15 Months Old!

Ellie is 15 months old, and while she is generally a happy, playful little girl, month 15 has certainly presented its obstacles! The entire month can be summed up in 1 word - SICK, and not just Ellie, our whole house! In the beginning of the month, it was me with a nasty cold, then Ellie had her pink eye and ear infection. The antibiotic she was on caused her to have diarrhea and then a yeast infection - yuck x 2 for almost 2 weeks. Then Colin got a cold, and the month was really capped off last week with Ellie getting the Roseola virus. I will spare all the details as it was a long, miserable week...Ellie had a fever over 104 for 4 days straight - as you can imagine, she was one sad baby. After the fever broke on Thur. evening, she got a nasty red rash all over her body. Roseola is in the same 'family' as chicken pox, but not itchy - thank God! The rash is only supposed to last 2-3 days - we're on day 3, and she's feeling SO much better. Eating, playing, and smiling again...not quite 100% yet, but very close. We're hoping for a happier, healthier household in May!

So, minus the past 3 weeks or so, Ellie is quite the happy, active, little toddler. She's into anything and everything - she's grown and reaches lots of things she couldn't before. We've recently added a child-proof door lock to our basement door, as one of Ellie's new talents is opening the doors (and flushing the toilets) - similar motions. Just a forewarning - if you're using the bathroom in our house, unless you want company, locking the door is required.

Ellie loves to play - inside and outside. She loves to read stories. She loves to look at the computer. We Skype with Auntie Sara a lot, and Ellie gets right up in the camera and talk to her at times. Her other computer favorite is the Yo Gabba Gabba website. Yes, that show is completely ridiculous - I've never actually watched the show - but the website has these little 1-2 min. video clips which Ellie LOVES. Her most favorite one is 'party in my tummy' - she just laughs and dances. Here's the link if you've never seen this - warning, it might be stuck in your head after watching!! Colin and I think it's pretty funny actually.

www.yogabbagabba.com/#/party-in-my-tummy

Let's see, what else does Ellie love...

Puppies! Everytime we're outside, she's running over to our neighbors to see their black lab. She points puppies out everywhere she sees them.

Belly buttons - she likes to point at hers and lift Mommy and Daddy's shirts to see theirs too!

The 'Hot Dog' song at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - another dancing favorite!

Bananas, string cheese, noodles, yogurt, applesauce, pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, peanut butter & jelly, green beans, carrots...Ellie's still a really good eater - there's not much she doesn't like.

Blankie and nukie - Ellie doesn't have her bubba anymore, but has since become more attached to the nuk. It's a necessity for naptime and bedtime, but we're good with that because she usually hands it right over when she wakes up. Blankie is also getting drug around the house a lot more that it used to.

What doesn't Ellie like? Stopping anything fun to have her diaper changed!! This is often a 2 person job. Being in her carseat when she'd rather be running around. Being inside when she wants to go outside. Pretty much anytime Ellie is NOT getting to do something she wants, she lets us know about it. This isn't all the time or anything, but she can definitely throw a temper tantrum when she wants to.

Ellie's vocabulary is expanding daily. She always tries to repeat things we say, but her most favorite words (with no prompting from Mommy or Daddy) are...Mummy, Mama, Daddy, puppy, hi, buh bye, NO!, Yes!, what's that?, and 'all done'. No and Yes are pretty funny now, with no she shakes her finger at you, and usually says it twice. With yes, she gives a firm head nod to let you know she means yes.

We haven't been much for picture taking this month, but I did get a few on our nice day today. Ellie thought it'd be fun to crawl into the bottom of the stroller.



Close-up (you can see what's left of her rash on her face too)





Whenever we're outside now, she'll crawl up onto the lawnmower and say 'weeee'...she can usually guilt Dad into giving her a ride =)



She doesn't look all that happy here, but it was just Mama's poor picture timing...



This is kind of a weird picture, but I thought it was cute.



No!