Elin is 20 Months Old

Little miss is 20  months old and has quickly losting her title of “baby E.”  She now is a feisty independent toddler who has an opinion about everything, and we wonder where she gets that from! 

She has quite the personality and Mike and I often find ourselves giggling at what she is doing.  Thomas is her favorite side kick and every so often you will hear her call him “Tommy” otherwise it is “Thom-ma.”  They have started to play more together, which also means more refereeing for Mike and I.  Elin is stinker and holds her own if she gets mad, she will do whatever it takes to make her wants/needs know weather it is sugar or spice.  We are also keeping a close eye on her when she is playing because she isn’t always so gentle with her hands.  

Elin continues to be a climber and her ability to get herself in and around play structures and play grounds continues to amaze us.  She will follow Thomas anywhere he goes and fear does not seem to be in her vocabulary.  She has also started to “run fast” with Thomas and loves wearing a pair of his old green “fast runnin’ shoes.” 

Elin is a little chatter box and she has many 2 and 3 word sentences that she will use to tell us about what is happening, what she wants and needs.  She can also repeat everything we ask her to.  She is talking so much that most people can understand her and will comment on how well she is talking for her age, which really makes her mama proud (can’t take the SLP out of me!)  Some of her favorite things to say right now are: “my do it,” “Elin by self,” “one more time,”  “wait me,” “pretty please,” “mama fik it,” “hi (dada, mama, bampa, nana, stella, ect).  She also has some great one liners and one of our favorites is hearing her yell “emergency” and seeing what is happening.  She also is learning about her senses and if she hears something and either wants to know what it is, or does not like it she will point to her ears and say “ear, ear,”  she also does this with seeing something, but she says “see” to that.  Elin also likes to read along in some of her favorite books and is singing some songs.  Mike and I both love hearing her voice and listening to her thoughts. 

A major accomplishment in the last few months is Elin is in big girl undies.  She has an accident here and there but she is diaper less, even on our 15 hour road trip to Minnesota (what a pain).  She will also wake up dry from naps and will wake up at night to use the potty, which means many mornings her diaper is dry.  It is very convenient for us, except for the night waking!  In the last week she has been very into doing it all by her “self.”  She can get her pants off/on, get herself on the potty and will even wipe and get down.

Elin is still napping in the afternoon for a few hours and has a solid bedtime routine.  Along with the potty breaks she wakes up 1-2 times to eat.  She has many favorite foods right now including apples and peanut butter, string cheese, grapes, avocados, chicken, yogurt and oatmeal.  She is also starting to be a little bit cleaner when she eats and it seems as though we might have moved passed the throw and dump all food phase, one could hope right?!   

Elin is very interested in her babies, animals (favorites are puppies, kitties and horses), swimming and keeping away from the bad guys and coyotes.   She is quite a good mama in training and loves to nurse her babies, rock them, taking them for walks in her stroller, or carrying them around in her clothes (like baby wearing).  She is getting better about interactive play and really enjoys trying to keep up with Thomas.  That has started this crazy “bad guy/coyote thing.”  Both kids are terrified of both and that is the things they try to get rid of in their pretend battles. 

Elin had a doctor appointment at the beginning of December with her new pediatrician here in Texas.  They were pleased with all her milestones and after talking to them about some rashes she has been getting we decided to go ahead and get her tested for allergies.   After we have that done we will see what direction we head.   She was 28 inches tall and weighed 22 lbs.