17 Months Old

Erica turned 17 months old today. We celebrated by doing pretty much the exact same thing we do everyday - eating, coloring, books, walks, movies, one nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, snacking, visiting with her favorite neighbor Sydney (ney-ney), playing with toys, talking to Grandpa Tutu on the computer, watching some other Internet videos (especially "kitty cat dance"), screaming like crazy while I washed her hair and then doing the same thing all over again about 20 times (minus the nap and bath).

A typical day would normally include a lot of jumping on the trampoline and swinging, but since it snowed in Tucson today, that changed our plans a little. I will be posting some pictures of that next.

Troy has church meetings tonight, so I won't get to see him until 9 p.m. Typically, on these long days, I'm tired and worn out from Erica by bedtime. However, I recently learned that one of my high school friends does not have much time to live due to cancer. She has two children. I thought of her and what she would give for a few more hours with her little ones. It made me just sit and cuddle Erica and, although reading the same book over and over, I really enjoyed my time. I hope to always keep this perspective.

Here are some shots of her over the last few weeks. Only one more month to go until nursery!!

Yes, Troy is doing Erica's hair. He is such a good dad. She is always so excited to play with him when he gets home. The first thing she says is, "dada". Then, she immediately starts signing swing. He must push her in the swing better than I do. I haven't figured out his trick, but I decided to let that be their special thing.

Peek-a-boo: Still one of her favorite games.

We signed Erica up for a "gymnastics" class (i.e., crawling through tunnels, jumping on mini-trampolines, running around on mats). She loves it! It is a chance for her to run around without getting hurt. Plus, bubbles, balls and play cars are usually involved. How can you go wrong?

Erica is becoming so fun. We still have our fussy moments, but those are getting to be fewer. She loves to be outside and is very active. She has just taken a liking to Elmo. He is the one that taught her to blow kisses, after all. Kayla and she are getting along pretty good. Erica loves to give Kayla kisses and cuddle with her. I think Kayla tolerates it because Erica gives her food.

Erica also discovered coloring recently and always wants us to draw stars, bikes, cars and ovals. I can handle those, but I'm worried about when she starts requesting more difficult objects, like ducks, or pretty much anything else.

We love Erica and she is a joy to have in our lives. We worried about becoming parents, but we are so much happier than we have ever been. Although there are some tough times and a lot of things we are unsure about, we are so happy the Erica has been sent to us and that she is such a special girl.