Dear Ellie,
You are just a little over 16 months now - Wow!! What a milestone!! Your dada and I were just talking about how one year ago you couldn't crawl yet and you were still so tiny. While we look fondly back on the time when you were still a "baby" we are so happy with the "girl" you have and are growing into. You are the absolute light of our lives and we could not imagine one day, minute or second without you. You are absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to either one of us and our greatest accomplishment without doubt. To watch you grow, learn and have your own accomplishments is such a blessing.
You have changed so much even within the past month - you are simply amazing.
Here are the cold hard facts:
* You are the fastest little girl I know! You dart off like a jet, walk with a great amount of stamina and jump up and down when you get excited!
* Your hair long enough that you can wear small piggy tails (however you despise them) and we are now searching for a place to take you for a haircut!
* You have 10 teeth!! You now like to help "brush" your teeth at night and can mimic the sound your dada and mama's Sonicare makes and you know that we are brushing our teeth like you do!
* Animal sounds you know: cow (this has grown inconsistent), duck, monkey, sheep, fish, horse, frog (along with motions)
* Other sounds you know: train (choo choo) along with motions, Ellie (ahhhh!!), car (vroom), horn (beep beep)
* You STILL wave, say hi and smile to people. People STILL love it. You also now say "Bye see you!"
* You still love to dance. People love it.
* You (still) LOVE saying "hi" and waving!! To everyone. everywhere. repeatedly.
* When your dada gets home you still run to the door to greet him, then you put your hands up so he can pick you up, and you say hi -- so precious! Now you also yell "Dada dada!!"
* Your STILL smile lights up a room!!!
* Your laugh is so beautiful - you laugh when you are tickled (feet, neck, belly and side), when your dada plays Elmo with you, when we chase you, and when you play/chase with your red ball
* You HATE: having to sit still, being told no, and missing any of the action
* You are a superb eater!! You LOVE anything!
* You prefer big people food -your faves are: PBJ sandwich, tuna sandwich, chicken noodle soup, vegetable soup, hamburgers, chicken strips, fries, pineapple, applesauce, sun chips, goldfish, rolls, broccoli, corn, jello cups with fruit, cheese (you are your mothers daughter!)
* Your favorite condiments ketchup and RANCH DRESSING!! You love ranch dressing so much you could drink it up!! You can now dip your foods in condiments -- pinky up, of course!
* You have toys you LOVE: your red ball, magna doodle, bunny, your books, your ipod w/headphones, calculators, your toy cell phone and keys, pots, plastic bowls, plastic spoons, your duck and any of your outside toys (play shovels, scoops, buckets, and rakes).
* You absolutely adore being outside and it is often a struggle to get you back inside - once we played outside for over 3 hours and you were still upset when we had to come inside. You like to play with water in your buckets, pick up rocks, climb the stairs, and go swimming.
*You LOVE water!
* Things you love to try to play with but shouldn't: laptop, ipad, cellphone, desk top keyboard
* Personality: Charming, Stubborn, Inquisitive/Nosey, Loving, playful, Joyful, "too smart for your own good," - these have not changed...ever.....Soooooo I think this means something :)
* Things we are STILL working on: not yelling and not just doing "your own thing" and ignoring the rules/testing limits
* Favorite things to "watch": Eebee baby, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, iCarly, Big Time Rush, Spongebob Square Pants, and anything with music
* Biggest "Places" you've gone thus far: Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Disneyland, Tuscon, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, NV, Seattle
* You STILL like to pretend talk on the phone - and you love to chat with your dada on the phone when he is driving home from work.
* You enjoy taking a ride in your Cozy Coupe
* You love taking walks with your bear-pack on!!
* You climb up the stairs very fast AND now you can go down!!!
* You can wash your hands
* You can shampoo your hair
* Holidays you have celebrated: Halloween, Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and you had your 1st Christmas, your 1st birthday!!
* Nap time: 300 pm
* Bed time: between 900-930 pm
* Sign that you are getting sleepy: you start rubbing your eyes, you lay your head down, and now you say "Night, Night....bye.....wa-wa" (translation: It want to go to sleep now, good bye people, where is my water for the night).
* Favorite blankie: Your new pink/green animal blanket
* You LOVE to take showers!! In fact, you ask for them by name!
* Fav sleeping position: on your belly
* Big upcoming trips: a cruise, New Orleans, SLC, Disneyland, Denver
* Favorite song: Boyfriend (Big Time Rush)
* You are getting increasingly cuddly
*Everyone loves you. Everyone. No, seriously.....everyone. You draw crowds of people - no exaggeration. It is hard for two very introverted people to go places with someone so extroverted that draws a lot of attention:
Here are some examples:
~ When we flew the Flight attendant (Patrice) was a very mean looking woman who often ignored passengers and confronted ones that were abusing the drink and restroom policy. By the end of the flight she was waving, making funny faces and blowing kisses to Ellie.
~ When we went to Las Vegas we went to the outlet mall - you waved and said "hi" to someone walking out of a store. They stopped and started talking to you and then suddenly there were literally 6 people around you talking to you, waving, and motioning for others to come see you. You ate-it-up!
~ When we go to Phoenix we always stop in at La Fonda, our favorite Mexican restaurant, and the owner there always comes and sits next to you, gives you a kiss on your head, sings to you and tries to get you clap.
~ When we were at the airport in Seattle you had a group of 5 older people stop and comment on how cute you are - you waved and said hi and it was over - by the end of the encounter they were asking you for a hug.
~ At the Outback we had three different sets of people walk up and say how cute you are and one older woman told us "We love your baby"
These are just the examples from the past month or so.....
* Nicknames: "Ladybug" "Lady" "Ellie Bellie" "Bo-bz" "Bugz" "Ellie Bo Bellie" and "Ellie Bo Bo"
* Things you "Say": (new) shower, bye see you, poop, wa-wa, good girl, sorry, yeah, juice, shirt, pants, thank you, cheese, car, no no, bird, nose, hair, feet, shoes, soup, oh no, pretty, nice, gone gone, phone and baby -- I think that is all so far -- (old) dada, mama, baba, gaga, nana, papa, hi, moo, shoe, fish, ball, pup, puff, fuff, quack quack, nah, night night, bye
* Not only can you say feet, shoes, etc.... but you can identify them. You will point to your own nose (etc..) and say nose or if you are asked "where is your nose?" you can point to it. You can also point to items in a book and identify them.
As you can see you have made LEAPS and BOUNDS since being a mere 15 months old!! We cannot wait to see what the next month brings for you, and we hope that all your dreams come true!
We love you more than words!
Yes, of you, I still approve.
