15 months old

Elliana is 15 months old and sadly I didn't even realize this until later in the week last week (to say I've been busy at work is an understatement. Lately, all of Elli's naptime and during the evening is spent doing work....I should be working now, but I'm not motivated at all....tomorrow will be a long night!). Time is going so quickly and she is growing up so fast!

We went to Elli's 15 month dr. appointment last week and she passed with flying colors. The nurse practitioner (our dr. was out for the morning) recommended we go see an opthamologist because of Elli's astigmatism. And then I recommended to the NP that Elli get an audiological evaluation because of her history of ear infections, constant colds (meaning possible fluid behind her eardrum), and speech production :) She thought this was a good idea and would ease my mind. Elli did GREAT at her appointment and loved playing with the NP and nurse. She cried for a bit after her shots and then I mentioned fruit snacks....this quickly changed her mood. So....here are her stats:

Elli is 30 1/4 inches (50-75%) and 20 lbs. 12 oz. (25-50%). She's never been this high on the growth charts for height!!

The big thing we've noticed this past week has been Elli's independence. She started using forks and spoons (with help) during eating the last week or so and has loved it. This occasionally causes some difficulty during eating, as she wants to do it ALL on her own and doesn't want any help. I've also noticed the past few days that she doesn't want to drink out of her straw/sippy cup, but wants to drink out of a regular cup if she sees it on the table. Elli also wants get herself dressed without help. She doesn't quite understand that she needs help. She would try all day long to put clothes/socks/shoes on if I let her. Elli was successful at putting her shirt over her head the other day, but that only happened once....I think this gave her confidence a boost.

I introduced Elli to the dollar store today and I've never seen anyone so excited in there before (this could be because she had chocolate chip banana bread for her snack....the recipe calls for a little bit of coffee and 1 cup of chocolate chips....I accidentally put the whole bag of chocolate chips in....opps. She was hyper! She went crazy over the toy aisle and had to show me every balloon in the store. I was going to buy her a balloon, but told Scott I wanted him to go back with us this weekend to pick one out just so he could see her reaction. She wanted everything!!

Look at her little smile. She is on cloud nine in the picture because I let her pick up our other camera for a second. Anytime she gets a hold of something she isn't supposed to have (car keys, remote, phone) she comes up to us and gives us a kiss....kind of like her "thank you." Our friend, Faith, gave Elli her phone on Monday night and Elli gave her a "thank you" kiss and then was attached to her the rest of the night.

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We are ready for some nice, sunny weather! This girl loves her accessories.....

I am excited to spend another Mother's Day with Elli this Sunday. It is so crazy to me that next year I will have 2 little ones to help me celebrate Mother's Day. We've already booked our weekend full of work to do around the house (and taking a little break to help our friends move). I asked Scott the other night if he thought 15 weeks sounded like a long time from now....we both agreed that it doesn't sound far away at all (this baby will be here before we know it)! I don't think I'm in the nesting phase yet; however, i could have fooled anyone by the way I was scrubbing, yes I mean scrubbing the kitchen and cleaning out the cabinet going through the list of things yet to be done this past Sunday. I'm excited to get all these things done around the house, so we can enjoy some rain-free weather (whenever that may be)!

And to answer the million dollar question (because I think someone new asks me this daily)....What is this little guy's name? Well....we have a list of a few names we like, but still have no clue what his name will be. Scott has just recently been calling him a specific name (one that probably isn't my top pick, but I wouldn't yet rule it out), but we will probably wait until we see the little guy to figure out what his name will be. We are pretty sure on a middle name, but not 100%. We're not against telling everyone his name, but we really just don't know yet :)