17 months, My Beautiful Elliana.

4.08.12
Happy 17 months baby girl! On Easter day! What an exciting day it has been for you too. An exciting month at that. It's the talking month, as I would like to call it. Or at least the attempting to talk month. Lots and lots of words. Lots of jibber jabber. I can just tell you are antsy to make conversation with us. And I too am antsy to finally communicate with you back and forth. I look forward to the mother daughter talks we will have in the future. Starting from the "why is this that and that that" to "why mommy and daddy love each other and you." Those talks. Any talks. I look forward to it all. Papa does too. He loves you to pieces. And as you get older that love only grows more and more. If that is even possible. We never thought it was. You fill our hearts with an abundance of happiness. It bursts every morning at the sight of your smile and every night when we kiss you to bed.

We love you more and more, forever and ever, to infinity and beyond.

Love,

Mama and Papa.

-I walked in the room the other day and you were reading your book, one of your "peekaboo books" and you were opening one of the pages and saying "cwak cwak cwak" and I saw you were pointing to the "clock." It wasn't even one of the words we have been working on, so I was so impressed I screamed for your papa to come and look. Oh, the things we get excited about my dear.

-We celebrated your first "real" Easter with an egg hunt, egg dying, and lots of family fun in all. We will write about that in another post. Lets just say you had so much fun. It was one of your happiest days by far.

- You have 15 teeth {you had 15 teeth last month, I think I forgot to mention that}. There are only a couple missing spots... otherwise... you have a full set in that little mouth of yours {for now}.

- You weigh 24 pounds and are in the 75th percentile. And you are 32.5 inches long and in the 75th percentile. And her head is 48cm in the 90th percentile.

-You are in a size 5 shoe. Size 4 diaper. And size 12-18 month clothes.

- Your hair is as blonde as blonde gets. And when we are outside it's almost white. It's funny to me though because lately {more than ever}, we have gotten the comments of... "Oh my, where does she get that blonde hair from?!" And another "Why, she doesn't look like she belongs to you with that hair." And then of course they are in shock when I tell them that my hair was actually more blonde than yours growing up.

-It's so beautiful though. I love how long it is getting and that little curl that forms at the end. I know you love to twirl your hair all the time... but I absolutely adore running my fingers through your hair. I can't wait for all the hair-dos we will experiment with as it gets longer and you get older.

- You love your cousin Dawson. It is so funny to watch you two play together. You love to walk over to him and "pat" him. And when he is in the room? No one else matters. And you turn into this big girl. And my heart turns into all sorts of mush.

- When you want to watch baby Einstein you go get the remote, bring it over to me, or papa, or whoever else, and while pushing it into our lap, or leg, or any other body part, you say "shhhooow, shhoowww" and so persistent you are.

- When we are at grandma's house and I say "okay, Elli, time to go home," you stop what you are doing, run to the door, and start whining. Then we go outside and you go straight to the car, I open the door for you, and you climb right in into your car seat. It just absolutely cracks us up.

- You LOVE the outdoors. All I have to say is "outside" and then you say "shhoooees" and you are whining to get it. You would stay out there all day if I let you. And of course, the swing still remains your favorite thing to do. That and walks.

-Some other new words you have said "hauss {house},  cwak {clock}, baaaann {banana}

-You love to ride around on your little car. Its the cutest thing ever how fast you go on in it. You will push off with your legs and zoom away. And then zoom around the house in circles.

- Favorite foods: bananas {have to have one every morning, you beegggg for it}, kashi cereal, organic oatmeal, kashi cereal bars, plum organic tots, soup {specifically, chicken noodle soup}, strawberries, cottage cheese with raspberry preserve, pb&j {raspberry jelly}. anything sweet, crackers, organic/all natural yogurt,

-Not a fan of chicken or any meat for that matter. I really have to trick you to eat it... still to this day. Not sure what about you you don't like, but if I had to guess, I would say it was probably the texture.

-Out of all the meals, we struggle with dinner the most. You eat so good for breakfast and lunch and your 2-3 snacks, but something about dinner time you just struggle with it. I think partly it has to do with the fact that it is so close to bedtime and you are too tired to eat. Also, that's when we always have meat, and like I said... you aren't a fan of meat. And your attention span at this point is barely nothing. So some nights? You just have a couple bites. And the rest? Carson gets.

-You have 8 ounces of milk in the morning and 4 ounces with dinner. The rest of the day is consumed with water. And when you drink it out of your yellow cool straw looking sippy cup? You pound that water down. So much so that your diapers are the heaviest I have ever felt them.

- All you do is babble all day. You have said anywhere from 20+ words, however there are only a few that you say on a daily basis: papa, baaaan {banana}, shuuss {shoes}, shoooo {show}, duuce {juice=water}, go go go {to carson, or any dog},

 -We love to wait outside for papa to get home and then you run to him when he opens the car door. Of course, you have to climb in and check out the car like a big girl.

-And when mama goes to work, papa holds you in his arms while you wave me off goodbye.

-We started time out this past month. And girl, you have it down. As soon as I say those words... "Elliana, TIME OUT"... you walk straight to your time out corner. We only do 1 minute {if that} at a time, but I definitely think it is good for you.

-You love to giggle when other people giggle. And then when mama winds up the music when you lay down for a nap or go to bed... you burst out laughing. Not sure what is funny, but you think it's quite the humorous thing.

-You have gone to the zoo a couple of times and the children's museum once this past month. You also hung out for the first time with another little girl {who was 2.5 years old} and you were in awe.

-We also had library time for the first time. That was pretty interesting.

-Mama bought you a swing while we were in target one day. Set it up. And you have been obsessed ever since. You have always loved the swing at the park {still do}, and will stay on it forever... but now that it is at your house, just right outside... you demand to go out there every day. And we do. Warm weather or not... mama will sometimes bring lots of blankets and snuggle you in there and swing you. You are mesmerized by it.

 -Mama and Papa also got you a little "Car" for Easter... it's pink, it has a key, a steering wheel with a horn that you push, and the door locks. Its perfect for a diva

- Your sass is unbelievable. Out of this world. You twirl your hair like a girl. You stomp your feet, you throw your hands up in the air. You demand attention. And you get this look on your face. It should be illegal to have an attitude at such a young age.

-When we say "night night" you want to go straight upstairs. And if you are really tired, you will go straight to your crib. No books, nada. You are whining to get in.

-We were at grandma's house, stopped by after the zoo. When it was time to go, I said "lets go home." You marched straight to the door. When we got outside, I went to the car to open the door and you marched straight to the door. Got yourself in and into the car seat. Just like that.

-Sit in the cupboard. Thats been interesting.

-Aunt Lauren came over twice and hung out with us.

-You love to ride around that little pink "caaar" of yours all day long. The one that is indoors. It is the funniest thing ever. You get on that thing and you push push push with your legs and WEEEEEE off you go alllll around the house. And then you just giggle like crazy when we chase you on it.

-And then the second most thing you go to is the big purple "baaaalllll" that we purchased for you at Target. Best purchase ever. You love to just fling that thing across the room. And you love it when we throw it at you or on your head or up to the ceiling.

-Your cousin came over one weekend and spent the night with grandma. We had never seen you belly laugh as much as you did in the 24 hours that he was there. It would be safe for us to say that that was the best 24 hours of your life. If you could talk, of course.

Did I get everything? I'm sure I didn't....

But just know.... we love you SOoooooo much.

Today is also your Grandma's Birthday.

And also double special as she retires today.

Happy Birthday to your Grandma Kim!