15 month stats... a little late

Ellison finally made it in to see Dr. Trout this week. At 15 months:

Weight 26.8 lbs ~ 90th percentile
Height 33.25 in. ~ off the charts

Funny Girl

Ellison and I had a fun day yesterday... she was in a great mood!

The first picture above is from her afternoon snack / coloring session. We started off with some berry applesauce with spoon and some crayons with paper. We ended up with applesauce covered crayons, applesauce artwork all over the table, and an applesauce covered baby. So much exploration and so much fun!

The second picture is from our pre-dinner coloring session. Paper was a no-go... darn it... because she created a masterpiece using my two favorite colors. GO GATORS!

The last two pictures are from Ellison's phone calls with Aunt Ashley and Aunt Kim. She asked to call them and then talked and talked and talked. In fact I could not get the phone if I tried, she ran from me.

Ellie's First Day

We had a great start to Ellison's first day of school. As we pulled into the parking lot, she noticed all of the kids in the playground and started to get really excited. As we walked into the classroom, her buddy, Bennett Johnston, greeted her with a ball. And well after that, she was off.

As I left, Ellison had two baby dolls sitting in a chair and was on her way to finding more. As I walked out, I heard her say "Bye Momma". And a few minutes later, when I peaked through the classroom window, I saw one happy little girl playing away.

Yay! I am so happy to have found a great place for her. And was it hard for me... no! I love seeing her happy and I know she is going to love, love, love school!

Worker Bee - Oh my how things have changed

Ellison today.
Ellison almost a year ago!

A few of Ashley's Photos

Looking for Daddy

Ellie and Mommy

Yum Yum... Ellie loves Gurtzberry!

Fun with Haley

Ellison and I drove to Tampa this afternoon to spend time with our friends, Angela and Haley Munson, at the Aquarium. Haley loves the fish, and Ellison loves her baby doll and Haley's baby doll. However, both girls had a blast. And well their moms did not have a bad time either... he he. The only thing missing during our trip? A visit with Aunt Kim and Uncle Art, who live just down the street. But hey, I guess some of us have to work on Tuesdays :)

Meet the Teacher Day has arrived!

Attempt at a "Meet the Teacher" Day #1
Attempt at the "Meet the Teacher" Day #2

Heading out for our shopping excursion


Ellison has decided she no longer cares for diapers.
The paper towels were out for a reason :(

All weekends must come to an end... which in our case means Meet the Teacher Day has arrived. It also means that this is the final week of my summer "break". Graham has termed this time as my vacation, but I rebute that 100%. It was definitely filled with less things to do, but trust me it was not a complete vacation. We did have some fabulous vacations this summer. Anyways...

Ellison and I had a wonderful weekend to ourselves as Daddy spent time with Nana, Uncle Andrew, and friends in St. Pete. We spent Saturday on Park Avenue with Aunt Ashley spending money (one of Ellison's favorite things to do). Sunday, we went house hunting. Ok, so maybe house hunting was not Ellison's cup of tea, but I fell in love with a house out of my price range. What's new right? Story of my life :)

Last night, both Ellison and Daddy went to bed at 6:30 pm... tired out after a busy weekend. Which means they were both in an excellent mood for Meet the Teacher Day. Despite good moods, I was unable to snap a good shot. Next Monday, first day of school, I will not back down. Ellison loved her classroom, teachers, and toys. She even shared a bunch of toys with a shy little boy. I am actually looking forward to her first day. Ellison is going to love, love, love school!

New Words

Ellison amazes me every day...

"broccoli"
"tooth brush"
"hair brush"
"move"
"home"
"moon"

Fun with the Paulters

"The Look"

checking out the boy

telling the boy "what's up"

The Paulter Family

Example of "the water" that eventually left us both wet.

Alex loved to splash as well

Is it a mouse or a phone? Depends on who you ask.

Hung up the phone...

the person on the other line was upsetting her :)

Graham will be completely, 100% jealous when he reads this post. Yesterday, Ellison and I met up with Graham to look at a few houses. Afterwards, we dropped Daddy at work and met our friends, Tina, Evan and Alex, at the Science Center. Ellison and I had a blast. We both left soaking wet thanks to the water play area. (Note: There are several little boys featured in the pictures above... Graham and I clearly will have our hands full in the future.)

DA-DA, Come here

A conversation between Ellison and her Da-Da:

"Da-Da, come here"

"What was that shugs?"

"Bath, Da-Da" (and she grabs his hand to lead him)

"Ok, bath time"

"Hi, Bath"

As of this week, Ellison prefers her Daddy to give her baths. When I try to, she gets in and yells for Daddy, if he does not come, then bath time is over :) It is very cute. I don't mind one bit.

Momma

Lately, Ellison will just say "Bye, Mom" when I head off to work or out for a date. However, I have heard from those watching her that once I leave, she will have "Momma" on the brain. Rarely does this end in crying, I mean afterall we have a happy little girl. Typically, she will walk around the house to make sure I am not there and will check the garage every now and then to make sure I have not snuck in.

On Monday, when I picked her up from her fabulously sweet nanny, Karen, I found Ellison waiting at the front door with her snack, baby doll, and blanket. Karen had said, "Ellison, Mommy is coming to pick you up." She then hightailed it to the front door and camped out.

Today, Aunt Ashley and Grandma were my fabulously wonderful sitters. Ellison said her normal, "bye mom" and I was on my way. However a little while later, Aunt Ashley called to her mom (aka Grandma), and the word caused quite the excitement in Miss E's world. She was sadly disappointed to find that I was not there.

This is a video clip... sad but darn cute.

My Wind Up Doll

Bye Mom!

This morning, I asked Ellison, "Are you excited? Aunt Ashley is watching you today." She smiled and shook her head. As she walked up to the front door, she said repeatedly, "Bac-ter, Ash-lee" and anxiously waited for me to unlock the door. And then as I left, she gave me a big hug and SLAMMED the door in my face. She proceeded to wave at me through the glass windows and was then off... before I could get a picture. Five minutes later, Aunt Ashley called me, "Ellison would not give me back my cell phone unless I called you." Awwww. . . my cute little sugar bean.

It can't be Monday...

Ellison's first ponytail!

Waiting patiently for her daddy to take her to the pool.

Or maybe not so patiently... throwing fit.

I don't want it to be Monday... wah, wah, wah. For several reasons, first, the most obvious, most people don't like Mondays because they mean the weekend is over and a work week has begun. And once again, the Clarks had a great weekend. Saturday was spent at Farmer's Market with Aunt Kim and Uncle Art. Sunday, Daddy took Ellison to Grandpa and Grandma's house to swim and I had brunch with Kavita and Ashley at Circa. All of this fun was followed by a trip to visit with Uncle Wayne and then a date night. (Thanks Rihana for babysitting)

Second, next Monday is "Meet the Teacher" Day at Ellison's new school. Which is kind of fun because I know she will love, love, love school, but sad at the same time. Luckily, we are all set with a fabulous new back pack and lunch bag :) I know I am ridiculous.

Third, it means I have two weeks left of summer :( Going back to school is not daunting for me, I actually enjoy it. However, I really dislike being away from my family for dinner, bath and bed time. Although, Ellison is very young and will not remember that I was not there, it is nice to be there. And I stand by the practice that a family should eat dinner together every night (well most nights) at a table without TV.

On a much more positive and not depressing note, Ellison picked up the words "bow", "cow", "stick", "Ashley", and a few others over the weekend. This morning, as we were driving to see her nanny, Karen, I asked, "Are you excited to see Karen?" She shook her head, smiled and started laughing. It was pretty darn cute. We also have a game in the car where she says, "Mom" and I say "Ellie" and we go on and on and on. Gotta love that sugar bean.

Happy Monday!

Ellison - 15 months

These photos pretty much sum up Ellison at 15months. However, a few more things to note:

• Still throwing fits
• Adds new words everyday to her ever expanding vocab. We also are hearing more phrases. The other day she turned to Pa Pa and said, "Where Momma go?"
• Current Fave Foods: Graham crackers, grapes, frozen yogurt popsicles, black bean quesadillas, Yogurt with blueberries and Ketchup (but I am not sure if this is a qualified food)
• No Longer Fave Foods: Macaroni and Cheese, Bananas, honey nut cheerios
• Ellison loves to play with her baby dolls. She has three (the newest is her bath doll) and she carries them around with her at all times when home. She will feed them food and her night bottle. She will attempt to take them in the bath (we attempt to only let bath doll make it - most nights we are successful). If we put one in the crib with her, then she will never fall asleep... to busy talking to them.
• Ellison loves, loves, loves to dance. She is adding new moves daily.
• Ellison loves to play with her blocks... stacks them and smashes them.
• Other favorite toys: Dollhouse, teacup set, and the animal train (made a come back).
• Favorite thing to do: Anything that involves water. This includes the pool, the baby pool, the water table, the hose, the bath, brushing teeth and the dog bowls.
• New thing to do: Color with crayons and markers. We have some masterpieces that will be gracing our kitchen walls very soon.