16 & 17 months

I have a walking, talking toddler and sometimes I just can't believe my little girl is so big. We've been keeping busy, busy and this girl loves to be on the go!

You have the sweetest personality. You are most comfortable in a group setting where you tend to want to perform and put on a show. You giggle and clap when you realize eyes are on you. But, one on one you are much more hesitant and cling to me and cry. You are not the type of kid who will just go to anyone. You aren't shy, but you aren't fearless. You are not the kid who is climbing everything at the play dates and at the park. You are not the destructive type either. I love your little heart and how sweet you are to your friends. I do my best to let you warm up to people and not force you to do things that make you uneasy. 

We have a fun play group and are getting to know a lot of the different kids around your age. You love being busy and we've had a really fun couple of months!

My little Valentine in your heart overalls that Grandpa picked out. Watching my dad with you is pretty heart melting!

We've discovered coloring and we love it!

Uncle T always brings us something in fireman theme. You're busy entertaining your grandparents here as we wait for a brunch table.

Getting wild at one of our favorite play places...Kids Gone Wild!

All dressed up for a nice dinner out with Nana and Gpa!

We live pretty close to the Jelly Belly factory. We went on the tour and saw how the beans were made. Super fun.

We've been taking advantage of living a block away from the park!

This chair photo is the only picture I have from my very first night away from you. I took some work out of town and planned on spacing the work out throughout the week. I got a flu bug and ended up having to do the work in two simultaneous days. I thought I could drive back and forth, but it was just too much and I decided to spend the night. There were only two motels to choose from and this one seemed ok. That is, until two men knocked on my door at 830pm and wouldn't leave. Fun times! Fun times! I survived. And you survived your first night without me. Alls well that ends well!

This bow lasted about 4 seconds, but I have to document that you technically do have enough hair for a bow now!

learning how to catch and throw with Grandpa!

Celebrating many great things that have happened in the last year: Uncle T's job, Uncle T's wedding and now daddy's big promotion at work. So proud of those guys!

Ice water with a straw? Sesame street on the iphone and uncle T? All set! Love that face

Love to brush your teeth....for now! We sing the "brush your teeth" song at story time so as long as we're singing that you brush, brush, brush!

We are still story time junkies. We go to two different sessions. At 18mos you will move to the next class up, but we've loved this fun time with friends over the last year! 

Through story time and a local moms group, we have a really fun play group that is really active. I've gotten to know a handful of the moms pretty well and we've gotten together sans kids when we can. I'm so thankful for such a great community of mamas to raise you with! It seems like we do something with them every day!

 I finally got some crayons at home for you. You LOVE to color. I'm working hard to make sure you know only to color on the paper. "Only on the paper" has become a mantra around here.

 We went to San Francisco on a Friday and had a blast. Auntie A was headed into town to visit her sister. We spent the day with Godmommy J and took you to her family's restaurant which is always fun. Then we met up with Auntie A and had some pizza. You were a trooper and loved the change of scenery.

 A rare night out for Mom and Dad. Dad's friend R knows how to throw a party!

 There's another great play place in the next town over and each time we go you enjoy it more. You spent a long time playing in this kitchen area.

You came with for a quick photo shoot our photographer friend did for me to get some professional head shots. You behaved horribly but you wouldn't know it by these pics!

Of course once you were home you were hamming it up so I took my own pics. Love this outfit from grandma!

Eloise at 17 months

Weight: ??
Height:   Huge growth spurt since January. But my measurements are always off so we'll wait for the Dr. visit
Head:    
Diaper size-  Size 5
Clothing Size:  just officially outgrew all 12month pants and are now wearing a 24/2t top. You have my proportions--long torso! Your sleepers are all 18months. 

Milestones:  Talking non stop. You still babble in your own crazy language that we've dubbed "Ricky Gervais". Months ago we swore you were saying Ricky Gervais over and over. He is in one of the sesame Street episodes we have on the ipad so we were totally weirded out. Now it's the title of your language!

New words: saying doggie more clearly, hi, bye, up, uh-oh!, water, ball, ninnee (what our family has always called boobs for breastfeeding...), hot, ouch,  ruff, ruff,  what's that (wassat?), 

holding crayons and markers to color, "reading" books out loud, pointing to objects we name in the books

blowing kisses and pointing to belly, eyes, ears and nose

doing all the hand motions to all of our favorite songs-itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle, wheels on the bus. 

throwing and catching a ball is your favorite activity. It took a few weeks but you have gotten great at catching and throwing. Now we're teaching bouncing and rolling. 

Eating-  overall, you're a great eater. But I can never predict whether you will like something two days in a row. I don't force you to eat anything, so I just try to keep a variety so you don't refuse certain things. You love goldfish crackers, all cheese and all yogurt. 

Oh, and we're still nursing. Quite often. Right now it's easy and it works but I'm really hoping you wean yourself in the next few months. I just never really thought about nursing past two.  So we'll see how we do. 

Sleep: The past month has been horrible for sleep. Up every night. Usually you go right back down, but there have been a couple nights were you seem wide awake. I was sympathetic when your molars were coming in, but we're still dealing with wake ups. I can handle one night here and there but several nights in a row makes me a zombie! The time change seemed to help a little so fingers crossed I get my great sleeper back!

Favorite Toys: Without a doubt balls are your favorite right now. You light up when we play catch and you are always searching for your favorite toy when we get home. You still love your baby dolls and are so sweet while you mother them and kiss them.