Eliana is 19 Months Old!!!

 Earlier this month my parents stopped by on their way back from the mountains.  Eliana thought is was so funny when Nanny was teaching her how to kick a ball.  I don't know if she was more thrilled with Nanny moving her leg or that the ball would go flying.

 GramE came to visit for a few days!  We enjoyed spending time with her.  Plus, it gave Rachel and Ruli a reason to come over three nights in a row!  Yeah for family fun!!!  We played games, watched Courageous (which I highly recommend with a box of tissues), and even introduced Sherry to Lynda, Drew, and Dawson who turn out to be 4th cousins to Sherry.  We found that out when Kyle joked with Rachel saying that her behavior was because of their grandpa's side.  In using the last name, Lynda said she had a Grandma with the same last name.  A bit of research on Aunt Marcie, Aunt Dacra, and Rachel's part found that we're related.  Who knew that we've been hanging out with our cousins for four years and didn't even know it.

Eliana was practicing the location of head, nose, and eyes with GramE.

 

Eliana is continuing to learn to share.  She enjoyed taking this seed pod apart and giving GramE all of the parts until she was left with just the stick.

Things Eliana is up to:
*She is trying out more and more words.  Here are a few that come to mind: Ray Ray (Rachel), Ru (Ruli), Pop Pop, Nan (Nanny) which can also be mistaken for nana (banana), bir (bird), cat, do (dog), whoa whoa (thank you Ruli), no (which she says while shaking her head no), peas (please), pie pie (pine cone), fsh (fish) oes (shoes), ocks (socks), we practiced saying Grandpa Brad when my dad visited and she has some way of identifying him, but I don't remember it off the top of my head, Tay Tay (Aunt Taylor), k (okay) which she started saying today after she falls (Her GramE thought this was because she'd ask, "Are you okay?" and Eliana responded, "K."), bye bye, hi, car (often done while signing car), ot si (outside), poo (poop... maybe potty training is around the corner), Nate Nate (Nathan)...

*You can ask her a lot of things, and she understands and says, "No."  So far, she doesn't yell it.  She says it softly several times in a row while shaking her head no.  She can nod yes too, but that doesn't happen as often.

*Eliana enjoys going to Bible Study Fellowship.  She initially was nervous at the beginning of the year, but two weeks ago she leaned from me into her teacher's arms.  This week she let go of my hand and walked over to her teacher and grabbed her hand.

*Eliana continues to love books.  We read 1-3 Bible stories from her Bible at night, pray, and then her dad tucks her in.

*She continues to love helping.  Today she took a piece of silverware at a time and handed it to me so that I could put it in the drawer.  When she is done eating (even if we think she still needs to eat a little more), she takes off her bib and puts it on the table.  Then she hands us her plate.  After we take it, she signs "all done".

*We love our little girl.  We pray that she will grow to love and serve God.