Happy 2nd birthday, Eloise!

We celebrated Eloise's 2nd birthday today and what better way than with a pool party and some fish cupcakes!  It's blazing hot in CLT so a pool purchase was a must do.  Throw in some super cute Harris Teeter water themed cupcakes, and you have one happy 2 year old!

Oh....before I get really going on b-day pics, I must start with this.  This is how our day began. With Eloise IN the water table.  Yes, she still has her pjs on. Mimi joined in the fun.

And then post nap, the birthday-pool-party commenced!

18-month birthday

The Monkey's 18-month birthday was last Saturday. I'm a pinch behind on things here. 

Stats first...

Height - 32 inches - 75 percentile
Weight - 25.2lbs - 75 percentile
Head - they didn't measure it. I guess at this age they just give their noggins a once over. Hers probably looks in proportion to the rest of her. Lol.

In regards to height, my mom has always told me (as relayed to her by her mother) to double a kids height at their 2nd birthday and that is how tall they will be when they are full grown. If this is true, then the Monkey will be as tall - and much more likely - or taller than her mother.  32 inches x 2 = 64 inches, which is what her mother is. 5' 4". So if she's not to grow even one 1/8 of an inch more between now and June - obviously totally unlikely - then we'll be the same height as me. But I'm putting my money on a "taller than her mommy Monkey".

The Drs appointment was fine. She had one Heb B shot and that was it. Per usual, she was very brave and handled it well. The Dr was pleased with the milestones she's reached thus far. Gave us the heads up of what to expect in the coming 6 months - major language development period - and to continue enjoying our Monkey as much as we have.

She also asked if we had a potty for her yet, which we don't. She said it was time to start introducing her to it and talking about it so I'm off to get a potty asap. I've already been talking about it - "come with Mommy to the potty." "When you're a big girl, you'll go pee pee on the potty." But she doesn't own a little potty so we're off to get one. I had actually read this somewhere else - to start potty "training" (even though it won't be full blown training. more like "potty talk" as I'll take her there when I go potty, continue talking about going potty, etc.) at 18 months. With the Drs reinforcement of this 18-month idea, I'm going to try it. It certainly can't hurt to have one here for her to discover and get to know. I guess the premise of all of this is that starting at 18-months, kiddos begin to know/feel the sensation of when they have to potty and also, can start verbalizing it.

Last bit from the Dr. After prying her mouth open, we all discovered the Monkey is literally getting in 5 teeth all at once.  Haven't I always said I blame everything on teething?  She's actually been fine but I don't know how.  She's really working on some serious chomper action in there.  After these 5 come in, she'll be close to having her full set of baby teeth.

Other non-Dr-related updates on the Monkey at 18-months.....this week in particular has been a big one for Eloise.  I've noticed quite a few changes with her and what seems to be major developments. I'll number them.

1) Individual play - the Monkey is getting much better at entertaining herself with playtime. This week in particular. She's completely fine discovering her toys on her own, creating fun little activities for herself and needs little reassurance or entertainment from me or Mike. We can even step out of the room for periods of time (which is entirely new) and she doesn't chase after us. In weeks/months past, she'll want us to create fun games or lead playtime and stepping out of the room was unheard of. So it appears she's developing her own sense of play and also perfectly fine doing this on her own.

2) Kissing/affection/attachment to mommy is waning - Couple of things here all grouped together. I believe staying at home with Eloise has created a situation where she's VERY attached to me. It's been a good thing/bad thing for obvious reasons. Unless I was completely out of the house though, she'd freak out if I wasn't there with her. Even when she was spending time with Daddy. Mike didn't take it personally. Of course it was just a phase but it was just an all-around bummer. Anyway, since Mike's parents were here last weekend, the Monkey has really taken a turn. She was great with Grandma and Grandpa all weekend and has also been great with her Daddy, creating their own special bond. And all with or without me in eye or ear shot.  Awesome! In addition to this, the Monkey is now becoming much more affection.  Remember my "kiss Grandma and Grandpa goodbye" post....she's been giving us warm, loving kisses and hugs all week. Melt my heart, Monkey Girl!  Lots of thumbs up for this change!

3) Language development - the Monkey is getting crazy good at words. I often get asked how many words she knows - including the Dr. asked us - but really, she knows a lot. An actual count? I don't know. And I don't count them as words she knows until she uses them in context but bottom line, she knows a lot. And also, even as of this week, she's getting really good with 2 words together and/or 2 syllabol words.

Lastly for language development, she's really quite articulate.  Just this week she started saying "hot dog." No more will she "arf" at me when she wants a hot dog for lunch. Now she knows the words and uses them. She just busted right out with this one this week and I'm telling you, she says it as clear as day.  So crazy! She's not used "hot dog" ever until this point and now it's like she could order her own at Johnny's Lunch!

I won't list the full list of words she's added to her vocab but some fun ones to note - she's getting great with her colors and letters and even knows some numbers. For her ABCs, she knows from A through H, then sometimes she'll pop out an M or an N.  She also knows the numbers 8 and 9. And for colors, she knows yellow, blue, green and orange. We're working on red but for now, it's also orange. They're so close:)

I guess as far as sizes....she's definitely wearing 18-24 months only. Nothing smaller and actually, she sports some 2T stuff already. Also, her feet are a size 5. Her feet are kind of small for her size but maybe they'll have their own growth spurt over the next 6 months or so.

Yes, we're still dragging multiple monkeys around this place (and the grocery store, and the library, and the....).  Mimi is the love of her life and honestly the one who comforts her first when she's hurt herself. Example - she falls, and as the tears are flowing, she's saying Mimi, Mimi, Mimi as I'm trying to hug her, kiss the boo boo and tell her she's going to be ok. All the while, she's pushing me away and completely 100% focused on finding Mimi. When she does, thumb goes in the mouth, crying stops, and all is right in the world again. I don't take her personally. I promise.

Stairs - she still needs assistance both upstairs and downstairs but she's getting really good at climbing them. And we practice multiple times daily.  She wants to use the railing to help herself, which I'm glad about. Only bummer, it's a couple inches too high for her. Yes, I've seen the kids railings you can put up but we're not going to do it. Instead, we'll keep helping her. But she's getting there.  Maybe another inch in height and she'll have them down pat.

Sticks, trains, dirt, cars, airplanes...the tom-boy Monkey continues. Airplanes in particular right now are a big deal.  Well, airplanes and helicopters.  She can't get enough of them when they fly by our house throughout the day  Thankfully we're on a pretty busy flight pattern and also, we're near a road that gets surveyed for weekday traffic hour updates.  Therefore, airplanes and helicopters galore makes for one happy Monkey.

Ok, orange chair shots....I got them this time! And I really took this on her actual birthday. It's just taken me this long to post them.

Friday's updates

Yesterday was the Monkey's 17-month birthday. I have no stats but she's enormous. Well, it feels that way at least. She's just so heavy!  And then I come across tee-tiny baby shoes that she first wore and compare those to the Vans she's sporting now and just can't believe she was really ever that small. It's amazing how big she's gotten. And so quickly!

What's big right now? Well first off, before I forget to mention...from her 16-month birthday to her 17-month birthday she's working on growing in some seriously large back teeth. I'm guessing they are molars. They are big and there seem to be a lot of them. I can't really get in there to get a full check out but as we speak, I think she has 4 new back teeth coming in. She had 8 teeth for so long and then nothing. No new teeth growth all summer and then just within the last month she's got all sorts of action going on in that mouth of hers. I suspect that could be the excuse I use when I go to the library today and explain to them that once again, my daughter ate one of their books. UNREAL. Seriously, I know kids embarrass us. And there will also come a day where I embarrass her (thinking about knawing on a book in front of all of her middle school friends as I drop them off at the mall), but this book eating issue is unreal.  In actuality, I'm going to simply tell the library that I lost their book and just go ahead and spare myself the humilation that I clearly have no control over my daughter's oral fixation. I'll hand over the $5, say I'm really sorry, and we'll move on with our lives. Will this be the first of several excuses (i.e. lies) I make up about miss Eloise and her "isms"?  Ahhh....what a mother will do (to protect herself) to protect her daughter.

Language continues. She's going to be a chatter box. Let's just be real clear on that one. No one raise your hand here in surprise. Ha ha....funny. I know what you're saing, "pay back's a expletive." Thanks. Anyway, here's her growing list of words:

Dora - we've moved on from Dor to Dora, 2 syllables. Dora is also becoming more than milk to Eloise (who gets milk in her Dora the Explorer cup). She now realizes that Dora has her face on balloons at Harris Teeter and is occassionally seen on TV. She's not into her cartoon though. She's a Cars fan only. Dedicated, I call it.
Nana - This one is cute. She named one of her monkey's nana, which is her word for banana. She connected those dots all on her own and therefore, although Nana is not a word, rather a name, we're adding to the list.
Door
Wet
Water - can't remember if this made the list last time
Neat
Wow
Watch - can't remember if this made the list last time
Ring
Road
Doc - a Cars character. Obsessed.
Nose
And Moooo.....now means more than for a cow. It also signifies she wants to watch her Mooooooovie, Cars. Like I said, obsessed.

For animals noises, we've added the following:

Donkey - Eeyore
Owl - hoot
Frog - still giving me about a B effort on a solid Ribbit. That's a toughie.
Mmmmmmm - not an animal noise but it's what she says when I ask her if she's ready for breakfast, lunch or dinner, which is cute so it must be added to the list.
Oh, and she sniffs when she "smells the flowers" in books
And a combination of sniff/buck teeth noise for a bunny (remember who her teacher is. I'm just doing the best I can:)
She's also great at body parts. We've got quite a bit down here. Hair, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, hands, arms, feet, toes, ears, belly, belly button, and all of the above on Mommy.

Oh one other milestone/age related update, she's getting much better daily at climbing the stairs. We practice going up and down them and it's working. She obviously can't do it alone but she's figured out using the wall or the railing to help her get up while standing vs. doing the standard on hands and knees approach that she's been taking. She toggles back and forth between both ways. She's getting there! The risers are still a little tall for her so she needs to grow and inch or two but in the mean time, her practice is really paying off. Way to go Monkey-girl! (I look forward to the day when stairs aren't so scary.)

As for Friday's updates, we both began feeling better by Thurs. Thankfully we had a quick moving stomach bug and so by today, I believe we are both back to normal. Just in time for the weekend, so that's cool. Although, I'm still a little hesitant to feed her or me anything too crazy, we are at least consuming real food with flavor so that's good.  By Thurs I had the baby whisperer back, which was hugely helpful so I could get some work done. Also, before she arrived, the Monkey and I scrubbed this place from top to bottom trying our best to make it germ-free. Eloise is typically very good at following me around from room to room and letting me clean each as I go but this time, she wanted to help. What better way to earn her keep than to scrub toilets??

Also, I actually got orange chair shots this month. How did I get it done? By putting on the Cars movie and let her hold the remote control. Orange chair shots are becoming very difficult these days:)

Friday's update

I thought this week's edition should be dedicated to our 16 month old's stats.  These stats will include some guessing - I'll just let you know that up front.  Or maybe we can call them Mom Hunches.  Here's a hunch....she weighs at least 25lbs, as decided upon after Monday's trip to the zoo when I carried that 25lb sack of potatoes around all day long:)  And as far as height goes, eeek. I don't know. I'm bad at this but let's just put it this way. She was 29 3/4 inches at her 1 year appt.  She's now growing out of clothes like a maniac. I'm placing pants, sweatshirts, shirts and the like into the storage bin in the closet like a mad woman. As soon as something becomes a bare midriff shirt or clam digger pants, in the closet they go. Oh and she's consuming food like I've never seen before. It's nothing for her to eat 2 hotdogs for lunch or dinner.  2.  And I know, hotdogs are kind of gross but I at least buy the all-natural beef ones and she loves them so what can I say? Anyway, the conclusion is....she's growing. I expect her to fit into her size 6 Vans that arrived just yesterday by next Friday.  Or maybe even next Wednesday at the rate we're going.

I get asked a lot what words Eloise is saying. And I'll admit, I had never jotted them down up to this point.  Of all the things you'd think I'd have a handle on. Nope, not this one.  So I always stuttered through the convo....um, she says Momma and Dadda and umm......night night. It's funny because she said "night night" as almost one of her first words because she was going "night night" a good 6 times per day with her napping ordeal. And um......she says......" You get the point. It was pretty painful. Here I am, her mom and I can't easily recite the words she knows off the top of my head.  So the list began this week. And with the Baby Whisperer and Mike's help we have the following.....(keep in mind, some of these are used a lot by Eloise and others she'll parrot when she hears one of us say it.)

1) Momma

2) Dadda

3) Up and down

4) No

5) Night night

6) Ish

7) Uh oh

8) Banana - really it's "nana" to her

9) Around or sometimes it's "round"

10) Knee

11) Read

12) Rain

13) Watch

14) E.L.O. - she repeats after me when I say "E.L.O.I.S.E spells Eloise." She can do the first 3 letters. It's very cute.

15) Off - not quite there with "on" but soon.

Others she's attempts are wagon, water, away - she's getting good with Ws for some reason. I guess where "watch" came from because that's pretty random. She's also good with Rs for some reason so I'm always saying R-words for her to pick up.  That's how we got Read and Rain in the mix.

Then animal noises....

1) Arf arf

2) Neigh neigh

3) Moo

4) Eeeeeee - this is her Monkey noise

5) Meow

6) Baa

7) Fish noise - like a kiss kiss kiss since that's fish in sign language

8) Buzz - for a bee or a fly

9) Tweet - although this doesn't really sound like a tweet....it's more like a high pitched chirp while she's pointing at the birds.
10) Roar - which is said for lions, tigers and bears.

And also....

1) Choo choo - for the train

2) Vroom - for the airplane or car or the truck and/or helicopter

Beyond speaking, she really understands a lot. Like it's kind of scary how much she understands. She knows lots of body parts and really understands what I'm saying a good amount of the time. An example....this morning we took Mike to the airport. So when she got up, I went in and told her we had to change her diaper and get ready to go to the airport because Daddy was going to get on an airplane. Are you excited to see airplanes, Eloise??  Maybe 5 minutes later we're down stairs making a quick piece of toast for her and she's behind me making the sign for airplane while saying daddy and vroom vroom over and over and over. I best be careful about everything I say around her from this point forward.

In addition to eating, growing, talking and understanding, the Monkey is all over the place. She runs from place to place to place constantly moving and playing. She LOVES books and are probably her all time favorite "toy".  I say "toy" because they aren't really a toy but to her, it's the best thing going. She goes through books a lot throughout the day and either does it by herself and looks at the pictures or brings the books to me reciting "read, read, read" over and over and over. She must have gotten her patience from me. She even has a water book in the tub and she's always saying, "read, read, read" despite the fact that book she could likely read to me it's been told so many times.

She's still WAY into sticks. Sticks may trump all other outside activities at this point. Wherever we go - even the playground where she can do so much more now - she spends a good amount of time surveying the area and collecting sticks. She's very diligent in her stick tasks and finds them all and makes clean piles to stash them. She's even convinced me to help her who now follows her around and holds them for her when her hands get too full. I didn't even offer. She just decided that was the most efficient use of stick collecting time. 

Trucks, cars, trains, tractors still top the list for fun time. We play with our "garage" often hosting races and the like. Oh and airplanes still call for a temporary pause and viewing in all outside activities. And after stick collecting, watching the train is nearly her favorite park activity.  And per yesterday's post, hoarding continues with her absolute need to take toys with her every place she goes. Her crib is a crowded mess and as you've seen, monkies, trucks and the like travel with us everywhere we go. Just this morning 3 monkies had to go to the airport.  I wonder if this means teaching her sharing down the road is going to be that much more difficult?

For Vail family updates - Mike left today for a 9 day Canadian outback adventure. He's been looking forward to this trip for so long. I'm really happy for him to spend this time with his dad and cousin at a place that nearly was his 2nd home when he was growing up. Mike and I visited this Vail family vacation spot once right after we got married and it's beautiful.  Even with no electricity and running water (for a girl like me, was quite scary at first).  Once we got there and got settled - which is no easy task, I must say - it's honestly one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful place I've ever been to in my entire life.  Mike's never gone in October so it may be a bit chilly but he left this morning with a giant backpack stuffed to the tippy top with all sorts of cold weather gear. And if any of you know Mike, he often travels with more clothes than I do so I have no need to worry about him up there. If he thought he needed it, it was packed.

The Monkey and I will be hanging solo in his absence.  We don't really have any plans other than the usual so I'll have to come up with some fun adventures.  Actually, today, we have our Christmas card photo shoot. I know, I know....another photo shoot. And I swore we were done for awhile:) I'm like a pagent mom in the making. A friend of mine that I used to work with 1 million years ago left the corporate world and made her hobby of photography a full time gig. She now lives in Ohio and is traveling to CLT this weekend just to take pics.  We were some of the lucky ones to get on her calendar.  So today at 3:30 the Monkey and I are heading to Huntersville to get those pics take.  And sadly, today of all days, the Monkey didn't listen to Mommy and instead went off the back porch steps without my help - she knows better, I honestly don't know why she did this (Babies Murphy's Law, I swear it) and now has a giant red, goose egg on her forehead. Agh. Poor baby. It was really sad. But of course she does this today, of all days. It's picture day.  As I said, Babies Murphy's Law. I'll be asking my photographer friend to please use Photoshop on that shiner. Thank you.

So I believe that is it. The Monkey and I were going to run in a 5K tomorrow but I've decided last second to bag it. We're going to do a long run instead. And I do need to take a pic of the Monkey in the orange chair - despite the fact it's now exactly 4 days past her 16 month birthday. And no, she can't get into that orange chair by herself yet so I need to get that pic taken. She does like to climb like a maniac - I will add that to her 16 month update - but she's still not tall enough to get on the sofa or chairs yet by herself. Soon enough, my friends. Soon enough.

Have a great weekend!

Happy birthday, Mike!

I've started a new tradition....cupcakes and coffee (coffee for the grown ups) for your birthday breakfast.  Mike's not into breakfast but I'll tell you, the Monkey and I are. Yum!

Happy birthday, Mike!

15 month "celebration" weekend

Ahhhh.....finally I have a chance to sit down and talk about this weekend.  It took me so long because I was busy making this fantastic meal that I must say, was really, really good. I even said to Mike, "I can't remember the last time I made something that was actually really, really good."  I like to cook but I'm not super at it. I can knock off some good meals and some Vail mainstays but I'd never say I make anything that is outstanding.  Well, maybe a few appetizers I have can be categorized as fantastic but they have been tweaked here or there for so many years that they'd have to be good.  Anyway, if you are interested in making a delicious pomodoro sauce and some meatballs to go with it....here you go.

The pomodoro sauce is from this month's Runner's World. Seriously delicious. I'll be making this a lot. And the meatball recipe was a modified version of this. I use just beef and also, I use breadcrumbs and a little milk vs. soaking day old bread in milk.  We're both completely stuffed after going back for seconds. I'm a wanna-be-Italian I guess. I'm always trying to make great pasta recipes. This one goes down in the books. Yummy!

Ok, back to the weekend.  Mike's buddy Lurch was in town on Saturday so after the Monkey's afternoon nap, we headed down to the BBQ festival. You know all of this already. The added part is the Monkey was on the loose. Bottom line, if we let her out of the stroller, she will not go back into the stroller until she is completely dog-tired.  She wants to run and run and run, and with the festival music going in the background, she wants to shake and shake and shake that booty of hers.  I laughed too much that afternoon. Honestly, it was like a stomach workout. And with chasing her around, it was like going for another run.  Perfect example....I was waiting by our table in the courtyard "guarding" it while Mike and Lurch went to go get BBQ for us to eat.  Our table had 3 chairs. A guy walked up and asked if we were using all of the chairs and at first I said, "yes" then I said, ".....you know what, go ahead and take one because there is no chance with this little girl right here (pointing) that all of us will sit down at the same time and eat."  And that was right on the money. Mike and I rotated eating while the other ran around and grooved with the Monkey.  She had a total blast. And yes, we were tired.

On Sunday - per a recommendation from Lurch - we went to the NC Transportation Museum in Salisbury. What a cool place. We were too late for an actual train ride but as far as Eloise was concerned, it didn't matter. We saw the last train ride of the day go by a few times and she was beyond herself.  And it was a real live train in all of it's enormity.  Not some rinky dink train they have at carnivals or whatever. The museum was mostly trains but they also had some planes and cars. Pics to follow here in a second. The Monkey let loose here as I showed in the previous post.  Once she's out of the car seat or the stroller she puts her head down and just starts running.  I'm trying to teach her to watch where she's going so occasionally she'll look up, but it's rare.  More often you'll see her with head down and just going as fast as those little legs will take her.  As far as the museum goes....I highly recommend it. It took us 45 minutes to get there. Mostly all highway and super easy to find. Also, it's free!  (maybe the train ride cost money but we missed it.) And for the amount of trains and buildings and displays they have going on, it's way worth the trip.  Both Mike and I were really impressed. Definitely a hidden gem in this area.

As far as 15 months go....I have some orange chair shots to show in one sec.  Her Dr. appt isn't until next Monday so I don't have stats quite yet. I'll get those up here as soon as I can.

And.......here they are, the much awaited orange chair shots. I wish one other thing was added in here but my explaination will have to do.  Earlier this day I told the Monkey we were going running and what did she do?? She ran to her shoe basket and came back with her florescent green and blue water shoes.  Awesome. We immpediately put them on and went running because I wasn't going to say no to that outstanding effort.  I must have taken those shoes off of her when we got home because sadly, they are not in these pics.

And the Transportation Museum....it's sad when you get home from a really fun Monkey outing to discover that roughly 90% of the pictures you took are of your daugher in a full out sprint.  MANY examples of our little runner.

And some cute ones of the museum when she actually stopped running and enjoyed the scenary.

If you have kiddos, you should head on out to the NC Transportation Museum. It's a pretty cool place.