Sassy at 16 months. It happens.

Eliza is the cutest thing on two little legs. She laughs, she claps, she chatters, and she runs (never walks). She is a constant whirlwind of energy and can be found wreaking havoc on our home daily. Recently, her precociousness has reached a new level.

She climbs into her toy boxes, crawls onto chairs (which she then leaps off of), stands on top of anything she can find (boxes to spherical toys), and has no concept of what danger is. This mischievious grin is actually quite worrisome.

She enjoys puzzles, toy cars, shape sorters,

 eating books, and playing the piano.

 She also continues to look exactly like Nathan and obsess over her green blanket.

 Her favorite activities are dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba (we watched the same four episodes for 14 hours on our drive home to Utah from Washington), chasing us around the house, going outside (regardless of how cold it may be), and rocking with Nathan when she first wakes up in the morning. She could live off of wheat thins and cheese if we let her and she can never have enough rice and beans.

However, her cutest recent achievements are her attempts to speak. For some reason, Eliza tends to only say new words in the morning when we first change her diaper. Weird, right? That is the golden minute. She has said: "Papa, Ty (her uncle), purple, dino (as in DINOSAUR...best word ever!), mama, Gabba, and monkey" while we change her diaper. Afterward, she pretends as though it never happened and goes about squealing with happiness (because she is no longer trapped in her crib) and running around the house.

And then, then there is the attitude. She wants my cell phone. She NEEDS my cell phone. When she can't have it, she throws herself on the ground and scrunches her face as she screams. It is alarming. I am still not completely sure how to react to these tantrums. Instinctively, I want to give her whatever she wants to make the screaming stop, but I also know I do not a child who has a fit over every little thing. Hopefully, with enough patience, Nathan and I can put an end to these sassy moments. 

But of course, despite any attitude changes, Eliza is a treasure to be around. She is so happy and full of life. Her sweet personality is beginning to become more pronounced daily. Just this week, she began giving us kisses and today, she rubbed Nathan's hair and kissed his face as he lay on the couch. Adorable. What's not to love about that?