At one, Eleanor is turning out to be a smarty pants like her brother. She's been a little more quiet than him, so we are always in shock when she displays new learning. We've come to understand that she's pretty observant. Where Bennett is outgoing, Eleanor is more reserved (initially) and quiet. But she actually says more words/sounds than Bennett did at this age. She regularly says: mama, dada, nigh-nigh, baby, bye ("Bah Bah"), the end (after a book - sounds like "Ee en"), Amen after a prayer (sounds like ah-en) and go go! But often if you ask her to repeat a word she will try and sometimes it sounds right! She can make more consonant sounds than Bennett could too. Eleanor is also learning animal sounds, and can do cow (moo!), dog (woof, woof, woof), and lion/dinosaur (roar!).
Eleanor loves when we clap and cheer her on, which we do often when trying to teach her new skills. She can: pat-pat animals and people :), wave hi/bye/night, blow a kiss (she either just makes a kiss sound or holds her hand on her mouth - hasn't mastered "blowing" the kiss yet), shake her arm along to "Go Pack go!", fold her hands to pray, shake her head no (mostly when we try to feed her things she doesn't want), move cars while saying "Vroom vroom!", and dance/bounce to music or singing. Just like her brother, singing/dancing is one of her favorite things. Her favorite songs are the ABC's, We are the Dinosaurs, and Bumblebee. She also loved Rudolph this Christmas. :) She would bring the reindeer antlers to us and when we put them on start dancing. When we start singing, she often yells or hums along with us. She can follow some simple directions like "Give your toothbrush to daddy!" or "Go find Bennett!" It's crazy because I'd say she understands a good amount of what we tell her to do. And she mimics A LOT of what we do. For instance, if I use hand sanitizer, she will start rubbing her hands together too.
Things Eleanor doesn't like include: being strapped in her booster seat, high chair, or a shopping cart. She doesn't like when Bennett won't share with her or pushes her away. She hates having to lay down for diaper changes or clothing changes. She doesn't like being in the car for too long. She used to like baths, but now she just tries to climb out of the tub. She really dislikes having to sit down and smile for pictures. She's got a big opinion and will let us know by yelling and/or crying if she is unhappy with how things are going. She doesn't like if someone new tries to pick her up if she's feeling a little shy/unsure. She can be SUPER clingy to me at times, and other times is very independent.
Eleanor is usually a good eater, except for when she's sick, which has been a lot lately. We are in the church nursery a few times a week, and since Eleanor is teething she always is getting sick from chewing on random items. Eleanor's favorite foods include cheese, pizza, fruit, crackers, yogurt puffs, and anything we're eating that she can steal from us. When she's "all done" she puts her hands on her hair and pretty much rubs her food all over herself - ugh, it usually ends up in needing a bath. The other fun thing to do is drop food on the floor for Cooper. Even when she's sick she still nurses well, so that's a relief. Since she never really took to a bottle, she still nurses about 4-5 times per day. Sometimes one of those feedings is at night. Since being sick the past few months with off-and-on colds, she's been waking in the night again. She does drink water pretty well from a sippy cup, so we'll be working on transitioning to whole milk soon!
Eleanor's favorite things include: her brother and anything he's playing with, dogs and trying to pet them, babies (Baaaay - bee!), slides, climbing on things, reading books, pulling her socks off in the car, sitting in kid chairs, and lately, carrying random things all over the house. We keep having to go on hunts for toys Bennett got for Christmas, like his little Paw Patrol pups, and we find them in very random places. Now that Eleanor is walking 100%, she is much more independent which is so nice. I no longer have her wanting to sit on my lap or be carried constantly (although she definitely still prefers to be by me).
At Eleanor's doctor appointment, she was 16 pounds 11 ounces (8%), and 28.5 inches tall (27%). Her head circumference is 44.5cm (39%). She is small, but growing consistently, so the doctor said she's doing just fine. She was low on iron, so we have to give her a little iron boost with a liquid multivitamin and try to push more meats. Overall the doctor thinks she looks great - she is meeting some 15 month milestones even! She cried HARD when she got her three shots and blood draw from her toe to check her iron and lead levels. Eleanor is cutting her 9th (!!!) tooth and has three more swollen gums (her incisors). She just outgrew all 9 month clothing (not for width, but length - all her onesies were 3/4 sleeves on her). She's still in size 3 diapers.
We are having a party with our family to celebrate Eleanor's first birthday on January 9. Today we just celebrated with our small family by having pizza for dinner (Eleanor's favorite food!), and a birthday cupcake! We love this smiley, happy little girl! Can't wait to see her grow into a toddler! :)
