The Snodgrass Family: 1.6666 (20 months)

It's hard to believe Eliana is closer now to 2 than to 1 year old. I love this age; she is such a little person now and such a happy, fun, energetic little girl. We love you so much, Elle Belle, and are so lucky to have you. You are a ray of sunshine.

Here's a few Elle Belle stats from her 18-month check up:
Height: 32" (57% tile)
Weight: 26 lbs. 6 oz (76% tile) and at a current visit when we were in Paris at about 20 months, she was at 28 lbs!
Head circumference: 48 cm (85% tile)

And a few tid bits:
*Her talking has exploded in the last two months and I can't keep up with the words that surprise me every day, but some of our favorites are "pun'in brey" (pumpkin bread), "Unkuh Matt" (Uncle Matt), "edmame" (edamame), "Katya" (Katherine, a good friend of hers), "Mih beh" (Mr Bear). Tonight, she just tried to say aquarium; took us a while to figure it out, but now I get it. It's amazing to watch the speech development.

*She loves to sing and can sing the tunes to all the songs we sing. In fact, her new favorite is "Slippery Fish" and sings her "Goodnight Song" to everyone she knows. We'll hear her singing, "Goodnight mama, goodnight Dada, goodnight [input name]...". Her latest trick is to ask us to sing and she does that by saying, "Mama mama mama." I say, "What would you like?" Her saying "mama" repeatedly means she wants me to sing. I list all the songs we can sing and she says, "Yeah" or "no." When we start singing one and she doesn't like it, she says, "No no no."

*Her favorite "friend" is still Mr. Bear and he goes everywhere with her; to school, to the park (although we try to limit this as a two-handed tire swing becomes tricky with Mr. Bear in tow), in the car, on walks, etc. She loves him and it is so sweet to hear her say his name.

*She is definitely not a vegetarian. I think broccoli is still a favorite vegetable, but tonight she ate two chicken sausages!! She loves fish; any kind, including sushi and will eat all kinds of meat and pork. She loves carrots and edamame and will scarf down goldfish (who doesn't at this age?), but remains a very big fan of meat and broccoli. We are blessed with a great eater and can take her to any ethnic food and she will chow.

*Her favorite outdoor activity remains the park. She still loves to swing. I think she somehow takes a "second nap" in there. When Grandma was taking care of her, they would swing for 30-45 minutes. She loves it. She loves the park, in general, but LOVES the swing. When asked yesterday if she wanted to go to the zoo or the park, she said, "Pak."

*Her favorite indoor activity is reading. She will read with us for a couple hours a day (spread out) and it is wonderful. For about a week, she went through a phase where she only wanted to read on her own and by herself; but luckily, she's come back to sit in our laps. I love this activity; it is so fun to see her delight in books and such a treat to snuggle.

*She has some tantrums, but they're mostly around leaving the park or getting too hungry without telling us.

*Elle Belle is now really into coloring, stickers and play dough. It's so fun to have another activity to watch her explore shapes, textures and senses.

*And, she is still really great at playing by herself. I can get a quick dinner done or a load of laundry done and come back to see her reading her books.

*Eliana can now use a fork and spoon pretty much by herself. She'll ask for help from time-to-time, but is definitely able to eat on her own.

*Pictures below are from 18-20 months

18 months; loving all swings

Wreaking havoc at the doctor's office

Beach time at Discovery

Reading her "Child's atlas" from Tia Ana Rosa

"Muh Bah" (aka Mr Bear)

Another favorite activity is to transfer things; stuffed animals, clothes, cups, etc. Here she had handed me every one of her animals from her toy box....until I was stuffed animal camouflaged.