{monthdate} 21 months

I can't believe I only have 3 of these monthdate's left!

This is by far my most favorite age yet.  Luella is growing into such a big girl with opinions, likes, and dislikes all of her own! She is also quite the communicator and the funniest girl that I know!  She has preferences in what she likes to wear and requests either a bow or scarf almost daily!! It is so cute.

Appetite:

Like with most toddlers her food preferences change on the daily (as well as how hungry she gets). As I have mentioned before the 2 1/2 year old we play with twice a week requests Mac/n/cheese every day so that is what our lunch is.  I try to add in some protein and a fruit or veggie as well.  Some days Ellie will eat her whole serving and others she won't even look at the mac/n/cheese.  Lately she doesn't like apples and is all about the strawberries.  Crackers are always a winner and she prefers hamburger meat or sausage over shredded chicken or sandwich meat.  I like to think that she has a pretty diverse palate and she actually will eat all of her veggies first about 95% of the time!

Sleep:

We have tried our best to not raise Lu with any sleep issues, which she can sleep just about anywhere at anytime with noises around. Her nighttime preference though is in our bed with us.  She usually takes one nap a day that averages about 2 1/2 hours, usually between 10:30am to 3pm depending on her wake up time and our daily schedule.  Nighttime sleep, we try to wind her down around 7-7:30 and usually is in bed by 8:30 and then wake up can be anywhere between 5 and 6:30am.  On nights she joins us in our bed it can be at 10:30, 12:00, or 2am...at this point we are more interested in our own sleep and its just easier to bring her in with us than to try and get her back down in her own crib.

Vocabulary:

Some new additions are "No", "Pooper" (Cooper), and "Mouse" for Mickey and Minnie.  She has also started to string words together like "Mama car", "Dada car" and "Nana car". She also speaks a lot of gibberish and I just love her sweet little voice. 

Milestones:

She is running everywhere, has asked to use the potty, climbing on everything in sight, is pretty good on the staircases at our nanny houses and can kick a soccer ball and throw other balls in the direction she wants!!  She also got to do her very first painting and it was a success so I see another in her near future.  Oh and she went to Disneyland and was a total champ.  She did great on the planes, meeting the characters and princesses (except for Cinderella), and loved all of the rides we went on! She got to go into a pool for the first time and loved it!  We have also started to enter the Tantrum Stage, it's just lovely.

Social:

A little butterfly at Disneyland and she does great with her nanny and church friends.  She even has her preferences with which kids to play with at church and loves to be with the babies!!  Sometimes she gets shy and I am not sure why but I guess she is a toddler and that is just what happens.  We have been working a lot on her manners lately and always have her look at the person she is saying Hi or Bye too, as well as making sure she says Thank You and waves or blows a kiss.

Stats:
Ellie is super afraid of scales (at home and the doctors office) so getting her weight is a challenge.  I was able to put her on the luggage scale at the airport without issue and she was 25lbs.  She is still a little shortcake and I love it.  I have been trying to buy up in her clothes so she has a lot of 24 month and 2T pieces but she still fits well in most of her 18 month options as well as some choice 12 month!  We have her in a size 4 diaper when using disposables but are really trying to utilize our cloth diaper stash.  I can now get almost all of her hair in a ponytail and I love to do braids in her hair as well.

My sweet little Ellie babe, I love you so incredibly much and I love watching you grow into a beautiful girl both inside and out!  Thank you so much for bringing me so much happiness in my life and making us a family.

♥ Ashley

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