17 Months

Today, Ella, is 17 months. It's been a while since I've done an update on who she is and what she has become, so I hope you enjoy.

The past few months has brought many milestones.

Ella is not only a walking baby, but a running baby. Her favorite thing to do is to just walk. She walks around the house all day long, seeing how much speed she can get this time. She is so much happier now that she can walk, which seemed impossible that she could be happier than before. My heart melts every single time she runs to me with the biggest smile you've ever seen, I bend down open my arms, and she jumps right into them. I could do it a million times a day and it would never lose it's joy.

Ella has red hair. Red hair! Where does her red hair come from? Apparently, I had her exact hair when I was her age. That does me good to know, because every other feature of hers is her daddy.

Ella can say a lot of words. One day she was saying one word and the next she was saying 20. Her favorite words are: mama (this is a new one!), dad, bubbles, purple, kitty, dog, duck. She also has started understanding most things we say, which scares me a little bit. I remember last month, I asked her to go get her brush. I didn't use any hand motions, just words. She went in her room and walked out with brush in hand. It was a huge moment for us. Since then, she can almost recognize everything I say to her. When did that happen? Babies are amazing how they learn things so quickly, but at the right timing for them.

Ella has almost out grown her stranger danger. We had a rough few months when she screamed, I mean SCREAMED anytime we dropped her off at our church nursery or even if a "stranger" looked in her general direction. We've been working on it and she is significantly better. She only cries one out of every 3 or 4 times we drop her off. Even bigger than that, she actually reaches for our friends at church or when they come over. This is huge for her.

There is nothing like bathtime for Ella. That's where she has the most fun. Splashing, running her toys under the facet, even testing putting her face under the water just a smidge. I think she would live in the bathtub if we let her. There are always tears shed when it's time to get out. But the cutest part of my day, is after she is dried off, she grabs her brush and runs to dada so he can brush her hair.

For me, I am even more in love than ever. This stage is definitely the most fun so far. The fun is endless. She fills are life with such excitement and joy, more than we've ever experienced. I can't imagine having another baby and sharing the love I have for her. How will I have any left? Every parent says that I will. It's a phenomenon to me I will not be able to understand until it happens.

I love you, Ella Grace! I can't wait to see what fun awaits us in your 17th month of life!