Such a big girl!

Can you believe this picture was taken 18 months ago?

It's hard for me to believe that my baby is 18 months old today!!! Time has gone entirely too fast for my liking.

I spent a few minutes tonight reading over some posts from when Elyn was first born. I am so glad I wrote down my feelings from that time, I barely remember it now. Wow, I was EMOTIONAL right after Elyn was born. Some might even say "basket case". You might be too if your kids were 19 months apart.

If you would have told me a year and a half ago that having two children, 19 months apart from each other, would be fantastic, I would have called you all kinds of crazy.

But, it really, really is fantastic. I love how close Nora and Elyn are and how much they already love each other. I'm almost a little sad that I am not a month away from delivering my 3rd child. But, just a little sad...I'm also A LOT glad.

We had a very mini 18 month old celebration tonight.

Elyn got a half of a cake...but not all to herself, she had to share with the rest of her family.

Cheese!

Seriously, this whole piece is for me?

Go big or go home...that's Elyn's motto

Yummy!

Elyn is full of personality! She is definitely our little comedian, always trying to get a smile out of us. She also extremely active, way more active than her sister ever was at this age.

She LOVES to climb. If she can hike her little leg up on something, she will attempt to climb it.

These days, her favorite place to sit is on top of the coffee table. I saw her looking at the couch earlier, thinking, "Hey, I bet I could jump to that from this table." It's just a matter of time before that happens.
She really loves books. She is not the most patient listener, only sticking around for the first page or two before she is off to find another story, but she loves to sit by herself and look at the pages and say the noises of the animals that she might find on the pages.

Attempting to climb into the chair.

Hey Dad, catch me!
We love you so much Elyn Ann Henderson! You brighten our day and make life interesting. We absolutely cannot imagine our world without you. You are the best surprise we have ever had!!!

Some things about 18 month old Elyn:

• Says a lot of words/attempts to say a lot of words (mama, daddy, nora, book, dog/doggy, cheese, pancake, yogurt, egg, milk, water, paci, bunny, night-night, bath, look, help, eat, hot, cold, outside, swing, slide, flower, grass, baby, kitty cat, yuck, diaper, lion, phone, hello, bye bye, dress, sock, shoe, hair, hat, bow, eye, nose, ear, foot, tummy, chin, cheek, eyebrow, snack, more, no, yes...and many, many more that I have not listed)
• She said a two-word sentence tonight..."Look Daddy". I have no idea if she has said sentences before, I have no idea what is age appropriate for talking in sentences either, I just thought it was cute to hear her say that
• She LOVES Nora. Whatever Nora is doing, Elyn believes she needs to be doing the same thing.
• She LOVES to aggravate Nora. She will take something that Nora is playing with, stick around long enough for Nora to notice that she has it, and then turn and run as fast as her little legs will carry her. I usually find it funny.
• She is STUBBORN. With a capital S. When she gets her hand popped for something she is not supposed to do, she will look at me or Matthew like, "Is that all you have? Is that your best?" Grrrr. OR if we tell her "no", she will go back to whatever it is that we told her not to do and get as close to the forbidden thing without actually touching it. All the while looking at us to see what we are going to say. Looking forward to her teenage years.
• She is more of a cuddler than Nora but not the most cuddly kid ever. She will give long hugs and bury her head in my shoulder, but is quick to push off and run off to something new.
• She is a fabulous sleeper, sleeping 12-13 hours a night. She only takes one nap a day and it is about 2.5-3 hours long.
• She is turning into a picky eater and it is frustrating. Nora is such a good eater, eating most anything that is put in front of her. We hear Elyn say "no" a lot to what is put in front of her. We are being tough with her and making her eat what is for dinner. This is no diner and a short order cook doesn't live here!
• Loves her mama and her daddy! She prefers us to just about every adult. We like that.
• Loves taking a bath but hates getting washed. We think she doesn't like getting bathed because she knows that the bath is almost over. She cries just about every time we start the washing process.
• Tells us when her diaper is dirty. This does not excite us though. We don't have high hopes that she will be early to potty train. Nora did the same thing.
• She is very happy/friendly most of the time. If she starts getting really fussy/crying a lot then it means she is tired/hungry. Usually if we give her food or put her down, a new child emerges.
• Is all girl!!!!! Loves a dress, loves to dress up, loves to play with babies, loves jewelery, loves purses.
• Only gets her pacis at naptime/nighttime/in the car. She LOVES her pacis and LOVES when it is time for her to get them.

So there you have it, a little bit about our girl.