Mama Meghan's Musings: Big Girl - already 1.5 years old!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I really suck at blogging!

This post will be a combination of Elsa's 17th and 18th months because I simply didn't get around to doing them individually. Sometimes it really is no work and all play at the Claussen house ;-)

Elsa Marie has been continuing to grow and develop.

Motor skills: Over the past two months, her balance has greatly approved and she's now running around the house. She's also been trying to jump (super cute to watch!), walking up and down the stairs (while holding our fingers) and shaking her groove thing. And - the oddest skill to date - has learned how to walk with plastic Easter eggs on her fee (I have yet to determine how this skill will help her in the future...).

My little weirdo Easter egg walker

Cognitive skills: Elsa's little brain is a sponge! We're constantly surprised by her ability to identify objects and connect concepts. The other day we were looking at a picture book with foods. When we got to the page with a hot dog, she started boogieing about because she connected the name of the food with the name of a song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - The Hot Dog Dance.

Communication: Elsa now says about 15 words/phrases. It's fun to see her work through a new word and hear it progress from baby talk to correct pronunciation. She also knows five baby sign words/phrases. My favorite is "Thank You", which she signs and says at the same time. We have a feeling that we're on a brink of another language explosion, as she's been babbling away non-stop during the past couple of weeks.

Growth: We went to the pediatrician last week for Elsa's 18 month appointment and found that she's holding steady on the growth charts, still weighing in at 60th percentile for weight, 70th percentile for height and 90th percentile for head (she just can't escape the Claussen noggin). In terms of pounds and inches, that's 23.6 pounds and 32.5 inches.

Dental Update: Elsa has almost a full set of chompers! She has all eight of her front teeth, all four of her first set of molars and is working on her top two incisors.We keep thinking that she's going to get a break from teething and then all of the sound she's gnawing on her hands and drooling again. The brave girl is taking it all in stride and shows little sign of pain. With all of those teeth and a tiny chip from one of her many stumbles, we decided that it was time to take her to the dentist. So Grandma and I accompanied her last week. Elsa was very interested in seeing what the dental hygienist was doing while cleaning my teeth but wasn't took keen to let the dentist take a look. A compromise was reached and she eventually opened her mouth for the hygienist but a full exam and cleaning will have to wait until February. The good news is she loves brushing her teeth, so we're all confident that her teeth are healthy and happy.

Showing off her pearly whites

Go "AHHHHH"

Last, but certainly not least, here's some pictures of the Little Miss from June and July. I had a bit of an "oooops" moment when I discovered that I put her in the same outfit for her 17 and 18 month pictures.