Elsa hit fourteen months on Saturday. It got here so quickly, it seemed, that I did not even realize the date had passed until yesterday. I think I was too preoccupied with the impending birth of Kate and Tim's baby (who arrived earlier this morning, and it sounds like all are doing well -- yay!!!).
Elsa is still just practicing her balancing skills and taking a few steps here and there (and usually only with our coaxing), but still not really walking. I am trying not to push her, as I know it will come in her own time, but I am so excited about all the things we will be able to do when she does start to walk. I know, I know, people keep telling me that I shouldn't be in a hurry, that she will just be into more mischief than she is already, but she does get around so well now just via crawling that I think there would be more benefit than negative from the walking. Speaking of crawling and getting into things, she is quite quick on hands and knees these days, pulls up and walks around things like a pro, and really enjoys opening cabinets and drawers and pulling things out. But even better, she has recently learned the wonderful skill of putting things back into containers, drawers, etc. She is learning that things have a place, so I feel now is the time to capitalize on the new realization, and I'm hoping Jarrett will be able to build a low-lying corner shelf unit in her room for her toys and books.
She hasn't gotten any more teeth recently, but I think she is currently working on some on the bottom of her mouth. She has become more of a picky eater, it seems, and it has been difficult getting her to take more than one bite of something new. For example, I made her a (wild Alaskan) salmon and rice dish the other night and got one bite in her, and she decided that was it. She actually takes a very careful look at the spoon as it heads toward her mouth, and if it is something she recognizes and knows she likes, she will very willingly open her mouth and accept, but otherwise she tries to push the spoon away, which can really make some lovely messes. She hated the spinach pesto sauce I made for her, but loves the spinach and cheese grits I make. She could eat cheddar bunnies all day, enjoys grapes, bananas, peanut butter, pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, and avocado. Some days she likes things like yogurt, fruit and cereal bars, and applesauce, and other days she will just turn her nose up at it all. I still cannot get her to drink cow's milk, and I've tried orange juice, apple juice, and grape juice -- so far grape juice is the winner.
Elsa still loves her books dearly and really enjoys playing with the Little People boat Jarrett bought for her before her birthday party. It plays a series of songs/statements, and there is one clear favorite, which she will play over and over, bypassing all of the others by pushing the button as fast as she can. She has also learned to stack her nesting cups in the proper order and can sometimes get shapes in the proper opening in her shape-sorter toy, which she becomes very pleased about and claps with delight in praise of herself. Now that the mosquitoes have disappeared for the most part, I am hoping to get some new sand for her sand/water table so we can get out in the backyard and play some outside.
She has learned several more signs, so her "vocabulary" has grown to include "dog," "book," "ball," "baby," "daddy," "eat," "drink," "light," "fan," "all done," "more," "please," "elephant," "duck," and "fish," and she has started to wave "bye, bye." She unfortunately does not tend to use these signs to actually request something (except for "please"), but it is still quite amazing to see her attempt to communicate. Several of her signs look very similar to others because she just doesn't quite have the motor skills to do them exactly, but I can still understand what she is trying to "say" for the most part. She also continues to babble a lot, which is so fun. It will be great when she starts talking, but I definitely know I will miss what I like to call her secret elfin language. Our second music class series ended this last Wednesday, but we are starting back up this Wednesday with a five-week "sign and sing" class, which emphasizes sign language, so I am curious to see if it will help refine her signing skills at all.
We went to church for the first time in what seems like ages yesterday, now that we are back in our building (the building went through a rather extensive renovation) and back to morning services, and Elsa did splendidly in the nursery. According to the nursery worker, she did not get upset until the end of the service when other parents were picking up their children. So this gives me hope that I will be able to use the childcare at the YMCA, as Jarrett and I would like to start up our membership again. We've been saying this for quite some time now, but just can't seem to get over there all together to sign the paperwork and get our cards made. Hopefully we'll do it soon so we can get a start on getting back into a regular workout routine before all the New Year's resolutions send herds of people to do the same.
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