610

(Ok, so I lied. I said the next post would be about the big party from the weekend, but instead it's about Eleri. Because, well, she is awesome.)

610. that is how many days little eleri ann has been a part of our lives. 610 wonderful days. Yesterday, the 24th, she reached 20 months. I can hardly believe that it has been nearly 2 years since we brought our tiny bundle home. Ok, so at 9 and half pounds she wasn't so much tiny, but I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.

My little one is amazing. Everyday she learns something new and surprises me in an incredible way. Just when I think I have found my favourite stage, she grows and I love the new stage even more. She is constantly learning and growing, and loves to explore. She loves balls more than anything and would ride a bike all day if we would let her. Bubbles is her new favourite word and I wish I had a video camera to capture her chasing around the bubbles, giggling and squeaking 'bubble, bubble'

As for words, she still doesn't say a lot but we are getting a few new words here and there. She has pretty much perfected the art of communicating without words, so I am not sure that will encourage her to actually speak. Some days it really bothers me, others I could care less. One of my baby mamas reminds me that every child develops differently. Eleri was walking completely independently at 10 months. This friends baby was talking at 12 months. Talking in sentences, but not walking until 18 months. It's all different. I digress. The point is, we have a few new words bringing the total to about 20.

One of her new words is monkey. She immediately follows this word by making monkey sounds 'oooo, oooo' and putting her little arms up to make monkey arms. It is pretty awesome. Below you can see her making the monkey motions.

E's new favourite thing? Lambs. This is the view from her window

Yesterday she got to feed this little fella with a bottle. His mother rejected him so the farmer is bottle feeding him until he can find a 'foster mum'. He brought him over to the house and just left him in the garden for the day. Rupert the lamb was a big hit. Yeah, the farmer named him Rupert, how awesome is that?! Ele loves lambs.

Another love of E? Dolls. My mom always said that i would end up with a girly girl as payment for me wanting to play sports and not liking pink. Perhaps she was right. Eleri loves purses, puts anything on as bracelets (as we found whilst trying to pack and our rolls of packing tape kept disappearing- and we found 5 of them on eleri's arms as bracelets!) and she loves dolls and strollers. She looks so big pushing it- e is a toddler now, not my little baby!

It must be instinctive as well, because I have never taught/showed her how to feed a doll, dress it, etc... so apparently she just woke up one day and knew how to take care of her doll. it is so precious to watch her care for them. She stops to feed it, cover them up with blankets and change their diaper. She is such a sweet girl.

That picture is also great because you can see this giant bump on the right side of her head. Look at the profile- notice how one side of her head sticks out? Yeah, giant bump. (details below)

I am fairly sure that at some point in her life this characteristic will change, but until then, eleri is fearless. Seriously. the child has absolutely no concept of fear. She climbs, jumps, runs, and crawls into the most bizarre places. She would climb on the roof if we would let her. I am convinced that she thinks she is 25 instead of 1 and half because of the things she tries to do. and the amount of bumps and bruises that poor kid has...

Take the below picture for an example. She loves to slide, head first- eyes closed, down the slide. Here I managed to catch her mid run right before she dove/threw herself down. Laughing until she landed on her head and got a MASSIVE bump. You would think that would teach her to not do it again. About 3 minutes later she was back up there. Fearless, I tell you. Fearless.

And it is not just physical activity. She is still not afraid of the dark, has no fear of any animal- in fact, she just giggles and giggles when dogs bark (even giant, scary dogs) and constantly tries to climb the fence to go play with the horses. You have to watch her like a hawk or off she would be trying to ride a cow!

Ele also has no fear of strangers. One of her new tricks (thanks Karen for the idea) is to 'meet' new people. She walks up to them, sticks her right hand out and says 'do do' meaning 'how do you do' Oh my word, it is the funniest thing in the world. All you have to say is 'Ele what do you do when you meet someone new?' and off she goes hand out, saying do do, do do. You could be a 10 foot tall giant and she would still walk right up to you. No fear of anyone. well, anyone except maybe crazy people dressed up like a French man. (cause who likes the French? ;)

(picture of the leaving do weekend with Rhys' uni friends.)

As for food, she is still stuck on her sandwiches. She can't get enough cheese and tomato or PB&J sandwiches.

She has started eating more of a variety and some of her other favourites include hummus, chicken pie, shepherds pie, bangers and mash, carrots, and just like her mother, fish and chips and crisps! We still do not give her candy, chocolate or ice cream, but I imagine once we go to America and it is boiling hot that will probably change. But hey, she doesn't know what she is missing so I figure there is not point introducing it.

As she really likes to feed herself, she has perfected cereal/porridge in the morning and pasta. We get a few spills with potatos and pie dishes, but she is pretty good with the spoon and fork. Recently she has half mastered the art of drinking from a regular cup. If if it only about 1/3 of the way full, she can do it. Any more liquid in and it ends up all over her. But she is getting there.

The biggest change this month is that she has really transformed from baby into toddler. She likes to hold hands and play 'ring around the roses'. She can out on a bike helmet all by herself and climb on the bike. She can almost swing on a big kid swing and has mastered her colours and shapes. She is not a baby. She is a big girl.

While I am in shock over the fact that I have a child who is nearly two, I love the place where she is. I love watching her grow and learn and discover. I love watching her smile overtake her entire face when she tries something new. I love watching her giggle and laugh when we feed the ducks and she tires to waddle around like them. Pretty much I just love being with her. She is awesome.

So here's to another 610 days of awesome-ness with my little sweet pea.