She is so much fun. Really. Elliott has such a personality and has always been outspoken (as a colicky baby and now a spunky toddler). She is chattering all. the. time. So much babble to be heard. She plays games with you and is big on imitation at the moment. She takes 3-4 quick steps at a time before stopping, although Elliott will walk everywhere if she has a wall or piece of furniture to use as a guide. She's getting an interest in climbing, so we will see how that goes..
I'm still breastfeeding her three times a day and probably once a night. She eats three meals a day and loves all the food that I do. Meat is the toughest thing to sell - deli ham seems to be the best. Elliott has a sweet tooth because she has enjoyed the several special occasions we've been to with cake and other treats.
Sleep is a freakin' hot mess. After vacation messed with her schedule, she got a really gross cough, followed by a round of teething. It's been a rough 6 weeks around here. When Elliott is getting teeth, she will not sleep by herself. I spent a good week holding her for every nap (otherwise she went all day without and was miserable). She's always been clingy at night but any free time for me is nonexistent. After a few nights when crib sleeping seemed imminent, all went haywire. She's still in our bed at night. And because of the teething issue, she's waking up crying a lot. Sometimes she's awake for hours in the middle of the night. It's awful and I wish I drank coffee. Here's hoping for a better phase of sleeping. I have discovered that she can manage without a morning nap if needed, which is nice. Remind me that my #1 parenting fail is not forcing Andy to put her to sleep from birth. I'm the only one who can ever get her to nap or sleep without a moving vehicle. This is extremely inconvenient and a definite pro for her going to one nap a day.
With a few glorious and sunny days, I've discovered Elliott enjoys the outdoors. She doesn't mind being in grass and loves a good breeze. The water table will provide a lot of fun this summer. We have visited daddy in the field once and Elliott was into it - we rode with him for over an hour!
We had her first birthday party a few days early on Sunday, April 17 with just close friends and family (maybe 25 people total). It was pink and gold Minnie Mouse themed and a big success. she got a few big ticket items (water table and slide/climber, as well as outdoor picnic table from us) but otherwise clothes and a few puzzles and such. Although we do our best to encourage a love for Disney, Minnie is a real favorite for Elliott. It's fitting because her Minnie doll was the first ever thing we really bought for her while I was pregnant on our last WDW trip. I'm so itching to take her there but know that a real life visit probably wouldn't live up to the expectation in my head.
