17 months!

Ellie is 17 months old today!

 Recently, 

• Ellie has begun to drop her morning nap. She still takes a short one but she can skip it and does fine without it too.
• She takes good afternoon naps - 2-2.5 hours daily! (glorious)
• She sleeps great at night - about 11-11.5 hours (depending on day and how early I have to get her up and going)
• She eats! And eats and eats and eats!  We can't figure out where she's putting all that food!
• Ellie nurses 3x /day - going strong & we're happy with it so I guess we are officially "extended breastfeeding"
• She is a stellar eater.  In recent months she's added veggie frittata and steamed spinach.  Sometimes we sit at the table amazed at what this girl will eat!  She will try anything and so far, we have yet to find something she doesn't like.  She is not a huge fan of red meat (like her mama) but loves fish, chicken, deli meat like turkey, rice, broccoli, any fruit, tomatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes, cheeses (including strong ones like brie or feta).
• The only thing she won't eat (although she will taste it) is lettuce.  It's easy to take this girl anywhere since we know we can find something on the menu she'll eat.  In fact, usually, I just split my meal with her - so easy!
• She is not a big fan of cow's milk.  Since we're nursing, I am supplementing her now to add cow's milk into her diet for the feeding I skip.  She will sip it but won't drink much.
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•  She makes funny faces on command:  mad face, happy face, & tonight - a "thinking" face

• She recently rode her first horse!  And she loved it!
• She loves coloring and painting (mostly herself)

•  She loves to read and insists on three books at naptime and bedtime.  She "reads" to herself in the car and loves a book in her lap.  Will has started reading some short books recently and he reads to her sometimes.  But he gets frustrated when she turns the pages too quickly.

•  She is playing upright more with her gait trainer.  It enables her to stand up safely (so I can cook dinner or take a picture without fearing her falling.)

 She keeps us laughing!

•  She's added a few more words to her vocab besides "Dada" (her favorite.) She now says "mama" more, "hi," "bye bye," and "doggie."
• She has added 4 teeth this month - all in a week... her "eye" teeth. This brings her tooth total to 16.  
• She cuddles!  She gives sweet hugs and lovely kisses... and she gets upset if her Dada kisses her too quickly.  She makes her intentions clear when she starts smacking at someone and before you know it - she's leaning in for a kiss!
• She waves to people all the time

•  She loves her animals and scoots around chasing them.
• She can make the following animal sounds: (horse (lip rolling sound), fish (lips smacking), dog (panting)
• She knows the following body parts:  nose (thanks to Will teaching her!), tongue, feet, hair, and belly button

•  She especially loves her big brother!  He has figured out that when she is fussy, she responds best to his singing made up songs about how much he loves his "sweetheart, Ellie."

• She rolls like a little maniac!  The girl is fast!  And she loves to be chased while rolling away.
• She is also scooting great on her bottom and even using one hand to help move herself.  
• These have become her primary means of mobility.  It's a struggle though as she often gets her leg stuck when scooting... and sometimes the easiest way for her out of a stuck spot is to roll... and then she is stuck on the ground as she hasn't mastered getting up to a sit yet.  But that will come someday.

For now, she's happy to roll and scoot and we help her get up and down between the two.

We are so blessed to have this girl in our lives.  She brings us immeasurable joy.  She blesses us with her giggle and high pitched squeals and her grunts and pointing and sparkly eyes and toothy smile and loving hugs.

How we love her.