Yep, after 18 and 1/2 months we have a toddler!  Ellie has been cruising along furniture since she was a year old and walking holding onto our hands for months but never would let go.  On St. Patrick’s Day Ellie finally decided she wanted to go out on her own!  She is toddling all over the place now and we spend much of our time chasing her - it is completely entertaining.  A few new videos from the last few days.

Ellie walking in the family room:

Untitled from Emilie Duncan on Vimeo.

Playing with her three favorite toys - Harold the Monster, her new car and her daddy:

Untitled from Emilie Duncan on Vimeo.

A few new Ellie videos from the last week or so:

First up, her latest skill - climbing the stairs:

Untitled from Emilie Duncan on Vimeo.

This video clearly showing what we call the ‘ornery crawl’ - watch for the head bob:

Untitled from Emilie Duncan on Vimeo.

Just a little video for Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona!

Ellie on It's a Small World at Disney.

Ellie's First Steps on Christmas with a little help from the shopping cart.

Ellie's first haircut - REALLY not happy about it!

Dear Ellie,

I still can't believe that you are a year old. Your daddy and I spent much of today looking at the clock and talking about where we were a year ago and what was going on. It was sort of bittersweet to remember that day because this year has gone by so incredibly quickly. I feel like we just brought you home from the hospital yesterday.

This month it became very clear that you love music. You point at the CD player in your playroom and yell when it isn't on - you get that from your Daddy. He likes music on all the time too. You have also started to dance when you hear a song you like. You bounce up and down and swing your arms back and forth and wiggle around - it is adorable! Not the best sense of rhythm yet but you are getting there.

Your first official word? I think it was actually Dada. Yep, all that time with me everyday and you recognize him first! You yell it at him when he walks into the house after work - of course, it makes his day completely. You say Mama too and have just started saying bye-bye - although it sounds more like 'a-bye' when you say it. You also accompany the a-bye with waving. You clench and unclench your little fists and wind up waving towards yourself but everyone knows what you mean and you have won hearts all over Columbus with that move.

You are FINALLY eating food that has some texture to it. Small bits of pasta, Cheerios, small pieces of fruit - you love them all. Cheerios are your favorites right now, you eat them by the handful. We are still nursing (we made it to a year which was my goal) and will continue to do so until you finally take water in a cup - right now, you still refuse that.

You are still pulling up and have figured out climbing too. We took a cushion off the couch and you figured out how to pull up to standing and how to climb up there - you are a determined, stubborn little girl. I hope that you keep that sense of determination and stubbornness throughout your lifetime. It will take you anywhere you want to go.

Whenever we are out in public, strangers stop us to tell me how beautiful you are. We agree of course, you are a beautiful little girl inside and out. You flirt with them all and generally are pretty good with strangers as long as they don't get to aggressive with you. You are very laid back and really don't like it when people try to hard to get your attention - you reject them every time. If people just take their time and let you get used to them, you generally love them all!

This last year has been fun, challenging, scary, wonderful, enlightening, confusing, fabulous, really hard, amazing and so much more. It has also been the most amazing year of my life and I cannot wait to see what the next year brings.

All my love, all my life,
Mommy

Dear Ellie,

Eleven months old. Your daddy and I were talking last night after we put you to bed and neither of us can believe that you are 11 months old. There is no way that a year ago I was hugely pregnant with you. There is no way that you have been with us for that long. It simply doesn't seem possible.

You are still army crawling all over the place - you rarely get that belly up and off the ground. You will get on all fours and rock if it helps you reach a toy that you want but other than that, you refuse to get that belly up! Your poor little knees and forearms are rough and red from the carpet but you love to be on the move - crawling from one end of the playroom to the other all day long.

Since I mentioned the playroom, I might also mention that you LOVE to escape from the playroom whenever you can! We have the big living room completely baby proofed and gated off at both entrances - one at the dining room and one at the hallway. The gate at the hallway swings open and latches - for quite a while we were able to let it close itself and not be too concerned with it latching each and every time. That was until the day you came clomping down the hallway when I had left you in the playroom so I could make lunch. You aren't quiet, there is no way that you can sneak up on anyone with the way you crawl, but it still surprised me quite a bit! You, of course, think this is fabulous and make a break for it every time that gate opens. We might have to start calling you Houdini!

Beyond the escaping, you newest trick is sitting up. I know you already did that but now you can do it without our help. As of right after my birthday (July 18), you are able to go from crawling or laying to sitting. The first time you did (that I know of!) your Grandma was visiting and we found you sitting up in your crib after your afternoon nap. It surprised the heck out of us but you were certainly proud! You knew you had done something cool and were grinning from ear to ear. You are now a pro and like to go from sitting to crawling to sitting and back again all the time.

You are also starting to pull up on things with me being your favorite thing to climb. If I am sitting on the floor you crawl over and climb up me, hands pulling on shirts and necklaces and hair until you get your feet under you. You are really unsteady on your feet and they aren't flat yet (still lots of standing on tiptoes) but you love to be standing so we help you every chance we get. I didn't walk until I was 13 months so my guess is you are right along the same time frame.

As far as food goes, we are still nursing at least 4 times a day with no signs of stopping. You also have developed very specific tastes - you have a major sweet tooth and like your Daddy the only green veggie you really like is green beans! You love most fruits and really like squash and sweet potatoes. You have learned how to feed yourself the little Gerber puffs that you used to have trouble with. They have no nutritional value whatsoever but you are learning to use your hands and fingers so we let you have some as snacks and while we get your meals ready.

You have a stubborn streak a mile wide - I say you got it from your Daddy, he says you got it from me. Considering neither of us will back down on that point, I would say we are both right! If you don't want to eat something or don't want us to wipe your face, you make it VERY clear. The other day you apparently didn't want part of your dinner and decided to spit it back at your Daddy. Guess who thought it was funny and who didn't?

You are still babbling up a storm and will repeat things to us when we say them - mama, dada, baba (that is Truman by the way). You also have this sweet running conversation with yourself that is very cute - your Grandma says it sounds like you are saying the baby version of “yabba dabba do” over and over again and that I did exactly the same thing at your age. You also imitate us if we smack our lips or make a funny sound - that is one of your favorite games.

You still have no fear and would probably throw yourself off the edge of the bed if we let you - for now, you love to climb over our legs and pillows and generally anything on the floor. You play peek a boo around corners, you peek around things to see us and always give us the best smiles when you finally do find us. We play a lot of music in your playroom and you are starting to sort of dance to the music - swaying back and forth when certain songs come on. You wave at everything and everyone and have started to clap your hands. You love books and know how to turn pages. That is actually one of your favorite games - turning the pages on big picture books.

As of today, you have 7 teeth - the 3rd one on the bottom is finally cutting through the gumline. Seems like you have been working on that one forever as based on the running nose and generally grumpiness.

Hard to believe that in just one month, you will be one year old! We have a small party planned with just a few friends and family. I am sure the parties will get bigger as you get older but for now, we are going to keep it simple.

Happy eleven months baby girl! Thank you for being our baby girl and for being so easy, so much fun, so beautiful and so completely wonderful.

All my love, all my life,
Mommy

Dear Ellie,

I must say that although you do get cuter every single day, this month was actually sort of boring. Compared to months past, there was no big milestone, there was nothing major that happened. It was simply day to day life with you - don't get me wrong, that was still a ton of fun!

You babble with purpose now. You always seem to be trying to tell us something especially after your naps. I get the feeling that you are trying to tell me about some crazy dream that you had. It is adorable but try as I might, we just don't speak the same language yet!

You are still army crawling all over the place. Not much interest in getting that belly off the floor - the way you do it now works just fine - thankyouverymuch! You also have no fear whatsoever physically. You will crawl right off the edge of the bed, the edge of the couch, our laps - falling doesn't scare you. In fact, when we pull you back from nearly cracking your head open, you laugh like it was a game. Funny to you, heart stopping to your mommy!

You love the outdoors. If you are having a fussy evening, all we need to do is take you outside. We have been eating outside as much as possible this summer (the rain has made that hard sometimes) and you LOVE it. Something about being outside calms you down and puts you in a good mood instantly.

Speaking of eating, we are working through the texture aversion - you will eat puffs now and more chunky food. Thank goodness, I thought we were going to have to send you to college eating only jello and pudding.

We took you to see your Grandma Duncan this month as well - you weren't too sure about her and turned shy. It was a quick day trip because we had to work around your naps! You generally take your first nap 2 hours after you wake up and sleep for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Your second nap is about 3 hours after you wake up from the first nap and sleep for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. You finally go down to bed about 4 hours after you go down for the second nap - they call it the 2-3-4 routine and apparently it is really common in babies your age.

Your newest trick is splashing in the bathtub - you LOVE to sit and toss water around. It cracks me up but I have to keep extra towels around to block the water you splash in my directions.

4th of July was this month and you really didn't notice fireworks even though we have some very enthusiastic neighbors who were setting them off right down the street. I don't think you noticed a thing. I am sure that next year will be different.

Happy 10 months sweetheart - your daddy and I love you so much! Hard to believe that you will be one year old in just two short months. This year has flown by!

All my love, all my life,
Mommy

Dear Ellie,

It took about eight and a half months but you did it! You finally figured out those chunky-monkey limbs of yours and crawled! It was literally overnight - one day you were rolling to get to where you wanted to be and the next you were crawling across the room. It has been a lot of fun to watch you BUT we had to Ellie-proof in a hurry - you managed to unplug lots of things including my alarm clock before we could stop you!

You are fast and your favorite target is always Truman - you like to sneak up on him and pull his hair or grab his ears. He has been so very patient with you and I am sure you will be great friends someday but right now, he spends most of his day trying to get away from you. You will be playing and suddenly get this huge smile and then you take off across the room, straight at him. Poor bubbe - just wait until you start walking!

You and I went to Michigan for a few days this month. I took you to see Grandma and Grandpa in Holland but first we stopped in Detroit and you saw your Great Grandma Jeane, Great Aunts Kay, Terri and Sue, and Great Uncle Jim. It was a wonderful trip - you got to meet lots of people who were very excited to finally get to meet you in person. You got lots of love and snuggles from people who have known me since I was 7 years old. It was a lot of fun and you were a trooper - 6 hours each way in the car and you did beautifully!

You occasionally have a touch of stranger anxiety - you are usually okay with someone besides Daddy or me holding you as long as you can see us. Once you can't see at least one of us, you get antsy. You are a flirt and love people but you are definitely attached to us which is just fine with us.

You giggle and babble all the time. You have this sweet, cheerful babble that makes us laugh. It really is fun to listen to you talk to yourself, your ladybug, your hand - you have plenty to say! Something new that makes you laugh is when I take off my glasses. No idea why you think that is so funny but the second they come off, you start to laugh at me. It is so bizarre and just hilarious!

You weigh about 19 pounds and have what your daddy affectionately calls “Popeye arms.” You are a chunky monkey - I think your rolls have rolls! We love every single square inch.

Summer is upon us and you spend most of your days wearing really cute summer rompers - you get comments everywhere we go. From how aware, how sweet, how alert, how smiley, how cheerful, how pretty, how lovely you are - we agree with every single one of them!

Happy 9 months my beautiful baby girl!

All my love, all my life!
Mommy

Dear Ellie,

Two thirds of a year gone by and I cannot believe how big, how interactive, how funny and how lovely you have become.

Now that spring has sprung and the weather has turned warm, we have spent more and more time outside. I bought a mat for us to sit on in the backyard which you love. We blow bubbles, watch Truman romp in the backyard and generally enjoy the warm weather. We have also taken to walks through the neighborhood to the library at least once a week in your “big girl” stroller.

You now have 6 teeth! The two top incisors just came in over the last few days. The two teeth, coupled with the cold your Daddy brought home and a ridiculously high spring pollen count has kept your little nose running nearly all month. You, like all babies, positively hate having your face and nose wiped so it has been a battle filled month.

You still love rolling around and you are a heartbeat away from crawling but you still just can't get all your limbs figured out! You are starting to push up on your hands and toes and get your belly slightly off the floor. Much to your surprise, you managed to scoot yourself backwards doing that the other day. The look on your face when you realized that you were further away from the toy you wanted was priceless.

You babble and chat with us now which has been a riot - your favorite sound is something that can only be characterized as “aboof.” You say that a lot and look at us as if we should know exactly what it means. You also say “mama” now, which is wonderful! We are pretty sure that you don't know what it means but every once in a while you look at me and start to babble and mama comes out which makes my whole day.

You still screech and scream and squeal but like to save that for when Daddy gets home. The minute he walks in the door, you bounce, you squeal and welcome him home with enthusiasm every night.

You are eating well now and we have added a few foods including apples, blueberries, green beans, carrots and peas. You were iffy about them all at first but have taken to the blueberries and apples relatively well.

Looking forward to more fun outside this summer - happy 8 months baby girl!

All my love, all my life,
Mommy

Dear Ellie,

Compared to last month, March was downright quiet and dull. Most of the excitement happened right at the beginning of the month. We got home from Arizona to the biggest blizzard in 20-some years - we couldn't even get into the driveway because of the 18″ of snow on the ground. It was quite a storm and we missed it!

You can sit up all by yourself now. You will sit for lengthy periods of time (well over 10 minutes) and you can reach for toys and then right yourself again. You are much more solid and balanced and are figuring out your body every day a little more. It is fun you watch you keep yourself upright as you seem a bit proud of it each time you avoid a tumble. You do still face plant from time to time but are good natured about it and rarely get upset when you do teeter over.

You have perfected rolling - now instead of just getting somewhat close to what you want, you can roll right to it. And you are fast - I turn around and you are all the way across the floor! It is hilarious to see where you wind up - under the jumper, halfway under the couch. Always an adventure with you rolling around.

You are trying to crawl but haven't figured out how to move each limb yet - you move one leg up into crawling position but it just serves to flip you over onto your back. At some point you will get your tummy off the ground but for now, you just roll over and back trying to get there!

You are eating solids with gusto now. I try to make your food but because you inherited my texture aversion (sorry kiddo), I can't get them all as smooth as you seem to need them. I have made you bananas, mangoes, papaya and avocado - you liked the first three, avocados not so much! I also made you sweet potatoes exactly once but that really didn't go so well (just ask your Grandma about the vomit incident) so now we buy organic jarred baby food. So far you have had pears, sweet potatoes, prunes and peas. We have started to put a serving of the rice or oatmeal cereal into the sweet potatoes and you like that quite a bit as well - strange since you hated the cereal on its own! Next up are apples, carrots and more green veggies. You drink a little water from a sippy cup but would rather play with the cup than drink anything.

We started sign language class as well as another round of swimming lessons - you like them both just fine. I just love spending time with you and watching you interact with other munchkins - it really is fun to watch you communicate in your own sweet way.

You weigh 16 lbs, 12 oz and are 26 inches long. You laugh, you smile constantly, you flirt up a storm as long as you are in Daddy or my arms - you are a little apprehensive around strangers now.

Today was the most gorgeous day - sunny and mild, in the low 70s - just perfect for your 7 month birthday. Happy 7 months baby girl!

All my love, all my life!
Mommy

My Darling Little Ellie,

February has been the most exciting and adventurous month of your short life! Seems like I say that every month! But really, this has been my favorite month so far so bear with me - this letter could get long!

For starters, you now sleep through the night, alone in your own room, in your crib. For the first 10 weeks you were here, you slept with me - it was easier to have you right next to me so I could nurse you back to sleep when you woke up. The next 12 weeks, you slept in a bassinet next to our bed - still close for 2 am feedings but in your own space. Finally, we have moved you into the crib in your room. I wouldn't have done it any other way - all in all it was pretty painless.

We finally found a bedtime routine that you like. Daddy and I take you upstairs and get you dressed and we play a little - you are very ticklish on your sides and neck and love raspberries on your tummy. Daddy reads to you - usually 2 books. A different book each night for the first but you always finish up with Goodnight Moon, which is your favorite. That time with you sitting on his lap, reaching for the book, all cozy and warm is his very favorite time of the day. After that, we nurse for a little bit and then I put you in your crib. Most nights you sleep right on through to morning but sometimes you wake yourself up by sticking your feet through the slats of the crib or rolling over to your tummy.

Speaking of rolling over, you are now a PRO! You can easily roll from your back to your tummy (your arm gets stuck under you once in a while but you can usually get it unstuck pretty quickly) and now roll from tummy to back. In fact, you roll when you want to get places - see a toy across the floor, you will wiggle and roll right over to it. Well, maybe not right to it but close to it nonetheless! It is only a matter of time until you are crawling all over! Daddy and I really need to Ellie-proof the house!

You are sitting up by yourself for a couple of seconds a time (so long as there is a hand nearby to catch you as you tumble). For now, you sit by propping yourself up with your hands - tripod sitting. My guess is within a few weeks you will be sitting up on your own like an old pro.

We have been taking swimming 'lessons' as well. The 'lessons' are really just us playing in the pool with a few other babies and mommies. You are starting splash around while we are in the pool and kick your legs so I think you may be a water baby yet! Water being poured over your head doesn't bother you although it surprises you each time. It has been a lot of fun and your little baby swim suits are so darn cute.

You have two teeth already. Your two bottom front teeth are both just starting to sprout and it is seriously cute. You can just see them when you smile and it is making you drool a bit more than normal. You have also learned that you can BITE me. That is not so fun but still cute because every time you do it you look up at me and smile your best impish grin.

If one word could describe your personality it is FLIRT! You love people - you will stare at someone until they notice you and then reward them with a huge gummy/teeny-tiny toothy grin! Melting hearts left and right! You certainly aren't shy about getting attention either, squealing and gurgling away. It is funny to watch but we like to think you save the best smiles for us.

We took you on your first vacation and first plane ride to Arizona to visit Grandma and Grandpa. You were a ROCKSTAR on the plane! You played with me and Daddy and the people around you, you napped in my arms and barely cried at all. I don't think your ears bothered you that much but you alternated between nursing and sucking your thumb so that probably helped too. One of the flight attendants fell pretty hard for you - you charmed her and she kept stopping by to say hello and rub your little belly. Very cute.

We came home the day after your 6 month birthday to a GIANT snowstorm but we will talk more about that next month…for now, thank you for being such a fabulous baby. And thank you for letting us be your mommy and daddy - we are having a great time.

All my love, all my life,
Mommy