Grandma Rosie.

We had such a wonderful visit with Grandma Rosie this past week. Ellie took to her right away, probably because Grandma is always ready and willing to read a book, including the "Cute as Can Bee" book that features Ellie's picture. It's always so nice to have Grandma around, getting to know her little name sake a bit better. Now we have our big trip to Door County to look forward to!

Grandma and her littlest (and some might say, naughtiest) grandgirl

Oh, those four crazy generations.

A little sweet bike action from earlier in the day

The elfin sprite takes a bath.

New Favorite Games.

She loves climbing the stairs, especially when Grizz is on the other side. We're also teaching her how to go down the stairs on her butt. The only problem is that her legs are too short to reach from the lip of one step to the lip of the next, so she has to push herself forward and off each step. But she likes the concept of going down on her behind, which is good.

She also enjoys fine linens, and reorganizing (or rather, having me reorganize) the linen closet in the hallway.

Pete, Repeat, Stinky Feet.

I feel like we are in a phase now where I'm finally getting rewarded for my hard work. It's as though I can see things sinking in, percolating in Ellie's brain and then spewing forth in ways that completely surprise me.

For example: she has a book called Baby Animals that she particularly loves for her Grizz to read to her, because he does the animal noises, particularly the moo, loudly and proudly. Last week he was mooing for no real reason other than her amusement, and she immediately walked over to her bookcase, dug around and came up with Baby Animals. She also knows the name of her new favorite book The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, which she calls "hah dah." She's started pointing to the moon and saying "moo," because Grizz points the moon out to her when he walks her to the car. Other than mama and dada (and rah-rah for Rocky, naturally) the only person she calls by name is Sara, who she calls either "sssss" or "Sar." I was saying something about families and uncles and aunts, and when I said the word aunt she said "Sar!" It just sort of surprised me that she'd made that connection - yes, Sara is your aunt. Auntie Sara. She is learning so much and absorbing so much at every moment.

We when we play with her puzzles we make all of the animal noises too, except for bunnies, who apparently only make noise when they are being eaten alive. Rather than having that discussion with her, I've informed her that bunnies go "hop hop hop" and last night for the first time she volunteered "hop hop hop" when I asked her what a bunny did. Then today, we TOTALLY BLEW HER MIND. Around 5ish we were outside at mom and dad's and there were two bunnies on the green belt at the end of the culdesac, so we snuck down the street to look at them. They hopped away once we got too close, but Ellie spent the rest of the night informing us about the hop hop hop. Until she got all revved up chasing Grizz around the kitchen, and then she was basically lost to us. She fell asleep having her final meal of the night, the poor tired Bean. She needs to rest up for Auntie Sara's party!

Grandma Rosie arrived last night, and we have been having a great time. Last night we all went out for German food, and Ellie sat in her high chair like a good girl until the plates were cleared and desserts were offered, so two thumbs up to that. Today Grandma Rosie came with us to mommy matters and lunch afterwards, and then hung out with Ellie in the yard. Yet another lesson - trying to teach her to listen to the sea from inside a shell.

Inclement Weather.

What a rough day we had today! We could barely survive the terrible weather. I mean look at all that snow! (on the far mountain)

It was so cold that Ellie had to wear a hat and sweater against the chill.

Poor Ellie had to hang on to Gram's finger to keep from blowing away!

And then she had to go tend to her crops to make sure they wouldn't freeze in the chill.

Yep, we have it hard in Southern California in January. Real hard.


I present this picture with the title "The Most Beautiful Thing in the World." That's my baby, sleeping all alone in her bed. With only her pillows for company. I used that time to take out the recycling and unload the dishwasher. Do I know how to live or what?

Above Average.

Today was the Lovebug's 15 month well baby checkup, so we braved the rain (RAIN! EVERYONE DUCK AND COVER!) and headed out. Like usual, she took a huge poop as soon as we arrived, but kept it in her pants this time. I hate that you can't put diapers in the trash at the pediatricians - nothing sucks more than carrying a giant turd in your diaper bag.

Elizabeth is almost 24 pounds, and 30 1/2 inches tall, which puts her right at the 50th percentile. Her head is still in the 90th, of course. The doctor immediately noticed the little bump that remains from when she got her goose egg in December, and said that it's probably just a little blood still trapped under the skin, and it'll go away. She seemed very nonplussed by all the head bonking - she said her second baby had a big head and was prone to a lot of toppling over and bruising. Makes me feel better about not immediately rushing to the emergency room.

The doctor was VERY impressed with Ellie's command of the English language, and said she's more like an 18 month old in terms of her development. I was glad that Ellie actually showed off for the doctor - she announced that birdies say "caw caw" and then proceeded to show the doctor the location of her nose, ears, cheeks and belly. The doctor was impressed that she not only touches the body part, but names it as well. Then I asked E to smell my feet, which she did. It's my best baby party trick!

We got three shots, which sucked, and we're going back in two weeks to get two more so we can be all up to date. That is the worst part.

Since we returned from Pittsburgh, we've been working with our now 15 month old on some behavior changes. She's still nursing a few times a day, but definitely cut back when I was gone for two days, and she didn't drink any of the milk I left for her while I was away (which is actually sort of great, because I won't worry about leaving some when I go on dates from now on. Forget you for the next year or so, pump!) I'm fine with the idea of nursing her until two, especially if we're just doing morning and night. And it's funny - she doesn't care if she nurses during the day now, but in the morning and at bedtime she collapses into tears, saying "mil! mil!" the second she sees me get near the recliner.

The big thing is that we're working on napping in her bed. When she was a baby, from about month 1-5, she'd only nap in her swing, which was fine by me, because I was willing to take a nap any way I could. Then she refused to nap unless I was holding her and nursing her, and I went with that for awhile, because I was still half-way desperate for naps. And then it mostly became a bad habit. One afternoon I tried to put her to sleep in her bed and after THREE HOURS of rocking, shushing, patting, nursing and crying in her crib, she was still as awake, though totally exhausted. So I'd given up and just sort of resigned myself to my fate. The nurse and nap wasn't the worst thing ever - I'd watch TV, read, catch up on my internetting, but it was pretty sucky, overall. Having a few days to myself, to get my groove back and feel more normal made me ready to make the transition out of my lap and into the bed. Friday we were having a little meal around naptime and she seemed to be fighting sleep, so I took her into her room, rocked her for a little while, then laid down with her for a few minutes. She played with her hands and flapped around and then all of a sudden she went limp and fell asleep. I held my breath and then crept out of her room, where she slept, all alone, for an HOUR. I haven't had an hour to myself during daylight hours in I don't know how long. And it gave me strength to keep working at it.

Saturday it took us 2.5 hours to get her to sleep in her bed, but she finally did it. Yesterday Tim got her down in 25 minutes, and today it took me a half hour. It is SUCH A RELIEF. The other good news is that she'll let Grams rock her to sleep at their house and then sleep in my old bed. Finally, mommy is free. FREE! Except for the part where I creep around the house on tiptoe, because I'm terrified to wake her up.

Shake Ya Groove Thing.

Auntie Bee totally spoiled Ellie this past Christmas, but then again, she is sort of legendary with her love for her nieces and grandnieces. I've been slowly doling out the puzzles Auntie Bee sent, and Ellie gets so excited every time to meet some new friends. Today she was very interested in the bunny from her pet puzzle, and how he goes "hop hop hop." But do you know what she loves best of all?

The card Aunt B sent Tim for Christmas.

15 Months.

As of tonight, Elizabeth Rosemarie is officially 15 months old. Who would have thought? She just gets more fun every day (even if not every day is fun.) She has so many words now, and is so goofy and funny. There's lots of wrassling and lots of laughing in our lives.

Today we went up to LA and she spent the afternoon lunching like a lady.

And then... some quality cat sniffing.