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.  :)