weight/height
she doesnt have her 1 year check up until next week where we will find these stats out for sure but a rough estimate here, again with my super accurate way of weighing her, is about 21 pounds and 29 inches long.*(as evidenced by that sentence right there, i did, believe it or not, have most of this written last week... but alas, it never got finished and she had her appointment yesterday. 21 pounds and 30 inches long! my ever so accurate ways work! *applause applause*) her weight is in the high 60th percentile, height and head circumference is in the high 70th percentile. right on track, and not giantish, yet (although i feel like she is tall. but i dont really have any other 12 month babies around to compare her to)
i will never get tired of seeing baby toes
health
still healthy and growing strong. a few boogers here and there, which dont stay around long (respiratory therapist to the rescue! much to her dislike for sure)
clothes
strictly 12 to 18 month clothes now. again with some help from grandma (she did it all really), we (she) went though and sorted out all of her clothes that doesnt fit. this girl has so.much.clothes! (yet i still shop for her almost daily... currently obsessed with thread up and poshmark! now dont let that deter anyone from buying her clothes haha, we love it! i feel like clothes and books you just cant have too many, right?). some clothes that truly dont fit anymore still slip through the cracks though... i went to take her to the bus stop the other day (it is 40 degrees in the morning now!) and put her in a 6 month zip up hoodie. oops. but i did actually put it in the "not to be worn again" pile, thank you very much. actually i think i threw it away because it had disgusting stains all over it... which is basically everything she owns now)
sleep
with the exception of a few middle of the night freak outs she is a great night sleeper (and usually you can either just find her pacifier or give her a 2oz bottle and shes fine and falls back asleep). we are likely now transitioning to one nap during the day, as she has been fighting her afternoon one for a while now (and stretching out her awake time longer and longer in the morning). she is now typically waking up around 7-730am, will nap any time after 1030am, and be awake from about 130pm until 630 or 7pm (if she does have an afternoon nap, its from 330 or 4 to about 530pm). a few times when i have appointments during the day (that i had made back when she was awake in the middle of the day and taking 2 naps) i will wake her up around 530-6am, then put her back down at 8am or so. that way we can get the appointments taken care of and she isnt a huge bear. then she (maybe) takes another afternoon nap. its annoying but whatever, it works for now. we were certainly blessed with kids that like to sleep (not sleep in, but sleep in general. henry still takes a nap some days on the weekend. some might call it lazy, we call it a little piece of heaven). #yaynaps
milestones
she is so so so close to walking but it hasnt quite happened yet (any day now). she is getting braver with standing up, turning around and trying to let go. she can stand up on her own upsupported, crawls all around and loves to explore (especially places she knows she isnt supposed to). she waves (backwards), claps, and climbs up the stairs. she responds to requests and can do simple tasks when asked (hand me the toy, give mommy a kiss, etc). says mama, dada, papa, hah (which is when she calls out for henry). and although she often gets mad when we say it, she does understand "no" and for the most part will obey us haha. good little pet.
we also celebrated her birthday and baptism with family and friends, what a wonderful day. we are so thankful for all who helped us make it such a special time.
love it all or not (she certainly loves it all... maybe not so much for us) everything for kids at this age makes noise. everything. obnoxious, neverending, squeaky, whiny loud noise. i guess maybe it prepares you for the coming months (years) of obnoxious, neverending, squeaky, whiny noise that kids themselves make. could there be a correlation? should all the sound toys go and we will have a child that wont be like that when shes 2 and 3? haha. kidding. maybe. but anyway, she loves it all. this age is tough to keep her occupied for any amount of time over about 5 minutes (very very teeny tiny attention span. 5 minutes is likely a very large exaggeration). grandma got her a "baby cage" but she really only likes to be in there if someone else is in there with her (luckily henry and grandma enjoy it). she wants to play with all of henrys toys, and is very much into chasing the cat (chips, not so much into it). still loving the bob stroller (for everyday use, i dont remember the last time we ran with it), ellie loves to swing on the swingset, and high chair and car seat are of course necessary baby gear, haha (but truly this kid loves to eat and go for rides!) after the falling out of the walker incident a few months ago, we added a belt to the walker to try to keep her in. its really just more of a nuisance, and we found out the other day it doesnt keep her in... we were all having dinner at the island in the kitchen and ty turned around and she had climbed out of it into the bean bag chair on the floor. ok then. (another reason why i think she is tall! although really she probably is too big for the walker).
outings
mostly the same... hannaford, target, brothers soccer games and practices, mommys doctors appointments. she definitely hasnt been to target as much as henry did, and i dont think she has even been to the mall (mostly due to proximity and my online shopping addiction haha. i remember taking henry to walk the mall all the time!). she is an excellent traveler and is pretty chill as long as she has snacks... just like her mommy in so many ways! (but who doesnt like snacks?!) its nice that she can hold her own bottle and feed herself without making much of a mess, it certainly makes traveling easier (and getting out of the house much quicker).
diapers
size 5 pampers or huggies (target brand size 4 and 5 were starting to give her diaper rash, just like with henry).
diet
we started trying to transition her to whole milk this past week, which she isnt loving. she used to down 6oz of formula no problem but now she more just plays with her bottle and then acts hungry (and gets milk spilled all over the place). im not sure if its because its cold or if she doesnt like the taste.... might just take some getting used to. i have yet to find a sippy cup that she will drink from. she almost downright refuses to allow you to feed her anything if she can see bananas on the counter (stubborn!). you hold out a spoon to her with whatever you are feeding her on it, and if she can see the bananas by the sink she shuts her mouth, turns her head, points and grunts at the bananas. we have had to hide them at times, its ridiculous. (but she often gets her way... again, some similarities here with mommy haha. just with more pointing and grunting).
likes
dislikes
as stated before, she dislikes eating anything offered to her if she can see bananas and doesnt have any on her tray. hearing "no" often gets a dirty glare/stink eye out of her. shes certainly a girl who knows what she wants when she wants it! she hates being put to bed if she isnt ready, will fight diaper changes like a boss, and pretty much refuses to keep socks on her feet. regardless of these clearly major flaws, i think we'll keep her around. (how how how has it been a year?!)
Eleanor Lynne, you are truly one big (little!) bundle of joy. i dont think we ever knew how we were going to be able to love someone as much as we love henry. but it happens, and its wonderful. watching you grow and learn is a real gift. you continue to amaze us all each and every day. our hope is that you and henry always share the special bond that we see developing. keep exploring, learn as much as you can, question everything, stand tall, wear your crown proud, little princess, and dont ever forget how much we love you!
happy 1st birthday, little Ellie bug!
