is full of energy and excitement!  She likes to run around the house and get into things and invent her own little games and play scenarios.  She wore this outfit all morning after I took this picture, I guess she decided it was better than what she had been wearing.

The most common phrase we hear from Elsie and that we hear on a daily basis is "I wanna help myself!"  It means - don't even try to help me, I have this covered and don't want a drop of assistance.  It can really test our patience when she wants us to standby while she gets herself dressed, goes to the bathroom, washes her hands, etc.  If we help her when she doesn't want to be helped, she starts a mini meltdown and will cry.

Elsie is a lover.  She likes to give us hugs and kisses.  She has been a Mama's girl over the last half a year.  "I want my mom!" has been another common phrase that we hear. She will tell me that she wants to cuddle on the couch.  I love our cuddle time but sometimes she insists she wants to cuddle while I am in the middle of taking care of the other daycare kids.  She will give random "I love you"s to all of us in the family.  She really loves Cora and Cora is just now starting to be able to handle some of Elsie's big squeezes.

One of Elsie's favorite play activities continues to be playing with babies.  It was just Christmas and of course Elsie got new toys but the thing that still really excites her is a new baby doll to love, feed, rock, and change!  It has been fun to watch her turn into a big girl and see her play in so many ways.  She will play at a doll house and have the figurines eat, sleep, dance, and go to the bathroom.  A favorite game of hers is to get dressed up and say she is leaving the house to go to to work or go exercise (the main reasons Matthew and I leave).  She also really likes games and fine motor activities - matching games, puzzles, nuts and bolts, etc.

She still loves to sing.  She knows lots of songs by heart now that we've sung during circle time.  I listened to a lot of Christmas music over the last few weeks and Elsie started running around the house singing them.  About a month ago, we were watching the CMAs and every time a performer came on Elsie pointed to their guitar and said "I want a guitar like that."  That is what she asked Santa for and she got a little one!  She has been playing it and singing along.

We love our strong-willed, funny, and feisty girl so much!

Cora 12 Months

Cora is one year old!  We are almost a month past her 1 year birthday now.  After Cora turned 1, we got her pictures taken, had a Dr. Seuss birthday party, and then got full swing into the holiday fun and craziness.

Here is my munchkin on her 1 year birthday...

At 1 year....

Cora is a sweetheart!  I have probably written that in many of these monthly updates but it continues to be true!  She is such a little cuddlebug.  When she is held, she likes to cuddle in and rest on your shoulder.

She is a quiet little girl.  She keeps her voice to herself a lot but will also go on babble tangents.  She says b words - baby, buh bye, and just babababa.  She also says mama and dada.  I think I have heard her say "up" but can't be certain if it wasn't just coincidence.  She has also said hi.  No baby sign yet, she just whines when she wants something!

Totally still a mama's girl.  I love that we have a special bond but also wish she would go to others more freely at family events.  If she is fussy or just got up from a nap, she needs me to hold her.

She loves to crawl and climb up on things.  She crawls onto doll beds, the bumbo, her walker, the fireplace step, and right up the stairs if she ever notices a gate or door open.

She hasn't started walking independently and since I still think of her as a baby, I haven't given it much thought.  With Elsie, I was always walking her around with her hands held and setting her up next to her walkers - things I should start to do with Cora.  However, one of Cora's favorite things to do is push chairs around our kitchen and to stand near toys and push them around the basement, so she has kind of taken over with that on her own.

She is in the stage of exploring and likes to take everything out of its spot.  She is very quick at finding little things and getting them in her mouth.

Her 4 top teeth have been pushing through over the last few weeks.  That makes for some crabby days.

She is somewhat of a pickier eater - she loves bread, fruit, cheese, and noodles.  She is not always good about eating veggies and meats which is what she needs more of according to her hemoglobin counts at the doctor.  She still nurses in the morning and sometimes other random times too.  She still has a bottle at night.

I can't find the stats from Cora's 1 year appointment!  Matthew was just sorting through some papers and may have tossed it out.  I think she was around 18 pounds at her appointment.  I know she was in the 7th percentile for weight and the PA was slightly concerned about this because she was no longer following her growth curve.  She is a peanut!