The Facknitz Ferret Farm

Well, 3 months after her birthday and magically Elaine is a walking, talking toddler! Walking is an awesome milestone, especially seeing her maneuver stairs and little inclines better and better each day. But I’d have to say seeing her language skills develop is even cooler. At her first birthday, Elaine could say Mama and Dada, uh-oh, and hot and that was about it. But now she’s able to use over a dozen words regularly and she’s adding new words every week at this point! (In no particular order: up, puppy, water, cheese, hi, bye, ball, meow, no, wee, owie, apple, and a few names of friends or pictures: Atlas, Rocky). And of course she’s babbling up a storm. Her babbling had been going since she was a year but of course now she uses lots of inflection, gestures, whispering and responds to conversation cues from others. The frustrating part of documenting her language is that she essentially stops all her talking once she sees the camera. Here are a few examples:

Lunchtime Conversation

Question, Answer
(This is a very short video. What I love about it is how Elaine's response, although spoken in her own language, is such a clear, precise answer. There are so many examples of this through the day but she shuts up every time she seems the camera! Sign.)

She also understands most everything we say. The first time she showed me her understanding was about 6 weeks ago when I said, “Do you want to go outside?” and she walked to the back door. Since then, she’s shown her word association in a whole lot of situations like reading a book, eating in the high chair, changing diaper, bathtime, finding a ball, putting on shoes and clothes and many more.

Ladybug, She Creaks Along
(You get a little taste of Elaine's walking skills in this video. We're trying to get Elaine to do little gestures she learned to a song called Ladybug from Music Together. Every time she hears the song she pretends to creep a ladybug up her arm, something she saw in class. Not only that but she knows the ORDER of songs on the CD. She'll start doing the Ladybug gesture before the song starts. Wow!)

One of our favorite moments through the day, and one we WISH we could capture, is when we put Elaine to bed. Jeremy or I will rock her in her chair and she’ll have long conversations with us while gesturing to the window or other parts of her room. It’s such a sweet time for all of us. Another of Jeremy’s favorite developmental phases is how Elaine whispers with him when they sneak around the house. She’s also learned to hug and say “awww!” which is my FAVORITE activity with her. Sometimes she puts her forehead against mine and we hum together. Of course I want her to stay small and precious forever! But there are precious ages ahead too!

As I said, Elaine is certainly on the move! Walking, running, climbing. And she’s getting taller everyday! We know this because she magically reaches things she didn’t reach the week before, mostly the volume button on the stereo. Her favorite activities these days are chasing various balls around the driveway, climbing on rocks, carrying baskets around, filling and emptying them with whatever she can pick up, playing with and putting on mommy’s necklaces, and playing with water at any capacity. Of course she also loves to listen and dance to music or watch Music Together videos. She gets sturdier on her feet every week! She can manage sliding down the stairs on her tummy or even step down if she has something to hold on to. Of course these milestones aren’t without their injuries! She’s had several scratches and bruises on her face in recent weeks.

Cleaning up the old house.

As for other milestones, at her 15 month check up she was still around the 30% for height, 50% for weight and 90% for head size. Growing brains! She also sprouted her first molar with another one around the corner. Not fun for sleeping. And her hair is thickening up with little curls in the back. So cute!

Daddy being domestic.

Lunchdate with her friend Atlas!

We’re so blessed to have such a smart, funny, beautiful, sweet, adventurous little girl. We love her more and more with each passing day.

What can one say about a Disney cruise? Zipiddey Doo Dah!!!

The 5 day voyage upon the 'Disney Dream' was indeed all you could imagine. Free ice-cream, pools, waterslides, spas, adults only zones, theaters, live shows, fine dining, a private Disney island, and more Disney themed trinkets than you could ask for. The accommodations were beautiful with each room having its own deck and lookout onto the ocean. Elaine particularly liked hanging out with her cousins, splashing in the water park, and being passed off between parents so we could enjoy drinks poolside in the adults only areas. Jeremy and I were content to sail along and enjoy whatever events came our way. We were able to manage getting away on the first night and had a 4 course meal in their extravagant adults only dining room at the top of the ship. There was a wine paired with every course. Decadence! But, the highlight of the whole voyage was when Elaine proved she was the fastest crawler on the ship by winning the 'Diaper Dash,' a huge event in the main entrance attended by at least 100 people. She even got her first trophy! Oh, it was a proud moment for the whole family!