You are now 17 months old and it seems as though you are moving closer to 2 faster and faster as time moves along. You are such a delight and there is not a day that doesn't pass that we don't look at you and thank God for the blessing you are to our lives. You bring a smile to our faces, you make us laugh, you challenge us, you have helped us push our ability to love to new heights and simply put - you make us so happy.
The other day your dada told you, "I'm going to be so sad when the day comes that I just can't pick you up and hold you." As he said those words I thought about you getting older and the truth of his words in many aspects of your life. However, you will always be our LadyBug and our baby Ellie....I pray that you will always feel you need us in your life because we will always need you in ours.
Happy 17 months Bug!
Here are the cold hard facts about you this month:
* 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!
* You got your first "haircut" by mom and you tolerated it well for the first 10-15 minutes and then...well...you didn't! However it turned out pretty good (or at least I think so)!
* You still 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 Bye"
* You still love to dance. People love it.
* 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), kettle corn, and macaroni and cheese.
* You are obsessed with popsicles - you wake up and you ask for one - you want one right after the other - you would eat popsicles all day if we let you.
* Your favorite condiments ketchup and RANCH DRESSING!! You love ranch dressing so much you could drink it up!! You are obsessed with dipping....you really want to just dip away.....if we'd let you you'd dip all your foods.
* You have toys you LOVE: Your books, your doll and doll stroller, all of your outside toys (buckets, shovels, wagons, and anything you can put water in), magna doodle, your red ball, and your stuffed monkey. You take this with you EVERYWHERE - you feed him your food - give him your drink - and he rides with you in the car.
* You still love to be outside which we've had to limit because it has been so hot, but you ask to go 'side first thing in the morning and throughout the day. We try to take you out after it cools down but this doesn't seem to fulfill you 'Side appetite!
*You LOVE playing in the 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 working on: not just doing "your own thing" and ignoring the rules/testing limits and sitting still
* Favorite things to "watch": Eebee baby, Spongebob Squarepants, and your FAV is Yo Gabba Gabb - we watch Yo Gabba Gabba ALL DAY LONG - no lie. 24/7 Yo Gabba Gabba at this house.
* Biggest "Places" you've gone thus far: Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Disneyland, Tuscon, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, NV, Seattle.
*Places you will be going: Cruise in August, New Orleans, back to Disneyland in October and to Florida in December!!
* You STILL like to pretend talk on the phone but now you talk longer - and you love to chat with your dada on the phone when he is driving home from work.
* You just started walking and holding our hands instead of trying to shake us off and run off by yourself.
* 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 (2), Easter (2), 4th of July (2), 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
* Favorite song: All Yo Gabba Gabba songs
* You are getting increasingly cuddly
* Nicknames: "Ladybug" "Lady" "Ellie Bellie" "Bo-bz" "Bugz" "Ellie Bo Bellie" and "Ellie Bo Bo"
* Things you "Say": (new) your name, kick, out, off, up, down, trash, there you go, TV, go, wow, chair, hot, flower, bottle-- 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, bear, shower, bye see you, poop, wa-wa, good girl, outside, 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
*You know the difference between off/on and up/down and you know that the oven can be hot, you say when your food is hot, and you still do pretty good word association by saying words when you see pictures in books or in real life.
* You started taking swimming lessons so you experienced your first class, your first time going underwater, floating, and making a friend
* You bring us the remote control and say "go go" when you want to watch Yo Gabba Gabba
* You come and grab my hands so we can dance when a song is on that you like
* When a song you know and like comes on you can "sing" parts of it -- Like the Metro Station song "Shake it" you sing "Shake Shake Shake Shake" during the course and during Boyfriend by Big Time Rush you sing the "Buh buh buh" part of "buh buh buh boyfriend" during the chorus.
Those are the highlights of the past month - You are so amazing!! We love you beyond words!!
Happy 17 months Bugs!!
