17 Months Old!

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.