21 Months

David took this amazing photo of you at Cristy's wedding.

Dear Eli,

Another 4th rolls by, and you get another month bigger. It's amazing how much you can change in 30 days. I have to admit that this might be my favorite stage yet. Though it's been extremely difficult to be patient with your temper tantrums, it's been by far the most rewarding to see you learn.

Dad and I are amazed every single day at what new words you learn. I have been trying to keep lists of them, but you are learning them faster than I can keep track. I am also extremely happy that you are picking up Spanish so quickly and easily.

We are so incredibly luck that Tia Tere is able to watch you while dad and I are at work. You love her so much, and love going to her house. Every morning when I drop you off, you happily say goodbye to me and sometimes kick me out the door by closing it behind me. Make me so happy to know you enjoy spending your days with her.

But, the best part is that she is teaching you Spanish. So many words in your vocabulary know, it's incredible. You are also starting to understand who speaks English and who speaks Spanish. You ask different things of those who speak the different languages. Although you can't say everything, you are certainly understand everything we say. You are really good at following directions, and especially know when we are talking about you, as you ham it up an extra notch!

I'm going to try and update your list of words:

From the 19th Month list:

Duck                   Blanket                        Bye                      Truck                                Car

Juice                   Kitty                            Dog                       Meow                               Bow Wow

Up                      Cheese                         Yummy                 Hiccup                              Ball

Hat                     Agua (Sp)                    Bath                      Mama                                Dad

Jake                    Stop                             Go                         Goal (Sp)                          More

Where'd it go?   Light                            Tere                       Banana                              Shoes

Hot                    Cold                             Bird                       Beep                                  Mas (Sp)

Caca (Sp)          Popo (SP)                     Pipi (Sp)                Outside

New ones:

Horse

Sit down

Ven (Sp)

Aqui (Sp)

Mano (Sp)

Eye

Nose

Mouth

Chuy

Eric

Oy (Sp)

Book

Mimis (Sp)

Dance

Toys

Push

Apple

Three

Balloon

Callate (Sp)

Yuck

Bubbles

61 WORDS! Soooo good, Eli! I think there are more, but it's hard to remember them all at once. I read that toddlers should know about 50 words at 24 months, so good job being ahead of the game! You can say pretty much anything we ask you to say, but I only mentioned the ones you actually know and use on a day to day basis. Every day is a treat to hear which new word you'll say.

You are still loving music and love to steal daddy's guitar and strum and sing us songs. You are particularly good at yodeling. You've also become an exceptional dancer. Every time music comes on, you are on your feet and bobbing. You are still dancing to any sort of beat, whether it's real music or not, as long as a "noise" has some sort of rhythm to it, you are dancing to it.

Dad and I have been brainstorming ideas for your 2nd birthday. We want it to be something you will recognize and love. Your favorite things right now are cars/trucks, horses, balls/balloons, and Yo Gabba Gabba. So, hopefully we'll settle on a theme soon.

Food wise, you have up and down days, some days you are a little piggy, and others, I don't know how you survive, it's very stressful, but we are learning to let it go and know that you will eat if you are hungry. When you do eat, you like scrambled eggs with ketchup, (well, anything with ketchup), blueberries, bananas, mangoes, grapes, tomatoes, popcorn, chicken nuggets, rice, and apple juice. You still don't really like meat, well, you chew it for a while, then spit it out, but you never swallow it. So weird.

Scrambling eggs

You are becoming a great helper too. You are excellent at helping us get you dressed, you are great at putting on lotion, and you help us put away groceries and clean up your toys when asked. You hand us your foot when it's time to put on your shoes, and you scrub yourself down at bath time.

Every night, we ready about 5-6 books and you always want more, more, more. I think you know that when we are done reading it's bed time, so you try to prolong the inevitable. You are still sleeping with your duck and blankie, and it's still as adorable as ever. You sleep about 11 hours a night, and straight through, you are a great sleeper.

Playing at Pineview

Being outside is still your favorite thing in the world, you'll try to make anyone take you outside. And, water, oh the love you have for agua! We went to Pineview 2 weeks ago, and you were in HEAVEN. We were swimming for hours. That day has been my favorite memory of this summer so far. I want to remember your smile and happy shrieks forever! Having you in our lives and getting to re-experience everything through your eyes has been an amazing and humbling experience as a mom. You make everything fun again. You make me step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I love you so much little boy, keep being amazing!

XOXO,

Your momma