Valentine's Day

Ellie's Valentine from her Daddy

My Valentine from my Hubby

Our Family

Ellie's Valentine's Cookie from her Grandmommy & Grandaddy

The Cragwall Cousins

Ellie reading her card from Grammie & Papa

Ellie reading her Valentine from her parents

14 Months Old!

Ellie amazes me every day the things she learns and picks up on - you can teach her a new song or word and she will remember it an hour or day later. I am still loving being able to teach her new things and hang out with her during the day. My 2 days of breaks with her Mother's Day Out program have truly been a blessing, but I'm always excited to pick her up and be around her again. Some changes since the last update for Ellie have been:

1. She has some molars that have come in - no wonder she was a fuss bucket and waking up a TON at night in the last few weeks! I thought it was just some normal sized teeth coming in but low and behold, it was some HUGE molars! It all makes sense now.

2. She is walking up a storm! Her independent streak is coming out because she wants to walk wherever we go instead of being held.

3. She has added in a meal during the day - she now wants breakfast immediately after her milk instead of just a snack in a while. So, she eats 3 meals and 2 snacks a day now with some milk before bed.

4. She's still a great eater for me - not as many veggies as she used to when I made her baby food, but she still eats pretty much what I give her. I can always disguise the veggies mixed in with something else or with cheese.

5. We have finally turned her carseat around to face forward. We waited to do this until she was just too big the other way around because all the research shows that it's actually safer for them to be rear facing longer than just 1 year. Plus, Ellie was totally fine being faced that way. BUT NOW, she's a big girl and can see so much more in the car.

6. She still LOVES books. Every day at some point she brings me several to read to her and if there is anything unique about that book, she remembers to do it on her own (like feel the page or point to something I have pointed out to her).

7. I have introduced her to a few good kids videos recently and she really enjoys them (shocker). My favorite (and hers) by far is the Boz series (Christian series made by the creator of Barney and endorsed by MOPS). The other favorite has been Baby Einstein and I will be the first to admit that Boz and Baby Noah have helped me watch Ellie while I make dinner a few nights or two!

8. She is starting to grow out of some of her 12 month clothes but she's not quite ready for 18 month. Her "Ellie Belly" is still huge and adorable. She's now wearing shoes every day (thank you Lord for Robeez), but she's still wearing the 6-12 month size, on the verge of wearing her 12-18 month size.

9. Her recognition of people and places is getting better and better.

10. She loves to be around cats and dogs and loves watching other kids, especially ones bigger than her. She does well at her program with the other kids and is a good independent player.

11. She's been laughing more and interacting more with us, adding words to her vocabulary like "Buh Buh" (bubbles) and "Yeah" and "No" when we ask her questions. She also is picking up well with sign language words that have come in handy during meals and bedtime (see below - she is saying "bed" in sign language!)

It's amazing how she changes so much in a month! We sometimes stop and look at her and thank God for giving us such a cute, silly little girl. Until next month...