19 months

Happy 19 months Catherine Ellis! Time is moving too quickly - what a joy you are sweet daughter of ours!

November 19, 2010 - 19 months

We'll talk about 19 things you're up to these days with one to grow on:

• you are speaking in 2-4 word sentences now - most are commands like "sit down Mama", "get up Dada", "hush Cain" and you seem to understand lots of conversations - talking is something you're really excelling in!
• you've made up your first 'real' words - bop and bove (like move but with a b). bop is hysterical to you - you'll say bop really loudly and get tickled with yourself. bove means move, you say it often when you want someone or something to move out of your way.
  
• you are still doing great on the potty at school, but at home you're still a diapers gal - that's okay - no rush!
  
• repetition, repetition, repetition - you repeat things over and over to make sure you understand the concept and are saying the word correctly. We work a lot on what belongs to Catherine Ellis and what belongs to Mama and Dada - for instance your cup - you'll point to it and say "Cat Cat's cup" then look at Mama's and say "Mama's cup".
  
• you were referring to yourself as Cat Cat most of the time - now you've added Ellis which is what most of your friends in your class call you. Except when you all say it it sounds like 'ELLLyes' - precious.
• your recognition of familiar friends and family is at an all time high - people you see only every couple of months you notice and can call by name.
• you and Cain like to play and play rough - ball tossing is something that you both enjoy. Mama just tries not to watch as you throw the ball then stick your hand in your mouth - ewww.
• your teachers have mentioned how good you are at redirecting yourself when something doesn't go your way and you're angry or sad - this is a great trait to have!
• you're becoming opinionated about the clothes you wear - not so much about what they look like, but about how they feel - if you're wanting something long sleeve and Mama puts on a t-shirt - you're not gonna have it. At least 2-3 mornings a week we change outfits at least once.
• you're growing tired of the highchair - you've got a booster seat but you have a lot more freedom in it and don't seem to eat as well so we're not sure what to do - but we're continuing to try. You like sitting at the big people table with Mama and Dada for dinner.
• at night after we finish reading your books our rocking time has gone way down - much to Mama's disappointment:( You're so used to falling asleep on your own and soothing yourself - at school they don't rock you anymore, you lay down on your cot and fall asleep on your own - that once we finish reading you'll say 'night, night mama, lah eh" and point to the bed. I think this is going to be SO hard for Mama to let go of.
• car rides are better - you find lots of things to entertain yourself with and the crying is to a minimum these days. The DVR holds your attention sometimes, but it's not fail proof and we only pull it out when we've exhausted all other options.
• your hair is still thin, very fine and blond - we keep thinking you'll have a full head of hair any day now. And I think Dada has even given up with his special oatmeal hair wash every night in futile attempts to get your hair to grow.
• you have a new expression almost daily - there are several charming ones you've developed, but there are a few scary ones in there too.
• when you finish most things these days you say bye bye. For instance if we're reading and the book is finished you'll say "bye bye book".
• the time change - falling back - hasn't been quite as bad as it was this time last year when you were 7 months old. You seem to be able to exhaust yourself quite well these days.
• see-sawing is a new favorite activity of yours. I'm going to try to get it on video on day soon. You like to bump from side to side hitting the ground and yelling 'bump, bump' and then howling with laughter - it's pretty adorable.
• you love the blog - watching the videos we've posted is one of your favorite things to do! They make you laugh really hard.
  
• you've not been extremely interested in football or learning about our teams - we've tried to teach you war eagle and roll tide. you can say roll ti - which is super close, but you don't even attempt war eagle. You will and can say tiger though - so that will suffice for now. I think Mama and Dada are 1 for 1 so far this season:)
• Halloween was a hit with you this year - we're excited to see how you like Thanksgiving - we're thinking since it's about food and lots of family gathering - you'll be all about it!

Every good and perfect gift is from above ... James 1:17