Eliza at 20 Months

It's time again for another Eliza update! Twenty months is an exciting time for sure!

Our budding little artist loves to color. She likes company when she colors, so she is always handing one of us a crayon and telling us to color too. I'm not ready to subject my walls to being her canvas, so she still must be strapped into her seat before I'll give her the crayons. When she "drops" her coloring book or paper on the ground, she often colors on her tray. I used to (and sometimes still do) tell her not to and be strict about it, but since it does wash off and it's only on her tray, I decided that it was a battle that I wasn't willing to fight. Maybe that was a mistake. Last week when I picked Eliza up from nursery at church, the nursery leader asked if I'd like to take Eliza's artwork home with me. Of course I replied that I would, to which she responded, "then you'll have to take the whole table." Apparently she left her mark everywhere on the table. A giant tray, right? Looks like we'll be donating some Magic Erasers to the nursery!

One of Eliza's favorite hide-outs is our closet. She loves to hide behind the clothes hanging down. I'll often find her there hiding with something she's not supposed to have. Other times she's just playing innocently. She pulled Mike's most recent yard sale acquisition (see above photo) out the other day and had quite a time trying to walk in them without falling over (the toes kept rotating around and tripping her), but when holding onto the wall she could slide right along.

Butter: Eliza's secret to a girlish figure. No, actually this was her first sampling. I had some butter sitting out on the counter to soften and she snagged it with her go-go-Gadget arms (she can seriously reach anything she wants now). After I told her "Eww! Don't eat that!" she looked at me with that little smile and said "mummy" (yummy).

I have been wanting to cut Eliza some bangs for a while now, but I was scared to and wasn't sure exactly which hairs to cut. Then one day in a moment of bravery, I grabbed the hair scissors and just cut the part that naturally hung in her face. It looks so much better! I can't believe I waited so long! Since it was her first haircut, I saved the hair in a baggie. I can't believe how very very little hair it actually is and that it made such a difference!

No, we're not working on potty training yet. Eliza just loves to play with her potty. I keep putting it back in the garage, but she keeps bringing it back it. She has fun sitting on it, but only with her pants on. That's fine for now.

I don't remember why or how she had the dish drainer, but she had fun sitting in it. Her fun soon ended and I heard "guck, guck!" (stuck) from the kitchen.

Eliza likes to do mommy things like take care if babies. She not only nurses her dolls, but she also gives them solids. That's a banana, in case you couldn't tell.

When I wear Caleb in the Moby wrap, Eliza likes to wear a baby (or two or three), too. It's funny to watch her try to put the carriers on herself.

A few more things of note this month:

• For the past several months Eliza has had problems pushing. It was like her way of saying "hi." She'd walk up to her friends and give them a shove and then laugh. It's especially bad because her friends, even though most of them are older, are smaller than she is. I think she is finally getting better at not pushing so much. Hopefully she continues in this direction!
• She loves to collect rocks and sticks. When she's feeling extra generous, she will even give some to us as gifts.
• In the past few weeks, Eliza has started swimming in the tub. She lays on her tummy and kicks her legs and moves her arms and says "fwimming!" over and over while she laps the water in the tub (we're trying to stop the latter).
• Eliza likes to help with the laundry. She hands me each article of clothing, usually stating what it is (shirt, tights, dress, etc) and who it belongs to along with the command "fold." When all the folding is done, she helps me match socks. Sometimes she even gets a legitimate pair (not a Grandpa Monte pair, if you know what I mean).
• She loves to "watch show." She chooses between two "channels": home videos and Sesame Street segments online. She often requests which clips she wants to see.
• Eliza likes to share her things (food, toys, books, etc) with Caleb. She also takes the liberty of sharing his things (binky, blankets, clothes, etc).
• I don't know where she learned it (nursery maybe), but she always wants to play "Rosie" (ring around the rosies). We usually include a few dolls in our circle to keep things exciting.
• She no longer likes to sit in her booster seat to eat. She prefers plain old chairs.
• Eliza loves doing puzzles and is getting good at the ones we have.

When Daddy took his shirt off, she wanted to put it on.

This little girl would stay outside all day if she could!