This past Sunday, I put up the Christmas tree and after scratching up my hands last year (those artificial trees can be sharp!), I knew to wear my work gloves this year. When Eliza woke up from her nap, she thought the gloves were fun toys!
We also took the opportunity to practice Eliza's newest trick: saying "Ta Da!" She doesn't always say it, but we do get the gesture to go along with it. :)
Here's some more practice and a really good Ta Da!
I'm a huge fan of this time of the year. Thanksgiving, then rolling into Christmas season...it really is just wonderful!
As always, we headed to Rochester--our hometown--for Thanksgiving at my parents. We had a group of nearly 40 people, including about 10 children (more-or-less), and Gary's family, too. It was such a fun day! Santa even came to visit, but Eliza and I were napping and missed him. We'll see him again sometime soon, I'm sure. ;) We didn't do a very good job of taking pictures, unfortunately, but here a a few!
All the babies!
Let me down! (Also the best picture I got of her pretty dress & tights!)
The ever-popular iPad.
We ended up staying in Rochester through Saturday, so had plenty of time to play.
ta da!
See my pen?
Once we got home, on Sunday I put up the Christmas tree and our stockings. The tree was best set up during Eliza's nap, but she helped with the stockings and checked out the decorated tree today.
Helping Mommy
Helping Mommy
(the mantle is a work in progress and we just got a new TV so the wires are all exposed right now)
Oooh, pretty ball!
I'm gonna take this...
All mine!
So, we're going to moving the ornaments out of Eliza's reach, I think, or else this will become a regular little game. Also, it kills me that she isn't wearing Christmas clothes in these! Haha! We have lots of Christmas PJs, but I'm still on the lookout for more Christmas-themed regular clothes. :)
I had this ready on Tuesday, does that count? Sorry it took so long to post.
Here is a video of Eliza mimicking Mommy when she has to use flonase. The cap was on so she was supervised and safe. As you can tell, I had to cut off the video to keep the cap on! For the future, I'll make sure my purse--where the medicine resides--is out of reach.
If there was ever any question how much toddlers understand and learn--it's an incredible amount!
Eliza's love for books is no secret, but there are a few choice compositions that really catch her fancy. Number 1 is "Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes." While reading we have to sing this song: "I love my white shoe!" and when we sing it, we shake our bodies side to side. Eliza loves that part and will typically give us a little shimmy while singing the song.
Over this past weekend, we had a little surprise on Sunday...snow! Eliza wasn't so sure this was a good thing.
Sorry, folks! We were off work Monday and completely spaced that we missed a Tuesday blog post yesterday! We have many things to share coming up, so I promise to be a better blogger the tail end of this week. Until then, here's our beautiful brown-eyed girl.
It's so much fun to see what little mundane thing Eliza will find funny. Tonight, she could not stop laughing hysterically when she would roll a radish off the table and Daddy would catch it. That game lasted a good five minutes before her baby impatience won. The video displays another incident. This time, Eliza enjoyed the box of wipes falling and us yelling "BOOM." She even started to say boom after a while (unfortunately, that's not on video).
Well, the months keep passing. We haven't figured out how to stop time yet. Eliza is now 17 months old and almost closer to 2 than she is to 1. She also has become difficult to take posed pictures of! With that said, here's the monthly update, but with some more candid photos than usual!
Are you spying on me?
Basics:
About 22lbs, not sure how tall.
12m and 12-18m size clothes. Still in a size 3 diaper.
Size 4 shoe, but we're buying boots in size 5 to make them last through the winter.
It was a rough month for sleep, but she's still our good little sleeper overall. Getting 11-12 hours each night and a 2 hour nap each day.
All four molars and four front teeth (top and bottom) are now fully in.
As for eating, Eliza is more finicky, but her favorites haven't changed: peas, pasta, cheese.
Eliza is walking like a pro, and running sometimes, too! She's also a pretty great dancer. :)
I'm a pretty girl!
Milestones:
First trip to a pumpkin patch
First time decorating a pumpkin!
First half-marathon (well, as a spectator!)
Being told she has real potential as a dancer--her teacher says she has dancer's feet and legs, haha! :)
I'm bored, Mommy.
Speech:
Words Eliza has mastered: No, MINE, not nice (nah niiii), bubbles (buh-buh), eye, bye-bye (sometimes just "byes"--with an "s"), hello (el-lo--but only when playing with a phone, not when we want her to!), button (buh), duck (duh), dada, mama (usually only when she's crying)
The word for dog has slipped Eliza's vocab, and instead she simply barks when she sees and/or hears one!
She makes monkey sounds really well and really enjoys that
Words we think she's saying: what's that?, outside, banana (still not sure on this one), this, princess, Eliza, out (usually in conjunction with "I'm a little teapot")
She does try to mimic us when we read to her or say certain things
The funniest thing she does is repeat the same nonsense phrases. We haven't picked up a pattern yet, but it's so funny!
When I sing to her, she starts to sing along, which often involves sticking her tongue out a lot and making noises--her own version of singing!
Weeeeee!
Her Likes:
Being swung around by Daddy (see above!)
Singing songs and reading books
Dance class
Grandpa T.--she loves all her family, but Grandpa has stolen her heart of late!
Opening and closing doors
Coloring/writing/scribbling
Pulling out wipes from the dispenser
Washing her hands at daycare (this will have its own dedicated post this week!)
Our Likes:
How she can point out the parts of her face and the corresponding words!
Hugs and kisses--so many this month <3
Her sense of humor--as Gary wrote recently that she's now purposefully doing things to make us laugh!
Seeing how much she understands, even if she can't fully verbalize things yet
Her growing vocabulary and funny sounds
Her love of books
Her helpfulness
Just overall, her amazing little personality!
Make it stop!
Her Dislikes:
When she can't have our phones/camera (as in the picture above)/computer
Having anything taken away
Coming inside after playing
Being put in her crib
Anything that curbs her independence
Our Dislikes:
Her sleep regression this month (which has already been resolved, thank goodness!)
When she pulls all the wipes out of the dispenser--but she will listen and put some back when we ask, ha!
It's hard to really list dislikes this month--we hate seeing her upset, and that does tend to happen with her growing independence and inability to do all the things she tries to do! We often need to step in and help her, and that makes her very mad/frustrated! But it's all part of toddler-hood, and we're ready for the ride.
Eliza is truly an easy toddler. We rarely find ourselves frustrated, despite the above. We understand that her behavior bursts are part of growing up, and it's our job to help her deal with it rather than get angry or frustrated. We just consider ourselves so blessed to be shaping her life and to have her shaping ours.
Eliza's Halloween started off with a costume parade and party at school. Then she helped pass out candy at our house (we didn't brave the cold to actually trick-or-treat--next year!). She had fun!
Riding in the parade
After seeing Mommy & Daddy, the wagon didn't seem like much fun
Walking in the parade
Not too happy about walking anymore
Can I go outside?
Party-time! Chuggin' some milk
ooo, cupcake
I think I like it...
Kid-approved!
Rocking in between trick-or-treaters
With Daddy and the pass-out bucket of candy
Refusing to look at the camera with Mommy
Waiting for more people!
Full view of costume
mmm, yummy! A cookies-n-cream Hershey's Kiss!
We hope you all had a fun and safe, candy-filled Halloween!
