18 months

My little Ella is 18 months old. She is one sassy and demanding little girl! When we went to the doctor for her 18 month visit Ella yelled at everyone and insisted on being right by me the entire time. Dr. Spencer told us she is more anxious than most, but that she is doing great. At the end of the visit after the nurse gave Ella her shots she asked if there was anything else she could do. Ella looked right at her and yelled "NO!" I believe that was the only word she said the entire visit! Here were her measurements: Height: 32.5 in. - 75th percentile

Weight: 25.6 lbs. - 75th percentile
Head: 49.1 cm - 97th percentile

Here are some pictures of the things she's been up to.

Ella loves clothes and shoes. She looks in her closet every morning and points to her church dresses and says "pretty." One day I picked out an outfit and she started yelling because she wanted to wear something else. She wore what I picked out though, because that seems way to crazy at this young age. She is obsessed with shoes and randomly starts playing with them and asks me to put them on. In the above picture we were getting ready for bed so she was trying to put her pajamas on.

On Ella's first birthday she fell down a full flight of stairs in our town home. I have been overly cautious about stairs ever since so I didn't give her much opportunity to learn until a little camping trip with my family last month. We were staying in cabins that each had a loft space and porches so Ella finally learned how to go up and down stairs.

Ella would suck on her pacifier all day long if I let her. She is only allowed to use it when she is sleeping. Sometimes she tries to trick people and tells them she is sleepy just so she can have her pacifier. One day I noticed Ella was playing really quietly in her room so I went to check on her. I found her hiding behind the rocking chair sucking her pacifier. She also hides when she needs privacy while going to the bathroom or sneaking a treat she shouldn't have (like gum- wrapper and all).

Ella's hair is so crazy! Even though I try to do it I can't figure it out. The right side has curls that will not straighten. I've tried using a flat iron and blowing it dry with a round brush, but it will still not go straight. The left side is stick straight. On top of that, I'm trying to grow her bangs out so this poor girl looks crazy most of the time. I still think she's adorable though!

For the longest time Ella could not figure out how to use a straw. It was so frustrating to her. She would just bite it or even blow into it, but now she can successfully use one! It is very exciting for her.

Ella is a lazy drinker! If someone holds her sippy cup as she starts drinking, she will refuse to take it from them and stop drinking when they let go. She also tries to find ways to prop it up so she doesn't need to hold it. It cracks me up!

At the beginning of July Ella started to talk. Before she really didn't try very much, she just signed and said Nena (her aunt Yolanda's nickname), Mama, and Dada. I wasn't worried, but we kept trying to encourage her to use her voice. Now that she has started she increases her vocabulary each day. She doesn't phrase anything together, but she gets her point across! Some of her favorite words are: night-night, bye-bye, mommy, daddy, doggy, kitty, ready, go, please, grandpa, abuelo (not grandma or abuela though), Nena, baby, potty, eat, yummy, treat, juice, pretty, cookie, no, ball, and Ella. She loves to watch Baby Signing Time still. That is the only thing she'll watch. She loves to learn new signs and continues to sign regularly.

Although part of me is sad not to be back at school this year, I'm really happy I get to be home with Ella. She is bound to teach me patience (I thought I had gained a lot after teaching elementary school for 5 years, but I have so much more to learn!!!) She loves to cuddle up and read stories and occasionally she shares a kiss with me to brighten my day!