19 Months Old!

Gary and I were driving home from work today when he told me a story that involved him saying "I have an 18 month old daughter."  Then we both realized, wait, no we don't.  We have a 19 month old daughter, as of today.  Unbelievable.  

The Basics:

• Canines have finally broken through and given baby girl a break from teething!  They were pretty rough.
• Eliza is getting really good at using a spoon/spork/fork, and gets very excited when we cheer her on.
• Wearing 12-18m clothes in most brands, size 3 diapers for day (size 4 for night), and size 4 shoes (getting closer to size 5).  
• Sleeping 12 hours still and napping anywhere between 1.5-2 hours.  Normally 7:15-7:15 on daycare days.  Will sleep until 8 or so on non-daycare days.
• New additions to favorite foods:  blueberries, dark chocolate.  Super foods!  haha
• Likes to look at and talk to her froggy potty (portable potty) and talk to it.  Not a fan of sitting on it yet.

Speech:

• Eliza has so many new words, adding one almost every day.  I'm sure I'll forget some, but here's a general list:
• bow, chocolate, snack, Santa, potty, blueberries, Grandap=papa, a version of "one-two-three", go Colts!, snow, zebra, and many more we can't recall on demand.
• She knows so many animal sounds, including:  goat, owl, cat, dog, cow, duck, lion.
• She also can do sounds for cars, the Cookie Monster (awesome), and will mimic many things we ask her to.
• Eliza is putting together multiple words for short phrases.  No sentences, though.  :) 

Milestones:

• This wasn't a milestone-heavy month.  We're running out of these!
• First blizzard.
• First time sledding/playing in the snow.
• First Christmas in our home.
• Basement playroom finished!
• Sliding down the stairs all on her own (front and back).

Her Likes:

• Elmo / Sesame Street joins Super Why! as a favorite show.
• Baby dolls.
• The basement.
• Singing songs and dancing.
• Staying home with Granna instead of daycare 2 days a week.
• Getting ponytails

Our likes:

• Hugs and kisses
• New words and phrases
• When she does her dance-class moves
• How she plays with Mommy's hair
• Overall silliness and playfulness--so much laughter!
• How she still lets us rock with her before bed
• Her diligence and concentration on tasks

Her Dislikes:

• When she doesn't get to go upstairs
• Boring TV (she knows to bring us each remote)
• Sitting still for pictures
• Wearing bows (though she loves ponytails)
• Things that are warm (hot!)

Our Dislikes:

• When she doesn't want to eat
• Teething
• Heartbreaking "no, no, no, no" outbursts (for example, during diaper changes)
• When she grows out of favorite clothes
• How difficult pictures are 

We are like broken records, but time is flying by.  Now we're in a new year and Eliza is another month older.  She's less and less a baby, and that makes us simultaneously sad and happy.  Watching her grow up is bittersweet, but definitely more on the sweet side.  This month I personally have felt that Eliza is becoming a more equal participant in our little family, meaning that she is showing us as much love as we can't help but pour onto her.  She is truly engaging on so many levels that are new to us.  We love you, baby girl!