Elise is 23 months old!  It’s hard to believe we’re rapidly approaching another birthday.  We’ve been pleasantly suprised with how well she is doing with manners, especially please, thank you (usually “thanks thank you”) and sorry or excuse me when she steps on the dogs or they’re in her way.  She is also very thoughtful, taking good care of her babies and changing their diapers, comforting bunny (”bunny sad, bunny crying”), and sharing her food especially with us. We are amazed at her imagination and memory.  We’re talking more about baby sister, and Elise says she is “sleeping” right now in mommy’s tummy.  She came up with that one all by herself.  It has been hot this month, so we’ve enjoyed time at the water park and at the pool.

Elise is 22 months old!  This last month was really busy with visits to both families. Elise enjoyed all the people, and now likes to look at pictures and remember who’s who.  She’s still very entertaining with her rapidly expanding vocabulary and puts up to 4 or 5 words together now.  She also loves to sing Jesus Loves Me and is getting quite good with the words.  Her favorite coping mechanism when she’s sad, hurt, or insecure is “read books.”

We had a wonderful time in Colorado this past week with my parents, brother’s family, and uncle.  All 4 cousins enjoyed each other, and it was fun to watch them play together as it is a rare occasion to get together.  We had a great time relaxing, hiking, eating, and spending time together.  Elise loved hiking, playing in the water, throwing rocks in the water, and playing with her cousins.  I was thrilled to be able to hike, though I felt like I could only go at a snail’s pace, and Josh did double duty with Elise on his back every time.  Can’t wait til next time!

We had a great trip to NC this past week.  Elise did so well on the plane rides and all the hopping around to different houses.  It was a full trip, but a great time with family.

Elise is 21 months old!  This month we had the fun of VBS, and Elise got to spend a few days alone with Daddy while I went to a conference in Atlanta.  They had fun at the zoo, library, park, eating lunch out, and playing in the sprinkler, but she was worn out by the time I got home.  She still loves the park, reading, feeding her bunny and babies, seeing the horse statues around town, eating meals on the porch, and watermelon.