15 months...more new comings

You may find yourself asking, if you know a young child, how can this get any better? I find myself asking that same question at least weekly if not more. Many times over this past couple days James and I will laugh and look at each other reading our own thoughts in each other's eyes. How did we get so lucky? How is she so smart? How is she so happy and funny? Look at that look! I wonder where she got that from! Ella just continues to be a source of pure joy that overflows from my heart, and sometimes my eyes. I don't even quite know where to start. I have so many memories that I want to share and write down before I forget and they get mixed up with thoughts of how my students are going to survive ISTEP and how I am going to survive working full time again in a week. Ugh.

Here are a few snip-its of my ever faster growing little girl:

Ella and the GIANT panda

15 months today! Cuddling with Nonnie :)

Ella has been a fan of cell phones for awhile. But now, she loves to pretend to talk to someone on the other end. She is constantly stealing our phones and putting them to her ear. The other day she had both of our phones held up to both ears. 

Here she is enjoying the cake batter from her Aunt Roo's surprise birthday cupcakes! She was running around and away from me trying to take the beater out of her hand.

A surprise visit from Auntie Alissa

Happy friends together 

Gotcha!

This was too cute to pass up. 

She loves her bananas. Now she prefers to eat them whole instead of being cut up for her. I must admit it is WAY cuter.

This is how we found her two nights ago in her crib. Half sticking out with the blanket over her head.  For what ever reason she loves sleeping across her crib instead of long ways in it. She is obviously a little big now to be doing this. 

My clothes hoarder. Still can't figure out why she is so obsessed with carrying as many clothes as she can around the house. She stole these out of her dresser drawers. 

Here she is clapping because she heard the audience clap. She is so aware of her surroundings. 

At her 15 month check up:

weight: 23 lbs 7 oz ( A gain of only 7 oz due to her constant motion!) 60%
height: 31.5 inches 80%

We had to draw blood AGAIN since the last time the blood clotted before they could test it. They are testing it because we live in an old home for lead. This time I had James with me, he did a much better job holding her. I felt like a torturer though because she is crying and staring at me, reaching for me like help me mommy and all I am doing is singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to her to try to calm her down.

No shots this time because....drum roll please.....DOUBLE EAR INFECTION. YAY! really though she has been an angel. Just a little whiney, but overall happy girl, laughing and smiling. She had a goopy eye and yellow snot, and kept putting her finger in her right ear. I knew something was up, but thought a lot of it had to do with her still teething like crazy. Her molars have to be coming in soon. She constantly has her fingers all the way in the back of her mouth.

Things she can do now:

*Wipe her own mouth. (So adorable! I gave her a napkin and tell her "wipe your mouth" and she takes it right to her mouth or nose!)
*Take off her own shirt and step into her pants and skirts. She will also give me her feet and hands when I ask for them. Tonight she came running out in her pj's with no socks on. I said to her "Ella where are your socks? You have no socks on!" To which she stopped, and looked down at her feet.
*Uses a fork and spoon with better accuracy. Over at her Papaw's birthday dinner, she was eating some cream pie. She was holding the spoon awkwardly and he told her to "turn your spoon". She took her spoon and turned it back and forth. She comprehends to many words!
*Brush her teeth. The other day James took her in the bathroom and sat her on the cabinet. She reached over, grabbed my toothbrush. The she grabbed the toothpaste and pretended to put some on the brush. Next, she leaned over and tried to turn on the water! Now when I give her her toothbrush she chews on it, sucks off the water, and will go back and forth when I sing Raffi's brush your teeth song.
*Vacuum.  Yep! She is quite the helper. Today as I was vacuuming her play rug, she came over to me and grabbed onto the handle. She would barely let me help her at all. She just happily pushed it along. I would pull it back for her, she would gripe at me, and then she would smile as she got to push it forward again.
*Loves to spin! Today, we were dancing to some music and I picked her up and spun her around. I held onto her upper body and away we went until I was too dizzy to go anymore. She would giggle a few times and then tell me more more more with her sign. I turned her around so I could see her while we spun and she was smiling the whole time, mouth open, unable to laugh out loud. One time when I stopped I looked closely at her eyes. They were still SPINNING! It was way freaky, but completely normal. She laid her head down on her blanket and just giggled. I remember loving the feeling of spinning when I was little too. She does this a lot with her aunt Cherie on her chairs. She almost made me throw up because she just wanted more and more. She got so mad at me when I would do it with her anymore. She would keep standing up trying to walk and look like a drunken sailor. It was really funny and so cute. I just can't spin like that anymore!
*New faces. She has this new grimace that I really need to capture on film or should I say digital image! She for sure lets everyone know that she does not like something you are doing or not doing, or if she does not want something. She furrows her brow and curls up her mouth. She tends to do it more so when she is tired but will do it other times as well to communicate. She is getting such a personality and communicates her needs and wants so well. So many new things to see and learn from her.

I love my girl!