Jason Griffey

IMG_7909, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza is officially a year and a half old! Time flies!

Favorite hobbies: watching home videos of herself, sorting the recycling, singing, “reading” by herself, putting on shoes (especially mommy’s), playing dress up with scarves, hats, and necklaces.

Favorite toys: Melissa & Doug castle and dolls, Elmo mailbox sorter, stuffed animals, magnets, wind-up toys, balls, sand and water table, anything her friend Griff has.

Favorite books: Billy and Milly Short and Silly; Spot Loves His Daddy; I’m Just Like My Mom / I’m Just Like My Dad; Peekaboo Zoo.

Favorite foods: chicken noodle soup, cereal with milk, vanilla ice cream, green beans, vegetable soup, Gerber juice treats (not really “food,” but she’s totally addicted), peanut butter, pizza

Eliza has changed a lot in the last month. She is better at feeding herself with a spoon, even something as tricky as cereal! She’s also working on the fork, although she still needs practice. She is faster at going up the stairs and can now come down the stairs with a little bit of help. Still quite the talker, she says 3-4 word “sentences” on a regular basis now. It seems that she says at least one new word every day.

Emotionally, Eliza is getting more complicated. She has turned into a biter, and we’re working on that. She gets her feelings hurt very easily and does not like to be in trouble. She’s also a lot more affectionate that ever before, doling out tons of hugs and kisses. And she has become a bit of a daddy’s girl, which is cute to watch.

At 18 months, she can count from 1-14, sing most of her ABC’s (she gets stuck on T-U-V), recognize and say most colors, recognize and say several shapes, point to and say at least 10 body parts, say 3 days of the week in order (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), recognize, say, and do the sounds for countless animals, and properly use the pronoun “I,” as in one of her favorite phrases, “I want that one.”

We can hardly keep up with her!

IMG_0489, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza got to spend 9 whole days with Daddy while I attended a workshop in Florida. I’m sure she stopped asking about me at some point. They did lots of fun daddy-daughter things, like a trip to the farmer’s market, playdates with friends, hanging out at the park, and a visit to Nana’s house.

In the 9 days that I was gone, she changed so much it’s scary. When I left, she needed help getting up the stairs to the slide at a local park. When I came back, she could do it all on her own. Standing up, mind you, not crawling up on all fours! She has also developed a new love of YouTube videos of animals (thanks, Daddy!) and a worrisome obsession with watching home videos of herself, especially of herself falling, which is apparently the funniest thing she’s ever seen.

IMG_0465, originally uploaded by griffey.

I think Eliza is going to have her mom’s sensitivity to others, which is both a blessing and a curse.

We were watching an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba today, and there is a character named Gooble, who is always crying.

“Gooble’s sad,” Eliza said.
“Yes, he is sad,” I confirmed.
“Hug Eliza,” she suggested, in order to make it all better.

Works for mommy and daddy, so why not the rest of the world?

IMG_1250, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza saw the ocean for the first time when we spent 4 days at Rosemary Beach, Florida. Although it exhausted her (in a good way), she absolutely loved it. She had no fear whatsoever, even when the waves knocked her around. She wanted to stand there all by herself (“Eliza do it!”). She also enjoyed digging in the sand with her new shovels, picking up sea shells, and watching the birds and airplanes fly overhead. All in all, a great trip. Can’t wait to go back when she has a little more stamina!