Fifteen Months

Ellie had her fifteen month check-up yesterday which could only mean one thing - more shots. Three to be exact. The good news is that she gets one more shot at 18 months and since she's right on time for everything, the next shot she'll get will be when she's four years old. I'll send Lee with her for that appointment because she'll actually be able to remember the shots at that point. Here are the vital stats:

Weight: 22 pounds 8 ounces (50th percentile)

Length: 32 5/8" (95th percentile)

Head: 17 3/4" (25th percentile) (I had to assure Lee this does not mean she has a small brain)

So she is tall and thin with a petite head. Life could be worse. I couldn't believe her weight - with all she eats, I thought she would weigh more. As we were waiting to be called back for our appointment, Ellie was fascinated by the fish in the aquarium. A little boy about 3 years old walked up to her and very sweetly started to pet Ellie's bald, little 25th percentile head. She reeled back, swatted him, and gave him her best "oh no you didn't" look. He ran off crying to his father and she turned around to continue to watch the fish like nothing had happened. My girl is fierce! I wanted to scold her, but I was laughing to much (which for the record makes you feel like a really great parent if you start laughing when your girl has made a boy cry). When we saw the doctor, I asked him what to do about her hitting, because it actually has become a problem lately. He told me that when she hits, hug her back and say "we hug, we don't hit" or if she bites, kiss her back and say "we kiss, we don't bite". We'll see how his hippie "make love not war/hugs not drugs" method works.

It was tax-free weekend in Texas last weekend so we took advantage of the sales and hit the stores to shop for Ellie's fall clothes. After shopping, we went to Sam's. This is were I met The Baby Talker. For those of you who are lucky enough to be around me on a daily basis, you know that I talk to Ellie like she is a Harvard graduate with an MBA. I DO NOT babytalk and it freaks me out when people talk like that. So I was making my way through the awesomeness that is Sam's Club when I encountered her. "Ooooooooo! Oook at ooouuu! Ou are oooo ute! How ode r ooouuu?!". When people ask Ellie how old she is, I usually give it a minute to see if she'll answer "fifteen months". When she doesn't, I have to pick up her slack and answer for her. "She's fifteen months", I said. "Ooooo! Big girl! BIG GIRL! Ou pretty girl! Ou PRETTY GIRL!". All right lady, move out of here. I don't want her to start talking ike ou.

On Saturday afternoon, we met Brandt, Jenny, and little Garrett at the club to swim. Garrett is the cutest boy - he's 19 months and looks like a little man. He was wearing giant water wings that were the size of his head. He didn't mind jumping in the pool and kicking around one bit. I think Ellie needs a pair. My mom and dad babysat for Ellie that night, so Lee and I went out to dinner and saw The Dark Knight. I was totally unimpressed, and I really wanted to like it. It's hard for me to sit through a 2.5 hour movie, so if I'm doing it, it had better be worth it. And this just wasn't. Heath Ledger was good, but Lee and I were both sort of bored. Since the weather was so awesome this weekend, Ellie and I went to Lee's soccer game. She loved to run around and meet everyone and is even pretty good at kicking a soccer ball. I know Lee will be so excited when Ellie is old enough to play on her own soccer team.

So that was out weekend - a diva, a baby talker, and the dark night. Where else but on the Bright Spot do you get characters like that?

"Bubble"

The floodgates are starting to open. Ellie said her first two-syllable word this weekend. On Sunday as I was putting the groceries away, Ellie went into the bathroom, grabbed her bubbles, came into the kitchen, handed them to me and said "bubble!", I just sat there and looked at her for a second thinking "did she really just say that or was that an accident?". But then I decided that it was too much of a coincidence that she was saying the word "bubble" and handing me the bubbles at the same time. She's also repeated it many time since so I know she knows what it is. She also has this strange ability now... (the video is a little dark, but hang in there)

The Olympics started this weekend so we watched the very impressive opening ceremonies. I've been glued to Michael Phelps, women's gymnastics, and everything else in between ever since Friday night. I wanted to start screaming when he was swimming in the 4X100 freestyle relay, but didn't want to wake up Lee. That guy is really amazing. I fell sort of bad for him though because the expectation is that he'll bring home 8 gold metals. That's a lot of pressure. We may have our own budding Olympian because Ellie is now able to jump from the side of the pool into my arms. She actually more hurls herself at me rather than jumps. I'm not trying to brag, but there aren't any kids in her swimming class that will do that. Okay, maybe I'm bragging just a little. Even if she gets a mouthful of water and submerges a few inches under, she comes up smiling. I see some more advanced swimming lessons in our future... the girl is getting past the point of singing "The Wheels on the Bus" while I twirl her in a circle.

Meg and Ruben got to meet Ellie this weekend. The last time Meg saw Ellie, she was one day old. We met them for lunch while Lee was at soccer practice and I thought Ruben was going to try to take Ellie home with him. It's good practice for Meg and Ruben since they're expecting one of their very own in early March!! So excited for them. I told Meg that she needs to get her own blog now so her mom can have daily stories of the little bambino...

We didn't do much else this weekend. I got a new phone which I'm loving. It's a Palm Centro. I would have gone with a Blackberry, but I've had a Palm since 2002 and all of the information in my life is in a Palm system so I'm sort of stuck. I can even check my new Facebook account with it! Lee thinks that's totally nerdy, but I think he's just a bit jealous. That facebook is addictive... I've already found a ton of lost high school and college friends with it. I wish it had been around when I first graduated from high school and college and that way I would have never lost touch with anyone.

Let the games begin!

HAHA! I love this picture. Doesn't she look like she's posing and ready to take off? I'm so excited that the Beijing Summer Olympics start today. 08-08-08 is supposedly a lucky number in China which is why they picked that date. The athletes are going to need some luck making their way through all of that air pollution.

It was always my dream as a little girl to go to an Olympics. When I had delusions of grandeur, I thought that maybe I could be an athlete, but after realizing that I could run and swim - just not that fast - I settled on the dream of being a spectator. We almost went to Athens for our honeymoon four years ago (and looking back probably should have), but that's as close as I've come. So now, my goal is for our family to go to the 2020 games. That's in 12 years so Ellie will be 13. If we went to the 2024 games, she would be 17 and most likely very embarrassed that I was her mother so that may not work. According to Wikipedia, the location of the 2020 games will be announced mid-2013. I'm going to start my planning then!

Kicking and Screaming

There she is... my sweet little Ellie. Having a meltdown. Last Thursday, I witnessed Ellie's first full-blown temper tantrum. I got home after picking her up at school, Lee came home, Ellie didn't get something that she wanted - whatever that was - kicking and screaming ensued. She got so mad that she stood behind the clothes hamper in the corner of her room and yelled her little head off. I tried to coax her out, but she would have none of it, so Lee and I sat on the sofa in her room and watched her. There was nothing else to do. After 2-3 minutes, she came out and put her head in my lap. I guess sometimes everyone just needs to stand in a corner and scream.

This happened again on Saturday while I was getting my hair cut. Ellie fell asleep while we were on a jog, so she only got a 45 minute afternoon nap. That always spells trouble. Lee was watching Ellie during my 3:00 appointment, and about 30 minutes into my cut and color, Lee called:

Me: Hello?

Lee: She's doing it again. She's screaming and flailing around on the floor.

Me: Just ignore her. She'll stop.

Lee: She's not stopping. She's been doing this since you left.

Me: Well, try distracting her with something.

Lee: LIKE WHAT?

Me: I don't know... take her outside and fill up the pool.

Lee: I don't know where her swimsuit is or anything!

Me: Then just take her outside and turn the hose on her.

Lee: This isn't normal, Tiffany. I think she has autism.

Me: She does NOT have autism. She's just tired and she's having a tantrum.

Lee: (BIG sigh) Okay.

When I got home, the pendulum had swung the other direction. She was in a great mood and was so sweet for her mom with lots of hugs and kisses. I think we're hitting the terrible two's 9 months early.

One of her favorite things to do now is to wait for her jack-in-the-box to open. Over and over again. And it's not enough for me to crank it - I have to put her hand on the crank and we both do it together. Every time it opens, this is the surprised face she gives me:

Then she says "Ooooohhhhh" and giggles and that makes me laugh because it's the same surprised face every time. Then we put him back in the box. And do it all over again.

We didn't really do much this weekend because it was so hot again. We met Lee's mom for dinner at R&D Cafe (overrated) on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the YMCA was hosting a kids triathalon near our house, so Ellie and I ran by during our jog to check it out. I was expecting to see kids riding around on their Dora the Explorer bikes, but not so. These kids had legitimate triathalon gear - speedos, road bikes, those aerodynamic bike helmets that are shaped like door wedges... and I swear I saw a seven year-old who had more muscles than Lance Armstrong. It was crazy. After scouting out the competition, I know I would have come in dead last in the "six and under" category. Ellie also had a swimming lesson, and I can almost get her to jump into my arms from the side of the pool. She'll stand on the first step and jump to me. I can't wait to take her to the beach - she's going to love running through the waves!

Side note: the little blue outfit she's wearing is what I was sporting this time 31 years ago. Yep - it was mine.