Laundry list

I have a laundry list of items to jot down but first off - I've taught the Monkey how to do laundry. It's been extremely helpful. Really better told, if I delegate a job while cleaning, then she'll enjoy herself and I'll get some things done around here. It's a good match. So as of now, she'll stand in front of the dryer and hand me clothes to fold. And she's actually quite good at it. Only every once in awhile will she play a game with me where she won't hand over the shirt, sock, et. al. for me to fold. Instead she'll tug back and forth, which is still cute. With her assistance, laundry is a much better task. (sorry the example pics below happen to be underware shots. they were the last item in the dryer.)

Also on the list....the Monkey is now getting the hang of stacking cups, blocks and her rings. I'll get a video of this asap. Oh yeah, before I get too deep in the milestones, the Monkey and I officially have head colds. The teething symptoms for her evolved into a head cold courtesy of me. I freaking gave her a cold. Lord. She had classic teething symptoms all week then I developed a sore throat and a cough and then she has a cough too. We're hanging in there but it's a bummer.  Just more tired than usual.

Ok, back to the list....we have a parrot on our hands here. If I say da da da da da, then Eloise says da da da da da. Then I say ge ge ge ge ge and she says ge ge ge ge ge. Then choo choo choo and she says choo choo choo. And on and on. It's cute and impressive all at the same time.

I've officially switched the Monkey over to taking baths in the big girl tub. The pink blow up ducky tub had a slow leak in it somehow so rather than blow it up each and every time, I just put it away and am now bathing her in the tub with a few inches of water. She's actually been totally fine. A little slipping and sliding initially but she's gotten used to it and has been enjoying herself. Splashing is her favorite bath time activity, which I've been joining in on. She's obviously soaked. And then I get soaked as well:)

Yesterday while driving to music class I was singing to Eloise, of course - driving meltdown diversion - and at this point I was on "The Itsy Bitsy Spder" and I peeked in the rear view mirror and saw her doing her hands in the itsy bitsy spider way. Of course it wasn't as good as if you or I were doing it but it was her best attempt and I was shocked to see it. I love when these things click in her little mind.

Ok, my last update - I believe that Eloise is in the midst of weening herself from the bottle. She's very uninterested in the bottle as of late unless she's starving. I always fill her up with solids first and then offer the bottle 3 times a day after a meal in case she's still hungry so with this plan in place, she's been drinking anywhere from 20-25 oz of breastmilk/day. But lately, she's only been drinking maybe 15-20. I still push it because I think she needs the nutrients, anitbodies, etc. that it offers but it's interesting to watch how this is all coming together at just the perfect time. My plan is to transition her to whole milk starting at one year and since we're only a few weeks away, my hope is this is all going to happening perfectly.  Then after we transition in whole milk, I need to transition out the bottle. I'm a little nervous about this all happening at once so I'm going to stagger it. Whole milk first, bottle shortly there after. With what appears to be a little assistance from the Monkey, this may all go much smoother than I expected. Fingers crossed.