Animal sounds

Finally captured Elise's animal sounds with no distractions.  Getting all the juicy stuff on camera is impossible!

New words

- more (she's been saying this for a few weeks)
- toon-toon
- cheese (I didn't teach her this one. Tonight, I took out the cheese and she said "chee". We were shocked!)
- ben (come in spanish)
- bath

I feel like our communication took a huge leap once she learned out to say "yeah" or shake her head "no" in response to questions.  She used to say no but I stopped using it and reinforcing it because I think that's a dangerous word for toddlers to know, hehe.  It is really amazing how much she understands at this point.  Every night recently, Bry and I have just been debriefing how crazy it is that she is talking and understanding so much.  I know it is not a big deal to the rest of the world but when you are a parent and micro-managing a ball of pudge for over a year, it is just really surreal when they start morphing into a person.  Craziness.

Sick...again!

So Elise is sick yet again. Last Wednesday, she woke up with a fever and by Friday, it was 104 degrees. We took her into urgent care on Sunday and they tested her for a UTI because she had no other symptoms. It was a really sad experience because in order to get a urine sample, they had to use a catheter. While they inserted it, I nursed her (yes, while she was lying on the table) and I simultaneously played Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Quite the sight, I'm sure. The results should be in by Wednesday but her fever has broken. Bry and I both took half days today (he canceled two of his classes) so that we could stay home with Elise. She's happy when she's at home but she cries a lot when she's at her babysitters. Poor girl!

Here she is in the hospital waiting room:

Mickey Mouse: The Obsession

Elise is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in a serious way. It's bad. Really bad. I've tried to expose her to a number of different shows including signing time, Elmo, Barney, Korean cartoons, etc. I know the American Pediatrics Association recommends no TV for kids under 2 but there are a few times when I really need a few moments to myself to get something done. Anyway, for whatever reason, she just LOVES Mickey Mouse. She thinks "mouse" is the same as "mouth", so whenever she wants to see it, she points to her mouth and says "mou". It's been nearly a week now since her obsession started and she probably begs for "mou" at least once an hour. As soon as she wakes up (while Bry and I are still sleeping), we can hear "mou! mou! mou!". At some point, I just forbid it with the hope that she would forget about it but it didn't work. So today, I tried to let her watch it as much as she wanted with the hope that she would get sick of it. That didn't work, either. Oh, and I should mention that I haven't even introduced her to the show--- only to the opening song. I don't want her to know that a long storyline exists just yet. ;) At least the opening song is only a minute and a half long. Today, she probably watched it at least 40 times.

Some videos

These are all videos from my Iphone.  Sorry we have not been good about posting from our camera.  Life has been nuts!

Daredevil and hi.

Hair pin!

She hates things in her hair!

Enjoying cheddar bunnies

Daddy and me

Don't turn me into a hipster, mama!

Orange all over my shirt

Communication

Elise is at the stage where she understands that talking communicates her ideas and desires.  However, she is constrained by her limited vocabulary and it is really entertaining seeing her try to express herself using these words.  Sometimes, I can tell that she wants to converse with me and so she will start using every word she knows just so that I can respond to her.  For example:

Elise: Wawa
Me: Oh, do you want your Wawa?
Elise: (nodding) yeah.
Me: (give her her water)
Elise: (doesn't even take a sip).  Mama. 
Me: Yes?
Elise: Neh-neh (nursing)
Me: OK. (Pick her up to nurse.  She nurses for like 1 second.)
Elise: Dada.
Me: Do you want to see dada?
Elise: (nodding) yeah. 

Sometimes when she really gets hyper and wants to talk, she starts making up words.  She says "boppy" and "dadoo" a lot.  I have to guess what it is that she is saying and she either says "yeah" or shakes her head no until I get it right.

Baby belly!

Elise has quite the generous belly.  She loves to check it out, show it off to people, and say "beh!" (belly in Korean).  Her belly is actually smaller now than it was before she got sick but I thought I'd include this photo before it shrinks even more.  :) 

Toon-toon

So Elise has been friends with Toon-toon, her babysitter's dog, for about 2 weeks now.  Today, I mentioned Toon-toon's name for the first time and she gave me a huge smile.  At bedtime, we were reading through an animal book, and instead of saying "puppy" for a dog, I referred to it as Toon-toon and she just went crazy.  Every time I turned the page, she just wanted to go back to the puppy and say Toon-toon and giggle.  Even when I would try to move to another book, she wouldn't have it.  She's obsessed with Toon-toon.  I've never seen her react this way to anything and so it just warmed my heart.

Sorry if I am writing so many posts but I know that these are the little  random moments that I can so easily forget as life flies by.   I want to cherish these memories forever.

Spiritual Accountability

So Elise knows that we pray before we eat and sleep.  However, many times we don't pray before we eat and she corrects us.  We'll be a minute into the meal and she'll clasp her hands together and say "men", as if to say, "How come we're not praying mom?!".  She's keeping us accountable. 

Elise at the bounce house

We took Elise to an Indoor Playground today and she just loved it!  Here she is trying out the bounce  house for the first time.


On another note, Elise has been saying "down" to come down (from being held, from the bed, etc) except now she also uses it to be picked up, whereas she used to say pup-pup.

It is really hard capture her talking on video.  As soon as I get the camera out, she just gets distracted.  Oh well! 

At the babysitters

We take Elise to her babysitter's (Angelica) house now and so Elise is getting used to the new environment.  Angelica has a chihuahua named Toon-toon and I got to see Elise playing with Toon-toon for the first time today.  I have a feeling Elise just terrorizes her.  At some point, Toon-toon ran outside and Elise went to the doorway saying "Ben!  Ben Toon-toon!".  Apparently, "ben" is the command form for "Come!".  I was really surprised!  :) 

Latest words

- key
- cracker
- nose
- ear
- eye
- pig
- knee
- toes
- beh (belly in korean)

There are at least 5 more, but I can't remember them right now. Once babies learn 50 words, they experience a major language explosion, learning 5-10 words per day and stringing 2 word sentences together.  We are over halfway there.  So exciting!  I can't wait to converse with Elise.  :)  

poor baby

I'm up late working (it's 1:45 AM) and Elise has been waking up every 45 minutes and crying "mama" and "neh-neh" each time. I'll go in once in awhile to give Bry some reprieve, and when I do, Elise immediately starts giggling when she sees me. Sigh.

Elise Announcing her Bowel Movement to the World

Thank you!

This is Elise's new phrase, except it sounds more like "ddangkoo".  She's saying more words now and it's hard to keep track of them all.  She's also communicating her diaper changes.  When she goes #2, she says "poo poo", and then when we say, "did you go poo?" she says "yeah" and nods.  And then we say, "do you want to change your diaper?" she nods and says "yeah" again. 

She's also very observant when Bry and I are talking to each other.  One time we were talking, we said the word "food" she immediately began signing for "eat".  One time when I was talking to a friend, I said the word "crack" and she made the sign for "cracker".  This is us talking at normal adult speed and so I'm a little surprised that she's actually paying attention.  I better watch what I'm saying now that her verbal comprehension is improving!

Thank you nana for the valentines!

Cleaning

Elise is good at "cleaning".  If there is water on the floor and she has a tissue, she will wipe it down.  At Little Lambs, a kid smushed her avocado on the mat and Elise got a kleenex and started it wiping it.  This just kills me.

I just dropped her off at her new daycare.  It's the same babysitter but it is now at her house instead of her daughter's.  I stuck around for a little bit and said, "Mommy goes byebye" and then she started to cry.  :(  Breaks my heart!

Elise, the Bully

When I dropped Elise off at her babysitter's a few days ago, I stuck around for a little bit to chat, and I noticed that Elise went up to Olivia (age 3) and bopped her on the head.  Olivia, sweet little girl, just pouted and looked sad.  Elise bopped her again. 

Bryant told me today that Elise also bopped other kids on the head at Kidspace and at Little Lambs.  I really doubt she understands what she is doing, especially since we have never spanked or even patted her.  And for what it's worth, Bryant also said that Elise tried to kiss another boy at Kidspace, too.

All this to say, she is not shy and she's a little more on the socially aggressive side.  Her favorite thing to do to people is to share food and toys.  We went to a party today and she was trying to share her bread roll with different kids there.  I've also seen her scream at kids who have stolen toys from her.  She's a fighter, that one.

Elise is also kind of driving us crazy because she is whining, "Mommmmmmy!!!  Mommmmmmy!" every second she is not with me.  At first it was cute, but now it's a little much.  I feel kind of sorry for Bryant who spent a good chunk of his day today playing with her while I had to get work done.

Sick Baby

Elise has been sick the past week.  Nights were torture because she woke hourly due to coughing fits and needed to be sleeping at an angle.  So, for most of the week, she slept while propped up on my stomach or shoulder because it was the only way I could quickly reposition her when she would inevitably roll off.  I'm thankful that Elise has been healthy for the most part but man, what am I going to do when she goes to preschool this fall and gets sick constantly?  I don't know how parents do it.  What a rough week.  Oh, and both Bry and I are sick now!

Anyway, I've been meaning to write down the full list of words Elise can say.  So far, we have:
Mama
Dada
Mommy
Wawa (water)
Duck
Dog
Ball
All Done (duh!  with the sign)
Hi
Bye
Neh-Neh (nursing)
Baby
That
Amen (while clasping her hands)
Bubble
Poo-poo
Pee-pee
Shhhh (be quiet)
Up-up (puh-puh)
Row row (for row row row your boat)
Yeah (with phone next to her ear)
Mouth
Bib

OK, that's 23 words at 13.5 months, most of which she learned this past month!  She can sign for a bunch of other words, too, but I think she prefers talking over signing.  I am just loving the toddler stage! 

New developments

Elise has been saying "hi" and "bye" for awhile now, but she's saying it with more regularly.  She also nods for yes and shakes her head for no.  One thing I might have already said is that when we ask her how old she is, she holds up one finger and says "dee".  She's been doing that for at least a month now.  We're trying to teach her to count to 3 and she says something like, "duh uu deeee".  Close enough.  ;)

She's such a happy baby.  My mom was just saying that she is really different from me when I was a baby since I was apparently more calm and mellow.  Elise is always dancing, jumping, giggling, and joking around with people.  One of her favorite things to do is to scare people by holding up her hands and doing a baby "roar".  She's also loving to climb furniture, much to our dismay.

She is definitely not a fan of vegetables and so I've been hard-pressed trying to find things that she will stomach.  Tonight, I learned that she likes spinach-filled tortellini!  Not cheap but it's really perfect toddler finger food.  I have to really reduce my anxiety levels around her eating because it's going to be a looooong battle if I'm constantly stressed about her eating veggies!

February 1st: playing at target

February 1st: ready for happy hour

February 2nd @ europane

Comprehension

Elise is such a sponge!  She's starting to learn things without us having to teach her.  We're having a lot of "where did you learn that?!" moments.  She will overhear us or other people talking and respond.  For example, when she heard the word "hungry" she signed "eat" or when she hears "scared" she will pretend to scare us in her cute way.  She has always called me "mama" but on Saturday at Life Group, she overheard the other todders crying for their mommy, and she's been calling me mommy ever since! 

New words: poo-poo and pee-pee.  :)