The Polar Express

Almost 18 month old Elie Maitland

Wow.....I can not believe my baby girl is almost one and a half years old the day after Christmas. Even though I have not been great on writing updates about her development, I always think about it!! It is definitely time for some of it to get down in writing.

I really don't know where to start with this special little gal. She is truly a light in my life, and even though certain things about her get "harder" she still brings many smiles to my face each day. Elie has evolved from a pretty mellow, sit back and watch kinda girl, to an opinionated, strong-willed and explore everything kinda girl. She is on her brother's tail at most times, and learns so much just from being with him.

I guess I will start with her "self-cares". I am an OT after all, and this does feel a bit like an evaluation write up :) Elie loves to carry around and play with clothes, shoes, hats, Jack's undies...you name it. She helps get dressed by pushing her arms and legs through, and fights most diaper changes. She loves to wear her fleece at all times (hmmmm wonder where she gets that from) and looks so adorable in dress-up clothes. Elie feeds herself 100%, by will of course, with her hands or utensils. She drinks from an open cup at school and sippy cups at home. No more bottles......she is an official toddler now. Elie does not eat as wide of a range as she used to, but still can out eat her brother at most meals. Her faves include meatballs, chicken nuggets, broccoli, green beans, bananas, pomegrantes, Booty, rice cakes, cheese, rice and beans, waffles, Cheerios, to name a few. She goes to the cupboard and says "Nack, nack" or "booie" for a snack or booty. It is so cute.

Elie is a motor babe....she walks, runs, rides trikes and other wheeled objects, climbs, goes up and down stairs, and up and down big slides. She is like her daddy, and has no fears. She is not as gravitationally insecure as her mother and brother :) On the fine motor side, she mostly uses her left hand for self-feeding and both hands for coloring. She has a perfect little tripod and I love watching her hold a crayon. She wants to be doing "art" whenever her brother is.

Elie's language is emerging...not the explosion yet, but she says a couple of new words every few days. Her favorites are "mommy, daddy, Jaaaa (for Jack), baby, dog, puppy, mil (for milk), Ba (for Pa), booie (for booty), Meh (for Meg), Byeeee, Hi, cank cu (thank you), more, cheese, wa-wa (water), Gaga, bath, boos (boots), and a few more I am forgetting. She understands EVERYTHING it seems like and she and Jack have full on conversations in their own way :)

Elie is independent and smart, but also extremely loving and affectionate. She is back to giving people kisses and snuggles you any chance she can get. Her favorite person to snuggle with is her daddy, and then I am a close second. She has an emerging sense of humor and her laugh is adorable. She whines when she is tired or hungry, and cries when Jack is on my lap for a story. She can be quite the pill, and even though I have wanted to, she has not gotten any time-outs yet. She has bit Jack two times when frustrated, and on occasion likes to hit me in the face. Most of the time, all I can do is laugh when she does these things because she is so dang cute.

E continues to be very "petite", something I am sure she will grow out of soon!!!! She is only like 21-22 pounds and still wears some 12 month clothes!! She got her first haircut from Gaga a couple of weeks ago because I could not STAND the mullet any longer. She looks adorable with her little pixie cut :) I still love buying clothes and shoes for her, and am officially addicted. Elie has traveled to the beach, the Gorge, California in the past few months. Just like Jack, she lives to be outdoors and breathe in fresh air. We are excited to take her up to the snow this year. No skiing yet, but I have a feeling she will be skiing with Ty in no time.

We love this amazing baby girl with all of our hearts and she makes our family complete. I can't wait for the next 6 months!!!

Thanksgiving in Ojai

Well, I have clearly been WAY behind in my blogging....I think it's a mix of reasons.....crazy busy-ness, not as much time to take pics and write about them, and pure fatigue most nights!!! But, I really want to share our wonderful Thanksgiving memories from our travels down to Southern California to spend the holiday with Tyee's family. We stayed with Deb and Rick in their beautiful home, and they were such amazing hosts. We also got to spend time with Uncle Jeddy, Great-grandpa Al, Grandpa John and Claire. Besides seeing all the wonderful family, it was so great to be in the warm sun this time of year. The kids played and played and played their little hearts out...outdoors....in November!!!