Eloise at 18 months

Eloise is officially one & a half as of November 30th. I am not sure what happened that day but man oh man, this girl has turned into one crazy little chickadee over the course of one week!  She still has plenty of snuggles to dish out but I fear the adventure with this one has just begun as she has proven herself fearless & become the queen of danger! Scary & hilarious all at the same time. We joke that this is the child that is preparing us for switching over to twin boys ; )  That's 18 months for you!

Thankfully, she is not always crazy....sometimes she is still Mellow Elo....

Just chillin' on the kitchen floor rubbing her belly button while I fix lunch. 

 STATS:

Height- 31 3/4 inches- 60th percentile

Weight- 26.2 pounds- 75th percentile

Head circumference- 90th percentile

Size 18-24m or 2T clothes & 6.5 shoes

What she is up to:

• talks constantly, even more than Charlotte it seems.  If Char is quiet in the car, Elo keeps the conversation (with herself) going very easily.  
• says more words than I could list with more & more that are easily understood
• has put a few words together like "I wah snack" or "I wah mil" or "no money?" as she searches in her pockets
• wakes up SO happy in the morning & from naps, even if you have to wake her up
• she is accustomed to sleeping with 2 blankies, lambie, Bobby the Baby, Lucy (another baby), 2 kissing bears & one of her brothers new reindeer
• is on the move constantly & has become quite the climber...not sure where she learned that from! I frequently pull her off of the kitchen table, end table, arm rest on the couch etc.
• will sit through many books in a row & loves to identify objects by name
• when she wants you to include her she says "me? me? me?" a million times in a row until you acknowledge her.  This happens often when one of us is going to take the dogs out & she wants to come along.
• if she wants you to read to her she grabs her book & says "book? me? book? me?
• when she is proud of herself she says "see! yea!"
• she loves to be sung to, laid down in her bed & then covered with her blankie while she rubs her belly button
• favorite book- From Head to Toe by Eric Carle with Caps for Sale as a close second mainly because it has monkeys in it
• she has another set of books that are about 3x3 inches. There are 10 & they are titled things like "I can share" or " I can say hello." Her favorite one is "I can say I'm sorry" The problem is that Eloise things that all 10 books are the "I'm sorry" book so she leans her head to the side, crumples her face & says "I saw-ee" with every page turn.  Too funny!
• loves to brush her hair & her teeth
• she is seriously obsessed with her cousin Isaac! Every time she sees my phone she grabs it & says his name requesting a video...if I don't have one she breaks down into tears
• loves when sissy shares bracelets with her
• really likes car rides & talks about all the things she sees outside 
• loves to make animal sounds but gets scared if I chime in with my tiger impression
• when she feels scared or uncertain or sleepy, her hand is over her mouth, palm out while she sucks her bottom lip & finger on other hand rubbing her belly button- SO ADORABLE
• can correctly identify many body parts- head, hair, eyes, nose, teeth, tongue, chin, neck, shoulders, belly, legs, arms, fingers, toes
• likes to body slam her brothers while they are in utero- thankfully God made a mama's body to protect the inside babies from the outside babies ; ) 
• mimics Charlotte constantly- the latest things she has picked up from her are: 1. over dramatic response to getting a boo boo 2. saying ouch when I fix her hair
• likes to stack things & knock them over
• likes to bring me "tea" & cookies from her kitchen
• shows great concern when others are crying saying "sad, sad, sad" while her face is all crumpled & her head is leaned to the side
• says "I saw-ee" & hugs us or Charlotte when apologizing
• has become aggressive with me & is quick to take a swing at me....yikes! 
• sleeps- 6:30pm-7am, morning nap still going strong from 9:30-10:30 when I wake her, afternoon nap 1-3ish, no complaints in this category!

Daddy, aka the "ho-see" who comes out of his office a few times a day to give the girls a ride around the living room...oh the benefits of working from home!

Eloise likes to be like Charlotte- at the Zoo in Tampa watching the Sea Otters

All in a weeks time- Elo & Char stories:

1. We put Eloise to bed in the pack n play one night where she is used to napping. She was super grumpy & tired but was not very happy we put her to bed. I left the room pitch black (which she likes) & closed the door before returning to the kitchen. We could hear her screaming but planned to give her a few minutes to chill out on her own.  I thought it sounded closer than her pack n play & then  we heard the door open & saw Eloise come around the corner into the kitchen! That crazy girl hurled herself over the side of the pack n play! She was injury free & has napped in their well without incident since then. 
2. I'm exhausted, we all know it...I can't seem to keep up with laundry or much else for that matter.  It was the middle of the day, I had about 6 loads of laundry that needed to be folded so I dragged them into my closet where I could see my bath tub. I put the girls in the tub with plenty of toys & let them go to town while I finished folding.  They were absolutely crazy. The whole bathroom looked like someone had sprayed a fire hose in it.  I decided to not care which is pretty easy these days ; ) I got Char out & dried her off then sent her to her room to get dressed.  I sat down on the floor (first mistake) to dry Elo off & put her diaper on. She took off running & due to my large belly, I am not to quick getting up so she was a good 30 seconds ahead of me.  I walked into the living room to see her standing on top of a wooden block set with her nudey booty facing me. She glanced over her shoulder & said "mommy, tee-tee", smiled at me & then tinkled ALL OVER the blocks! She then took off running to her room. I chased her down, diapered her & threw her in the crib while I tended to the blocks..... ridiculous & funny. I swear a little bit got on every single one of the 48 blocks in the set. No to worry, they were soaked & scrubbed in hot soapy water!
3. It had been a wild evening. Eloise had a bad diaper rash & we had just gone to two different stores to find the diaper cream I like. I bathed the girls, coated Elo's red little hiney & was picking up a few things in their room. A few minutes later, I walked into the living room & asked Charlotte where Eloise was. She kind of pointed over her shoulder toward the kitchen. I glance at the kitchen table & see Eloise spinning in circles on top of it!! I got her down & soon after, we put both girls to bed.  I had brought the diaper cream back out to the living room (just for the record). Char did her usual in & out a few times to let us know that Eloise was keeping her awake (LIE- we could see Charlotte standing next to Eloise's crib talking her ear off).  At one point she came out & said, "Elo bumped her head & she was crying. She is okay now though, (and then under her breath said) I put medicine on it."  We told her to go back & get in bed then hit play on the show we were watching. About a minute went by before it clicked & I said to Rob "Did she just say that she put medicine on her head???" Rob was off the couch before I even finished the sentence.  He was yelling for me pretty quickly & when he carried Eloise out, her head was covered in diaper cream! Charlotte coated it on pretty good & then returned a bottle that was gooey on the outside back to the box & placed in the exact spot she got it from...sneaky little girl! Long story short, it took about four washes with dish soap & the final thing that did the trick was a combo of vinegar, baking soda & lemon juice mixed into a paste & then left to soak on her scalp for a bit.  That was hilarious! Her hair was CRAZY! I can't believe I did not get a pic although I think the image may be burned in my mind for years to come ; ) 

Our professional carousel rider.

Along with the dare-devilish stunts this girl has been up to lately, she is such a sweetheart.  She loves to cuddle with both of us, loves to give kisses & every now & then tries to sneak her tongue in for an extra wet kiss ; ) She LOVES her Daddy.....

The scariest part about Eloise turning 18 months old is that her baby brothers will be here no later than when she is 21 months (and a couple weeks) old. WOW! There is no doubt that this girl will embrace her new role as a big sister with as much delight as she has seen modeled for her.  She is a little mama!

We just love her, every bit about her little body, her heart & her mind.  What a joy it is to continue caring for her as she grows.  Just praying that we can keep her from jumping off the top of the playground ; )