e's golden (month) birthday

Now that Elia is over a year old, her monthly birthdays feel less and less important but when a girl turns seventeen month on the 17th, that's noteworthy, right?  In honor of her golden (month) birthday, here are some of things that are ruling Elia's world.

Favorite foods:

• Wafles. Yes, that's spelled correctly, as in "waf-lays", breakfast of champions.
• Broccoli. She clearly doesn't get her taste buds from me.
• Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries. All day, every day, by the handful if you please.
• Applesauce. Her self-feeding has come a long way but an applesauce beard is a given with this treat.
• Frozen peas. Why heat 'em when you can just eat 'em?

Thankfully, we've been blessed with a good eater.  She has things she doesn't like and some foods can be hit or miss but overall we've had no issues with picky eating.

Words:

• Mama - Is it me?  Is it Todd? Who knows but, she says it to refer to either of her parents.
• Maa Maa - Not to be confused with "Mama" this is "más, más" (more in Spanish) usually used in the context of "I want more food." and occasionally just used for "I'm hungry."
• Baba - We think that means Todd.  Same with "Dada", seems pretty straightforward.
• Nigh nigh - "Night night". Often followed by her laying her head on something soft and pretending to be sleeping.  One of my favorites.
• Yea - Yes, to everything.  We have the most agreeable child on the face of the earth.  ¿Quieres jugar con mami? "Yea." Did you see Grandma today? "Yea." ¿Estás haciendo popó? "Yea." Do you want broccoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? "Yea!"
• Gua - "Agua".  Water. 
• Bye bye - This is self-explanatory.

She also can tell you what a dog says, "Fffff" (the tail-end of "woof" - ha, tail-end, I crack myself up), and what a duck says, "Gack", and sometimes what other animals say. She has a handful of other words, too.

Favorite Song:

Row, row, row your boat. And she sings along. "Row, row, row." Melt my heart, little one.

Favorite Activities:

• Bath time. Hands down, the most fun to be had is in the bath.
• Hiking. Girl loves nature.
• Going fast. Pick this kid up, start to run, and she'll be as happy as can be.
• Tickle parties! Because, they're just fun. And funny.  The belly laughs are the best.
• Reading. She's really started to enjoy reading books with us over the past few weeks.
• Helping. Also in the past few weeks, she's really been taken pride in helping around the house and doing things on her own such as putting things away or bringing things to one of us. It's so cool to see this happen.
• Showing us her belly. Oy vey. This started over the weekend.
• Pointing at dogs.
• Carrying things around. This may not seem like an activity but to Elia it is a sport. Preferably, with two identical items, one in each hand.

I hope all of this gives you a glimpse into who our baby girl is turning out to be. She is in such a fun and exciting stage where she is moving quickly from baby to little girl and every day is different. 

Happy seventeen months, Bug.  Te amo muchisísimo.