The Elf is 18 Months

Can it truly be May already? On Saturday our little elf turned 18 months old. It continues to be a treat to be around Annelise. She is always full of hugs and kisses and cuddles.

Sometimes I think I treat Annelise like a puppy as I show off her little tricks, but for the most part Annelise shows off her tricks on her own. She loves giving waves and blowing kisses to all who pass. Last week applied for her passport and she completely charmed the man who took her passport picture.

If you ask Annelise a question requiring a yes or no answer she will always answer. She gives one big nod for yes and will shake her head for no. This definitely helps with communication, but also leads to some tantrums. For example it will be obvious that she wants something so I will begin to ask her about the different things, "Annelise do you want your sunglasses?" I receive a big shake no..."do you want your cup of milk?"...a big shake no..."do you want Dada's hammer?"...a big nod yes..."I am so sorry sweet girl, you cannot have Dada's hammer", and then she will throw herself on the floor. I actually took a video of one of her tantrums the other day since I know that folks like Christy just cannot even fathom that my sweet little Annelise could throw a tantrum. But the video is over a minute and kinda painful. After watching it again I thought it might seem a little heartless that instead of comforting my obviously distressed daughter I was taking a video of her. It is somewhat impossible to comfort Annelise when she is in a mood like that, but in any case I decided not to post and let your imagination take you away with the idea. We usually have at least one day which is kind of annoying, but I hope will pass with time.

She is becoming much more independent. I have noticed when we are at a playground she will climb up the steps and come down the slide all by herself. We went to one of those places that have a lot of bouncy inflatables and Annelise absolutely LOVED every second. She would crawl into one of the enclosed inflatables and lie down on her back while everyone was jumping around her. I think she like being bounced by someone else. There was also a big inflatable slide, and she loved that I would sling her up and sit her on the top of it (the top was way above my head, I could barely reach it with my hands extended above me) and then she would slide down by herself.

Annelise is quite a destroyer. She is rough and tumble and sometimes I feel like she is dangerous! The other day she completely tore a board book apart. How does that happen? I am glad that she is so different from Hadleigh because it is fun to see her becoming her own little person with her own big personality. It makes life fun and interesting and never dull. She is still my little mischevious elf.