15 Months Old!

Oh, Ellie Bug, you are officially a walking, talking toddler now!  Doctor's visit is next week, so we'll have physical stats then;  for now, we'll just discuss everthing else about precious you! 
Right now:
--you can walk and kind of run so you have started to detest the stroller.  Which is unfortunate b/c you can't be trusted on the streets of NYC quite yet.
--you can say a few words: mama, dada, ball, duck, and uh-oh.  When you say uh-oh it's just about the cutest thing ever.  You can also make some animal sounds for the appropriate animal:  bock bock for chicken and moo for a cow. 
--you seem to be fluent in a language that you created.  We have no idea what you're saying, but you say it with just the right intonations and pauses that normal sentence structure would have. 
--you love to manipulate things with your hands.  Your mechanical sense is way advanced for your age. 
--you are just starting to like books and you have two favorites.  One is an animal book and the other is Where is Baby's Belly Button.  That one is your very, very, very favorite.  Your daddy, your sister, and I will take turns reading it to you and after all 3 of us are so sick of it we can't see straight, you still want it one more time.
--we haven't really done much baby signing with you, but somehow you picked up the sign for "more".
--pretty sure you learned 'more' so that you could make sure you get enough food.  You eat more than seems humanly possible.  Your tummy gets so round we think it's going to pop.
--you have this way of tilting your head that we call "the patented Ellie Bug head tilt".  You look at someone, smile, shake your head back & forth real fast, then tilt your head toward your right shoulder and look up as though you're flirting.  It is beyond precious and I hate that I can not capture it on camera for the life of me!
--when we tell you 'no' your face crumples into a million pieces and you cry like you just lost your best friend.
--you sleep from 7:30pm to 7am and usually nap once a day for a couple hours, but sometimes you take two smaller naps
--you love to drag your blanket around with you, so we often call you Linus.
--you have the ability to hum in tune.  We hear you humming your ABC's all the time...it's kind of amazing. 
--you and your sister are becoming partners in crime.  You both go into one of your bedrooms, shut the door behind you, and giggle for twenty to thirty minutes at a time.
--baths are your favorite time of day.  You and Delilah will stay in the bath playing together until you are both blue from the cold.  Your dad & I leave the door cracked so that y'all think you're playing alone but we can see you the whole time & keep you safe.
--you love Patty Cake, the ABC's, and being flipped upside down. 
--you fill my heart.

Feeling the tiger's whiskers

Flipping through your second-favorite book

Laughing with sis

I asked Delilah to entertain you for five minutes when you woke up from your nap.  This is the carnage that ensued.  But I have no doubt she entertained you.

Red loves to fill your crib with books and read to you.  Half the time you are into it and half the time you are trying to escape...this is an escape moment.

Look at that joy-filled face.  You are such a precious little being.

Oh, Noelle, watching you grow up and take on the world is one of the biggest joys in my life.  We love you, little girl!!!