Fall fun

Elliot is growing up so fast these days. Today, she turns 16 months old! She is learning more every day & is getting good at shape-sorters now. She also has learned how being outside is more fun - sometimes she goes to the door & cries & other times she takes my hand & leads me to the door. If we go out front, she immediately heads down the driveway, turns right into the road, and heads up the neighbors driveway so she can climb the hill. We prefer letting her run around on the back deck -- less chasing! She enjoyed her second Halloween (photos below) and is looking forward to Thanksgiving & Christmas. ;)

We are still trying to sell our house & have drastically dropped the price WAY below value - we will do anything necessary to be back "home" before the next Holiday season! Elliot hates travelling at night & we have tried so many different things (DVD player, changing naps during the day, etc.) so we can't wait to be near family without having to make the 5-hour drive again.

Enjoy the photos with updates!!

October 9 - she had just started walking full-time, and we just retuned from the grocery, so I let her walk around the driveway. She instintly found the water puddles - but she was so cute I let her get soaked anyway. :)

October 10 - She was sticking her bottom lip out & whining...

...but put a camera in her face & this is what you get!

OCtober 11 : For the first couple weeks, she had to have her arms in the air while walking. Not wanting to give up her sippie, she carried it in her mouth with the straw.

October 19 - Cookie face! I let her have a small softbatch cookie & she definitely knows the difference between dinner & sweets - she grabbed every crumb & then stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth, and gave me this big smile!

October 20 - Our little guitar superstar!

October 25 - Elliot & her matching monkee from Aunt B! They have the same sweaters on. :)

October 29 - getting some fresh air on the deck...

October 30 - One of her Halloween outfits. :)

October 31 - Her second Halloween! We took her to the West mall in Knoxville. It began pouring rain right at dusk, so the mall was very packed, with long candy lines. Thankfully, Elliot doesn't know about candy (or care to wait in lines), so we took her to the enclosed play area for toddlers (floor & equipment is soft to climb on) and she had the most fun she possibly could have had! She took off running & never looked back for us - not once.

She immediately decided she's too big to hold our hands in public! This made walking through the mall interesting - especially since she's never met a "stranger."

Now we've made it to the play area...

This little Spiderman was so cute - he kept patting Elliot on the shoulder, but I didn't catch it on film. He was very interested in her, but she completely ignored him. That's my girl...no boys til you're 30! ;)

Very intelligent - she liked the blocks on the wall as much as the climbing.

Good job at climbing!

This may be the first time she has been down a slide.

November 1 - hahahaha

beautiful little girl in a pretty dress from Aunt B.

One of her favorite pass-times is piling her blocks & toys in front of the TV. Then she'll throw them behind the gate next to the TV (that blocks off the corner so she doesn't get behind the TV with the cables). The half-easter egg is taped over the power button on the TV because she couldn't stop turning it Off & On!

Carrying blocks around the house...

Another new favorite pass-time is pushing the laundry basket around the house. How pitiful...this girl needs a grocery cart! (Good thing Grandma & Pawpaw bought her one for Christmas...)

November 2 ...