Ella 15 month update

I was trying to get a good shot her messiness.

Ella telling me her deep thoughts.

One of Ella's favorite things to do is pick dirt out of the garden and put it into the watering can.

Ella loves being included in the play of her older sisters...but that sometimes requires sacrifices on her part! She wasn't too happy in this picture but normally she actually really likes this particular game where she obviously plays the part of the "baby" in a game of "House". Whenever I see them wheeling her through the house in the "doll stroller", I'm first amazed that they can get her in it...and then more amazed that she actually doesn't seem to mind being in it. It makes my hips hurt just looking at it!

Ella and her little friend Brian

She was SO excited the day she figured out how to push this toy around and would just giggle the whole time.

Little update on Ella.

I don't have any stats b/c she won't have a check-up until 18 months but I am pretty sure she's finally hit the 20lb mark. It's funny because we still have her car seat rear-facing and should probably think about turning her around at some point! Well Ella's biggest news in the last couple of months is that she started walking! And this past week she started walking more than crawling and in the last couple of days she has started to have some more "toddlerish" moments. She definitely thinks she's older than she is at times and wants to do EVERYTHING the big girls do. We have stairs in our house and she very quickly learned how to crawl up and down them by herself which is nice in many ways because I worry a little less about her. She is quite the little babbler and while she don't understand most of what she says, she is quite serious about her conversations with us and talks with her hands for added emphasis. It's pretty cute. She has also learned to say "Uh-Oh" and that's about her only other word besides "Mom", "Momma", and an occasional "Da-da". Although Lance thinks she have been trying to say "Bye-Bye" the other day.

She just LOVES being outside. We kind of discovered this in Spokane. Anytime the girls open the back door she makes a beeline for it. Now that she's walking more she stays a bit more clean but up until now she would get SO SO dirty outside because she was just crawling over everything. At the end of the day it's straight to the bathtub for Ella because she is covered from head to toe in dirt...but she's happy!
She waves bye-bye to us,can blow kisses, and has started nodding yes when we ask her questions which has been really fun. And she continues to be really Mommy attached when it comes to bedtime and being left with babysitters. The highlight of her day is when Lance gets home and she never fails to give him a great welcome even if the rest of the house is in cranky mode!
She is quickly taking after her sisters and becoming a little "water baby" at the pool. She doesn't like sitting in a floaty but she likes to stand on the steps and climb in and out. This is great exercise for Mommy as well. :)

The other Girls:

Mia

Has been enjoying life in California. She loves swimming and just learned how to do it on her own. And as she watches older kids around her, she continues to be motivated to keep up with whatever they are doing. The other day the kids at the pool were diving for toys and Mia became determined to figure it out so she could do it too. She kept asking them to push her down so that she could get to the bottom and after working that whole afternoon she finally figured it out. She is so excited to start Kindergarten this fall and still just loves to learn new things and ask questions. She has deemed herself "The Question Girl" and its funny remembering back to when she was going through the "why" stage and how LONG it lasted for her. She loves primary, books, friends, riding her bike, singing, dancing, playing pretend and as always is just Happy to Be Alive! She takes her role as the "Big Sister" very seriously and usually introduces herself to people by saying "I'm the oldest in the family". The other day she came home from primary and told me that because she is the oldest she gets the "birthright" :) We told her it needed to be earned by good behavior. :)

Maddi

Still keeps us on our toes and surprises us daily with her funny little personality. And she never ceases to amaze us by how smart she is and how quickly she just figures this world out, nor how quickly she sees through our "parenting techniques". She has just stopped taking naps and enjoys the opportunity to play with Mia during quiet time but can still just barely make it through the day and quite frequently falls asleep while we are reading books at bedtime. She just recently started recognizing some of the letters in her name and was so excited the day she learned how to write an "M" and an "A". I think it's always so exciting to see them make these connections. She is excited to start preschool this fall with Mommy. And she continues to be the bravest person in our family. A life jacket for Maddi has become my best friend at the pool these days as she has absolutely no fear of the water (even though she can't quite swim yet). The first day we went to the pool her she jumped right in without any floaties or any adult around and when I pulled her out she caught her breath and was ready to go right back in with no hesitation! When Daddy is able to go with us to the pool she gets a chance to actually practice her skills and last week she was able to swim (in a doggy paddle fashion) a small distance. So who knows maybe by the end of the summer she'll have it all figured out. She also loves her sisters and has recently taken an added interest (for better or for worse) in "mothering" Ella and "trying" to pick her up. Unfortunately for Maddi, Ella is less than appreciative of these gestures of kindness! :)