Toddler Tuesday: Silly little girl

Eliza has figured out how to push the button to make her 4-wheeler go---granted she only pushes the button for half a second a time.  She almost always has a genuine look of surprise when she makes it go.  She also enjoys bouncing on it and pushing it around the house.  Her dismounts are always adventurous 

Also, we had another week of mommy and me dance class.  Eliza really improved walking on the balance beam.  Watch-out Gabby Douglas!!

Are You Ready for Some Football (and friends)?

A few weeks ago, on opening NFL weekend, we traveled to Evansville for a friend's wedding.  The day after we were able to spend the day at our great friends' house to watch the Bears v. Colts game (and later, spend time with the happy groom!).  We had such a great time at Adam, Allie, and Emme's house!  Thanks for being such wonderful hosts.  :)

Emme and Eliza (look at her blue eyes!)

Showing off her leg warmers

Daddy & Eliza in Bears gear

Really into the football game (not really!)

Making sure Eliza has a tongue...

Someone loved the tunnel

Eliza giving some wise advice to her younger friend :)

Having fun together!

Eliza wants that book!

Double-fisting the sippy cups

Gary having fun with Emme

Thanks again, we had a wonderful time!

Toddler Tuesday (on Wednesday)!

We've already established that Eliza has a little obsession with socks.  But this video highlights this obsession in a brand new way.  We thought that this video would be showing off how big of a helper Eliza has become (so cute!), but instead, this happened:

Flashback Friday

Eliza at 3m old, when she was really starting to show personality!

Showing off her signature "concentration" look:

With Mommy:

With Daddy:

It's hard to even imagine her this little anymore!  We still use that pink bib in the middle picture, and it just covers her little chest and nothing else.  When we first got that pack of bibs they covered the entire upper half of her body!  *sigh*  We love looking back at our little girl and seeing how far she's come!

Fun Friday!

A couple weeks ago, our daycare hosted a Luau for the parents and children.  Gary left work a little early to check it out with Eliza.  Since I couldn't be there, he was able to get some pictures!

Gary says she kept choosing the blue one!

We decided to stay downtown and have a dinner at Steak-n-Shake afterward.  How cute is Eliza?!

Daddy's turn!

State Fair Fun!

On the last day of the Indiana State Fair, Gary and I woke up and decided to be spontaneous and go spend a few ours at the Fair!  I haven't been since 2003 and Gary can't remember when he was there last.  So we were overdue for our own visit.  So, we packed up, ate breakfast, played a bit, and headed out!

Ready to Rock

First things first, we had to stop for an elephant ear.  From the Red Barn, of course.  Elephant ears might be my favorite thing in the whole world when it comes to junk food.  We don't give Eliza junk food, but we had to let her share our elephant ear!  (I actually can't believe I forgot to add this to her list of "milestones" in the last monthly post!)  She really liked it!

What's not to like?!

Then we headed over to watch the dog agility show (the actual name is escaping me).  It was a fun show!   There was this one dog I wish I had gotten on video.  He jumped his personal best and the tower-thingy had to be at least 5ft high.  The dog seriously just floated--he was a bigger, but lean dog.  Incredible.  Eliza had fun, too!

How can I watch the doggies if my eyes are closed?

Did you see that, Mommy?!

Dogs are interesting, but I want that camera!

Here's a video of her watching the show.  She was really more into her snacks, but I promise--she liked the show!  :)

We then did some walking and some eating.  It was a fun few hours and we'll probably head back next year!

Toddler Tuesday: Tiny Dancer

Last Friday, Eliza had her first "Mommy and Me" dance class.  She followed all of the dance instructor's commands! (Not really).  Eliza spent most of her time chasing the balls around the room and making not so quick glances of herself in the mirror.  We all had a great time.

Stretching before dance.

Get out of my way! I'm movin' and shakin'!

I do what with this?

Ball.

Who's that pretty mommy behind me?

Ball 2.

Sitting on top of the parachute while the parents spun it....not so fun.

Sitting under the parachute:  fun.

Ball 3.

Showing Mommy how's it done.

Cheerleader in training.

We had a great time!

Time to put the tap shoes away.

Eliza's reward (and she couldn't have been happier).

15 Months Old!

Our little 15 month old is growing and developing so quickly!  Here's an update of her progress this past month.

Here we go again!

The Basics:

• Official weight from her 15m well-baby visit:  20.2 lbs, or 34%.  This is great growth and she keeps going up on the chart!
• Official height is 30 3/4 inches.  We can't remember the percentage so will update later when we look at the paper.
• She is in the 95% for head size!  Whoah, baby!  
• She's comfortably wearing 9m, 12m, and 6-12m sizes.  Kids clothing sizes are all over the place, though, and she can wear 3-6m size skirts better than any other size!  Her 6m-9m size dresses she wears as shirts with leggings.  It's nice to stretch these cute clothes like that! She's still wearing size 3 diapers and is in a 3 or 4 size shoe.
• She's had nearly constant congestion and cough this past month, complete with a fever spike here and there.  We treated a likely sinus infection and will start her on baby allergy medicine perhaps to see if we can help her out.  Since she's had her tubes put in, we haven't dealt with a single ear infection despite all the cold symptoms!  Yay!

Eating:

• We are in the stage of doing our best to feed her what we eat.  She's a very good eater at daycare and usually tries everything, and nearly finishes everything she's given.
• Favorite foods:  peas, black beans, avocado, banana, turkey, and cheese.
• The day before Eliza's 15m birthday, she had a final bottle of breast milk.  Over 5 months after I stopped pumping.  I'm amazed that I was able to produce and store so much for her (my original goal was to have enough for 1 full year and we had way more than that!).  She was down to just a morning, afternoon, and nighttime bottle for the past 6 weeks, though more on the weekends.  The week before her 15m birthday we realized that we didn't have many bags left, so we cut her afternoon bottle.  It didn't phase her.  Over the weekend we dropped her morning bottle, which turned out not to bother her too much!  And on her 15m birthday when we took her to bed without a bottle, she didn't bat an eye!  She wouldn't snuggle with either of us, which made us sad, but she laid down and went right to sleep like any other night.  Winning!  
• We're hoping her whole milk intake will increase as she realizes bottles aren't coming back!  

Movement:

• Eliza is nearly running these days.  She's more confident in her ability to move around every day.  She's also incredibly independent.  She'll take off down a long hallway or sidewalk and not look back for Mommy or Daddy.  We're always there, though...we're not letting her walk around by herself!  :)
• Her climbing skills are also improving, though she hasn't attempted to climb up onto the couches.  But, she's an old pro at crawling up stairs and getting into and out of her little "Eliza" chair.

Talking:

• Saying "mama" much more often!
• Regular words include:  ball, book, dog, more, mama, dada, a variation of Adam.
• "Sometimes" words include:  fish, banana, all done, hi.
• We had a big development in the word department this month.  Eliza added the all-important N-O word to her vocabulary.  That's right, folks.  Eliza is saying NO.  Most always with extreme emphasis and feeling.  Usually loud volume as well.  Her favorite audience for "NO" is Mommy, Daddy, and any child at daycare that invades her personal space.

Milestones:

• Eating pizza.
• Last bottle of breast milk.
• First State Fair.
• First Elephant Ear. 
• Saying no.

Her Loves:

• Playing with socks and/or shoes.
• Being outside.
• Her red ball pull-toy.
• Putting things or throwing things away.
• Sitting in her booster seat and putting the tray on her lap.
• Being tickled by Mommy's hair.
• Butterfly kisses with Mommy/touching Mommy's eyelashes.
• Climbing into and getting toys out of the toy cabinet.

Our Loves:

• How easy she goes to sleep even without a bottle.
• Listening to her "read" to herself.
• Her budding personality.
• Increasing cuddles and hugs.
• Visiting at daycare and how excited she is to see us.

Her Dislikes:

• Being interrupted or given help when she tries to do something for herself.
• Being fed when she wants to do it herself.
• When we don't get her out of the high chair right away after she's finished eating.
• Coughing.

Our Dislikes:

• Hearing her cough.
• Getting used to normal toddler tumbles.
• Her sad face when we have to be stern with her (not often, but it breaks our heart when it does happen!).
• How fast time is flying.  Slow down, baby girl!

We look at Eliza every day and just feel so much wonder for the little person she is becoming.  To think that she came from us . . . parenting is just such a gift and joy.  She's in such a fun stage and we're savoring it.

We love you, baby girl.

Toddler Tuesday: All about feet

This week's funny videos are foot centric.

15 Months: Picture Preview

Eliza's 15 month well-baby checkup is this Friday, so we will hold off on the full monthly update.  But we of course documented the milestone with many pictures.  Here are a few (maybe more than a few).

May I have that camera, please?

Pretty baby

I can't put on this sock!

Mid-day snack: cheese and crackers.

Riding is tough.

But riding is fun too!