Eloise at 11 months

I am actually a bit teary eyed as I write this 11 MONTH blog post. We are a month away from celebrating the first birthday of this absolutely precious little one.  I think the tears are from experiencing this deep thankfulness to God & love in my heart for these children coupled with seeing month after month fly by as they do not cease to grow & learn new things. I love it, I really do but lately I seem to have more than a few moments where I just want to freeze them exactly how they are...just for a bit : ) 

I mean seriously, who wouldn't want to freeze this?

"Elo Baby, Elo Pancakes" is Charlotte's new and favorite name for Eloise.  Not sure where she came up with that but we can't help but join in!  

So, without further adieu, here is what Elo Pancakes has been doing as of lately:

• crawls speedily EVERYWHERE but especially towards bathroom trash cans
• pulls up on everything
• lets go & stands for about 7 seconds without holding onto anything
• knows where her head is 100% of the time and where her ears are 50% of the time
• does the sound for an elephant when prompted
• repeats the sound for a snake after we do it
• waves hi & bye
• has said (no more than a couple times) "blue"-boo,  "hi" & "dog"- da
• giggles uncontrollably when her Daddy traps her on the ground and covers her with kisses
• gives us big wet open mouthed kisses when asked
• has even been known to attempt a french kiss a time or two ; ) 
• HATES getting her diaper or clothes changed unless it is the removal of them for bath time
• experiences a little separation anxiety Sunday mornings in the nursery
• will sit through a book if I let her touch all over every page
• likes to point at things
• top two front teeth came in April 7th
• if given a brush, bow, shoe or toothbrush she puts them in the right spot

Mellow Elo is not quite as mellow as she once was.  She is still mellow in the area of going with the flow while out & about but at home, oh my. If this girl does not get what she wants quickly....you are surely going to hear about it!  A common scenario ending in seeing this face & hearing the screech is when Charlotte is "helping" to keep shoes, paper, dog toys etc away from Eloise. 

It makes me grin. I know we are at the beginning of playing referee all day every day as these two little ladies learn to interact with one another in a loving way. This playing together has really taken off in the past few weeks which has been fun for all of us.  Eloise is way into chasing her sister down and tackling her.  The pulling up and standing has really revolutionized playtime! If I happen to be missing a kid in the house, I am aware of Elo's interest in everything Char has along with her ability to get to her quickly. This means I am guaranteed to find both kids at the same time : ) Eloise loves to look Charlotte's way for a response after screaming or throwing food on the ground. She gets a kick out of Char responding with laughter. Here are some pictures of them playing together yesterday.

this was one of those "freezable moments"

With the addition of mobility into her life, the possibilities of exploring are endless!

Her face here reminds me of when I catch her in the dog bowl : ) 

She is eating like a champ with no changes to her schedule.  I feel like we have been doing the same thing for SO long which makes it easier to remember.  Nursing at 7:30, 11, 3 & 7. Solids at 8, 11:30 & 5ish with a couple snacks in there.  I really think that if you sat her in her high chair and left her there all day with food in front of her, you would never hear one complaint! New foods this month: sugar snap peas, pineapple, oranges, Judy Juice, muffins, pancakes (for Elo pancakes), cauliflower, pot roast, quesadilla & grilled cheese. She will eat anything you put in front of her but bananas. She just cries when she sees a ba-mena (as Char says).  That's how I am when I am pregnant so I understand ; )

With Charlotte, I was so convinced I would stop nursing when she turned one. Not sure why I felt like that but when she turned one, I kept going. She was still interested and it worked well for us. I stopped when she was 14 months old & got pregnant within a week. So maybe the outcome of that is influencing my thoughts a bit since we might like to wait a bit longer to get pregnant.  All that to say, with Eloise, she is still very interested and I am feeling like I may go longer with her than I did with Char.  So at this point with Charlotte, I think I cut out the afternoon feeding but for now, we are going to keep on keeping on : ) Due to a shortage in the frozen milk section in our freezer, Elo is getting a combo of whole milk & breast milk while I am away. She has had no problem with it & drinks it ice cold from her bottle.

With all the energy spent crawling & pulling up, she wears herself out & sleeps great 99% of the time.  Night time sleep has been 7pm-7:30am with naps from 9-10:30 & 12:30-3. Although today, she slept from 9-11:45 for her morning nap...like she knew I needed to have some time to write her 11 month blog post ; ) What a sweetheart!  She loves her crib & pack n' play and rarely complains when you lay her down. The question to be asked is, will she sleep 14 hours a night after she starts walking? 

Well little Miss Elo, you and your cute faces are killing me!  I love you and can't wait to celebrate 1 year of having you in our arms. God made you so beautiful, so special & so silly....

Uncle Kyle bought Elo this dress for Christmas...I LOVE IT & was so excited that we had a cool couple days last week to wear it one last time before the Florida heat takes over!