the bean.

as i zipped ellie into her 12 month size jammies that seemed to engulf her little body only a couple of weeks ago, i realized that it has been a while since i updated about her and her skills. i know, you're all thanking me for skipping over the minute-by-minute replays but i have a few things to write down before she totally masters something else and these things become ordinary.

first of all, she loves to wave. more than once she has shot her little hand in the air before her eyes have even adjusted to the light in the morning, waving as hard as she can . . . like it's her only responsibility in this world and she can't help but do it. she waves at me when she sits on my lap. she waves at daddy when he's across the room. she waves at people in the store and now it takes me even more time than ever to buy groceries. she's such a little socialite.

she has also been pointing. she'll point at me when i come in the room and smile so big. yesterday, when her uncle was leaving, she pointed at him and waved when we told her to say goodbye. she points at the pictures and words in her books. really, she finds anything remotely interesting point-worthy. she points at her high chair tray when it is empty and she wants more. she knows daddy and mommy and judge, and points when asked.

which leads me to this: the verge of speech. i'm pretty sure she says a couple of words, but they come out a little differently each time she says them. she also uses these words for everything.
so far she says:

da (dad)
ud (judge)
ma (mom/more/pick me up/i'm hungry!!)
dat or adat (that/what's that?/who's that?)
hut?! (what?!)

that last one is my favorite. you have to say it like i would say it: fast and shrill, in total shock or surprise. like, we just found out that they canceled the olympics. WHAT?! except i guess i say it too often. it comes out for everyday things like running out of eggs or there isn't a new episode of the office this week or a bill came in the mail. husband is always getting on my case about saying WHAT?! when things aren't really a big deal, so it makes sense that she would start saying it like that as one of her first sounds.

she also says "nienienienieNIE!" when she's very upset, which leads husband to call her nienie. which makes me laugh, because he's always going on about how silly it is to get caught up in blogs of random people. he has no idea who the other nienie is.

okay, that's enough for now.

here are some unflattering pictures of her, eating marshmallow creme out of the jar with me . . . uh, all by herself.

and now you know why it looks like she's trying to block the camera in all the pictures.
she's really just waving.