January

 I discovered I can open this cabinet, and take all the tupperware out. How fun! First I take everything out, and then I can bang it together. Below I am trying to open our fridge (yes, it is very small) that looks like a cabinet. I can't seem to open that one yet, it is harder to pull open. I sure LOVE when Mom and Dad open the fridge though, it is the coolest thing ever! There are so many things to look at in there, and it is fun to try to crawl in.

 Hi Mommy! Daddy is so funny...

 Dad thought he would see how I liked this sling now that I am a big girl. It wasn't too bad, actually. What can I say, sometimes I still just want to be held.

 Hi Dad. Eliana is getting better with her cup. She is chugging less, and taking a more normal amount of water in so that she can swallow it all instead of have it all come right back out of her mouth. We are excited about this, and hoping that the transition to cow's milk out of of a cup just might work. Eliana hasn't really had many bottles, and none since we moved to England, so we are hoping she can get enough milk from a cup as opposed to starting her with a bottle.

 Ooooh, sun. Nice day for a run:)

 Helping Mom fold laundry, sort of....Eliana likes to pull things off the couch, and then put them back up. Here she decided to help me by pulling on clothes all the floor.

 Yay, Daddy is home early from work today!!

 Chilly chill. Mom and I went for a run today, and it was in the twenties!! It hasn't been that cold here yet. I stayed nice and warm though, don't worry:)

 Here we are on that run close to the marshes. Dad and Mom think it is pretty cool that they live close to such beautiful scenery.

 Play date at my house. This is my friend Lewis who is only 4 days older than me, and his older brother Thomas who is 2 1/2 years old. It is fun to have friends!

 Hi Mom! This is my new friend Isabella. She is about 8 1/2 months old. My mom met her mom through Buggyfit. It is a group of Mom's who run and exercise with their buggies.

 Isabella liked my hedgehog, and I liked to push her.

 One of Eliana's favorite things to do lately is watch the monitor. It is often still on when I walk in with her to get lunch or whatever, and she LOVES to look at it.

Ellie really liked seeing this picture that we recently got framed. It is her spaghetti picture from Nana and Papa that was taken right before we moved to England. What else has been going on this month...Ellie seems to be understanding more and more words, more than we realize I think. One day I was saying to her, "Where is the ball," and she really seemed to look around the room. Just the other day I was reading a book, and said to her, "Puppy," and she looked at her Puppy clock. She also looked at the front door when I said that we were going outside. One night when Daddy was reading to her, he turned to the page that has a bee, and she made a noise that sounded like "buzz." Ellie is nodding her head yes now, and will often nod yes when I am pulling food out of the fridge and asking her if she wants it. Ellie is finally feeding herself a little at least. Just the other day, I was eating a cracker breadstick while holding Eliana, and she was looking at it liked she wanted it, and then grabbed for it. She then put it in her mouth, and started biting on it! She then also took a corn puff type of thing and started biting on it, and then eating it. Yay! Mom and Dad were so excited. We have been trying to get her to put her own pieces of fruit or veggie or cracker in her mouth, and she just wouldn't budge. We hope this will last and expand. Eliana still only has the two teeth at the bottom center that are only hafl way through, but seems to be teething some these last few days. Hopefully we get some chompers soon:) She also seems to be mimicking words more, and seems to try to repeat words sometimes like "ba" for Mom's water bottle, or ba (sounds a little different than the ba for water bottle) when we say bye bye. Let's see, she also loves to disassemble toys, and gets really excited and screams when I stack all the parts on her wooden train, she has to take them off right away. She has to take apart any sort of toy that is stacked, etc. She has been enjoying learning and playing "In and Out" with her stacking cardboard boxes, and also "Opening and Closing" toys. She likes to take stuff down, and then put it back. The other day she put all three remotes on the couch (from the floor) and when she ran out of stuff to put on the couch, she started placing pieces of fuzz from the floor on the couch next to the remotes. She no longer likes herself in the mirror, something she used to LOVE. Now she gets mad and frowns at the mirror. She still isn't walking, but her balance is getting better everyday, and she using less support while she walks holding onto the coffee table or couch.