Eliza at 23 months

I think this is a funny picture.

Eliza is growing up so fast. She is becoming so independent (in a toddler sort of way) and so involved in everything. She likes to dress herself. She is pretty good at putting her pants and shoes on.

Eliza is very motherly to Caleb. When he is sad, she tries to make him happy. When he fills his diaper, she makes sure it gets changed right away. She announces that it needs to be done, then goes to get all the supplies without even being asked. She gives him toys to play with and tries to share her food (still). She loves to read to him (more on that in an upcoming post).

Eliza is a good little talker. She is pretty clear, too (at least we think so). It's fun hearing her unconsciously try to figure out all the rules to our grammar. She says "help you" when she means "help me" and other cute kiddie things. She applies the plural 's' to everything. She's always talking about "fabrics" and " laundries" and "wee wees."

Speaking of wee wees, while Mike was in Mexico, I tried a little potty training experiment (originally intended as the real thing). She did pretty well, but I just didn't have the time to dedicate to it that week. She goes (or at least sits) about once a day now, but other than that, we've put potty training on hold.

The other day at Target, as I was looking through the scads of clearance clothes, the heels of my shoes rubbed together and made a flatulency sound. Eliza always announces what Caleb is doing when he makes diaper-filling sounds, so I shouldn't have been surprised when, with great excitement, Eliza shouted "Mommy pooped!"

Eliza has a good memory. We just started watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse online about 2 weeks ago. Although she's only seen it a handful of times, she knows the complete intro (which she recites along with Mickey), all the characters names, the songs, etc. I am amazed at the things she picks up after only hearing them once or twice.

Eliza loves music! She loves leading the music along with the chorister during church. She sings along with any song and requests her favorites, which include "I Love to See the Temple," "I am a Child of God," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," and "Popcorn Popping" among many others. Eliza loves to sing. I like to leave out words as I sing and let her fill them in (we do this with books too).

Ever since we got home from California, Eliza has been sleeping in her bed for the most part. Occasionally, we still find her asleep just on the other side of her door.

Eliza knows most shapes, some colors, and some numbers. She counts 1,2,3,5,6, and then throws around a few others. She knows some letters, too. The other day, Caleb's shirt had a big 'V' on it (for varsity, naturally). I hadn't said anything about it. She came up and said "Kayba's (Caleb's) shirt letter. Letter V." I had no idea she knew 'v.'

Though she isn't always super about picking up her toys, Eliza definitely likes cleanliness. She won't eat off of her tray if it's dirty. She demands "clean it" or "wash it" if anything gets on her. She always wants her coat hung up in the closet rather than set on the couch. She often reminds me that she needs a bib. Of course this doesn't stop her from wiping food in her hair or dumping her toys onto the floor.

It's hard to believe that the next installment of "Eliza Monthly" will be her 2nd birthday!

Eliza was so excited to play in the snow for the first time (we didn't have much snow last year and she was just starting to walk). She had loads of fun.




Daddy and Eliza playing in sleeping bags after a Scout campout.


Eliza decided to take her nap in the house that Grandma made... with a few of her friends.

Eliza loves to help in the kitchen. Mixing is her specialty. She says "Mix! Mix! Wear Eliza's apron! Mommy wear apron!" We've been doing lots of cooking and baking around here because it's Eliza's favorite form of play these days.

Eliza is becoming quite adept at walking in Mommy's shoes. You might notice that she's wearing her dress backwards (Daddy dressed her). She fell on her bum in the wet parking lot on the way into church which got a nice oily black stain on the back (which really is the front) of the dress that I made her for Christmas.

Eliza's first French braids. I did them while she watched Mickey Mouse (she never would have sat still that long otherwise).

Eliza is still very enthusiastic about doing the laundry with me. Her favorite part is when the basket (or "basik") is empty.