Months 8 & 9

So….we’ve had a really crazy month, and I’ve barely had time to unpack and repack for all the trips out-of-town. Thus, I am just getting around to updating the blog. Elle has had a wonderful two months. She has so much personality, and as Kyle keeps saying, “she’s such a little person now.” And she has become quite the world traveler. She started off last month by going with me to meet her newest cousin, Grant, since Tarolyn, Dan, Carter, and Grant were visiting relatives in Cincinnati. Then at the end of May, she took her first plane ride (or should I say rides, since we actually went on 5 different flights) to Augusta to attend my grandfather’s funeral. She loves flying because she loves all the attention from strangers, and she doesn’t have to sit in a car seat. She spent most of the time looking between the seats and babbling to the people behind us or trying to get the attention of the passengers next to us. She loved seeing all the cousins in Augusta, and after a few days, she really warmed up to Nana and Papa (my parents). She especially loved hanging out with Papa at the airport and playing with his glasses. We flew again on the first weekend in June to attend a wedding in Washington, DC. She did fairly well with the babysitters (one of them commented that they just sat back and laughed at Elle because all she wanted to do the whole time was talk to the other two kids and get their attention) and she even got to see some of the memorials and go on a private tour of the Capitol (none of which she’ll remember, but we enjoyed it!). The next weekend, we flew to St. Augustine FL for the annual Mongan family beach trip, and Elle loved everything about the week. She adored all the attention from her older cousins, Corbin, Bella, and Carter, and they were so sweet to her, constantly giving her kisses and helping to entertain her. I kept joking that even when she’s fifteen, they’ll all be calling her “baby Elle,” since that’s how they all refer to her. Elle also loved the beach, and she spent a lot of time wit her Daddy playing in the water and the sand. Finally, we went to another wedding (for one of Kyle’s best friends) in Atlanta during the last weekend in June. Elle was an angel in the car, and even partied until late in the night as she attended both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. I think everyone at the wedding came by to talk to her, and she, of course, loved the attention.

Other than all the traveling, Elle is cruising everywhere. She pulls up on everything and finds creative ways to move from one thing to the next and stay on her feet. She’s not full-scale crawling yet (as one of my friends says, “She’s a true girl; she doesn’t want to get her knees dirty”), but she does crawl some, scoots around the room, and does a sort-of crawl/hop with her butt in the air like she’s half-standing up. I keep waiting for her to just take off walking, since she’ll frequently hold on with just one hand or will let go altogether and stand on her own for a few seconds, but she always holds back on or falls to the floor (which is good for me because I’m still not ready for her to be walking!). She likes toys okay, but she loves anything that mommy and daddy use more. Her new favorite item is my cell phone, especially since it can flip open and there’s a picture of daddy inside. So, if you get a random call during the day, it’s probably from her! She likes all of my cooking utensils, and gets very excited when I let her crumple up the mail. She is still a very social creature, but she hasn’t caught onto the idea of being gentle to other children. She always goes straight for the face, and often makes the other child cry. I started watching a different little boy named Sam, who’s almost 4 months old, and Elle is fascinated with him. She wants to be right next to him most of the time, but I always have to stay close to defend him if necessary. She is also not much of a sharer; it doesn’t matter if she has the exact same thing as the baby she’s playing with. She wants what the other child has and will continually try to take it from him or her. Did I also mention that I think she’s already throwing temper tantrums? On more than one occasion, I’ve been out at a store and allowed her to walk on the counter while I was paying. When I pick her up to leave, she gets very angry at me and starts to scream and kick for a few minutes. I guess I’m going to have a lot of work to do in the future! She is the sweetest baby, but she certainly has an opinion and her own personality, and I love getting little insights into this.

She’s been expanding her vocabulary and trying out new syllables, her favorite of which is still “dada”. She says “hey dada” and “bye dada”, but still no real “mama”. She had been trying out a lot of new foods and especially loves mashed potatoes, avocados, and bananas, and she loves feeding herself. For months, we couldn’t even get Elle to smile for the camera, but now, she loves the camera and will always smile on command. She now has four teeth, and they make for the cutest grins. She is still very petite, and we get that comment all the time (“she’s so little”). I just say it’s God’s way of looking out for me, since she likes to be held a lot and since I watch another baby as well and I often hold them both at the same time. She loves her daddy and gets very excited when he walks in the door, but she is still pretty much a mama’s girl for the time being. The other day, I was playing with blocks on the floor with her. She would play with the blocks for a few minutes, then turn around and pull up on me and lay her head on my shoulder and hug me for a minute, then get back on the floor to play and then turn around again for a hug. It was sooo sweet and one of those moments where you truly know that God has given you the most amazing gift in your child!