Josh, Ashlee and Elsie: Elsie is 23 Months!!!!

Seriously? As each day passes, I can't believe she is as old as she is. I feel old. Really? My baby girl turns 2 a month from today!!! Each month I think she can't get any more fun, or any smarter and each month she proves me wrong! Elsie is a little girl. She isn't a baby anymore (to anyone else, she will ALWAYS be my baby). She talks all day long. Most days I can understand everything she says. Some days there are words I am not sure what she is saying. Most of the time Elsie only says one word at a time. I try to get her to say 2 words together, but she doesn't get it. Soon enough. Soon Enough. Elsie is obsessed with princesses. All princesses. I put her in her church dress yesterday and she immediately said, "pin-sess?"
"Yes Elsie, you are a princess?"
Elsie also loves music, singing...all of it! I love it when I am singing a new song to her and she just watches my mouth as I sing, then later I hear her singing the words. I just taught her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" it is so cute to hear her try to sing it. Usually she says, "twee-ko, twee-ko" and then puts her hand to her mouth and giggles. I tell you what, this girl knows she is cute. We are in trouble :)
I love the song "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. It is the first song of the movie. I love to sing to it! I have already passed this onto Elsie (not on purpose). She now loves this song. I have a playlist for her of a variety of Disney songs. This one is always her favorite and the only one she requests. She tries to sing every word, but she usually just gets the last word of every-other sentence :) It is pretty funny to watch her.
Elsie loves to play. All day long. That's what kids do, right? Well, Elsie is good at it. She loves all her Christmas presents. She plays with her princesses in her kitchen and her doll house all day long. Usually her princesses are in the pots and pans and bowls in the microwave or oven :) Elsie loves to play "Ring-Around-the-Rosie" with anyone and everyone that will play with her. "Ros-EE" she loves it!!! Elsie loves to dance to music. Any and all music. I like to turn off the tv, turn on some music and dance with her. I wear out a lot faster than she does. "Bed." Elsie loves to play on the bed! She will come up to us, say, "han" - she will take our hand and then lead us to her bedroom and say "bed." She wants us to play on the bed with her. She loves to hide in the blankets, and say, "Are-u?" or "Es-ie?" then she giggles. She loves to be tickled, but what child doesn't. I love her giggle! I could listen to it all day long!
I can't decide if Elsie is a picky eater or not. I guess she is picky, because there are things she won't eat. She is funny about eating. If she doesn't like what we are eating, she just won't eat. She drinks milk instead. One day she will refuse to eat something, then the next day she will eat a ton of that same food she refused the day before. I never know. I just try to get her to eat at least one good meal a day and make sure her snacks are healthy. She does LOVE chocolate "Chwo-ket" and any and all candy! I don't mind if she eats it, but I do try to limit the amount each day. She would eat chocolate and candy all day if I would let her :)
Naps. Naps. Elsie and naps. One of these days I will get her on a regular schedule. Well, actually, she is on a regular schedule right now, it is just that she is on a TERRIBLE schedule. Elsie wakes up anywhere from 7:30-9:00 am. Most days she will start to act tired at about 2:00 pm. Some days she doesn't act tired at all until about 4 or 5. This past week, the majority of Elsie's naps have started at about 4:00 pm. She sleeps until 6 or 7. UGHH! Then she goes to bed at about 10:30. I really don't like her schedule. Last week, I tried so hard to keep her awake until bedtime, but she fell asleep at 5:30. UGHH! If it was someone else telling me this story, I would tell them to make their kid sleep sooner. It isn't that easy. How do you force your kid to go to sleep? I wish I had all the answers. I wouldn't mind if she didn't nap at all and just went to bed at 7 or 8, but she can't last that long. One of these days we will figure this all out.
The last few days, Elsie has wanted to read books. She will say "Stor-EE" it is so cute. She wants to read them before bed. She will pick about 3 books. Once you start to read the first page of one book, she will close it and say "uh-er-won" and reach for another story. Or once you open the first page and point to a picture, she will say "awl-dun" I can't get her to understand that the pictures tell a story. There are certain books she likes better than others. I am just glad she likes books.
Elsie loves her dad! I love to watch them play together. So cute! Josh is the best dad! Both of them are so lucky to have each other!!
Elsie is such a happy girl. She loves having all the attention everywhere she goes. She is so fun!! I can't get enough of her! Her fits drive me crazy, but thank goodness they are usually pretty short and are always followed by her wanting a hug. I love everything about being a mom! I love watching Elsie learn and grow every day. I will be honest that it kind of scares me to see her mimick me. It scares me that she is growing up so fast. I worry every day if I am teaching her right. Now is the time everything is so important. I wish there was a handbook to follow. Regardless of my skills (or lack of) as a mother, I am just doing my best to enjoy every second of it! I love Elsie more than life! I will never have enough words to thank Amanda for blessing our lives! Thank you so much Amanda!! We love you!!!

I love her perfect curls!

"Ker-Ber-s"

Apparently the rocking chair was a better place for a picture.

"Kisses."

Not sure what she is doing here, but it sure makes me smile :)

Elsie loves to bring her chairs into the living room.

Elsie playing with Jake.

They were playing in Jake's room by themselves and they came out with these hats on.

They know they are cute.

Elsie, Tori and Abby playing with all the princesses :)
I love how Elsie thinks she is so big. I love watching her play with other kids :)

Elsie loves her strollers and cart.

She moved them one at a time to the living room. She would drive one, stop, get another and drive it to where the first one was, then do the same thing with the third one. This took her about 10 minutes to get to the living room from her bedroom :)