14 months old!

14 whole months old!
Ellie is turning into such an amazing little girl. Her vocabulary is exploding - it seems like every day she wakes up and says something new. She is still walking holding on to hands, but has yet to take her first solo steps. She has stood on her own a few times, but just for a few seconds at a time. According to my unofficial weigh-ins, she's still under 21 pounds, but she's getting long. Being pretty short-legged, this realization was mind blowing to me! Girlfriend has LOOOONG legs. I'll hope for her sake they stay that way ;)

She continues to be happy and insanely friendly. She makes people so very happy, and in turn, my heart just bursts with joy.
Her pigtails are becoming her signature hairstyle, and she doesn't bat an eye when I put them in.
We're just now for the first time dealing with major wiggles on the changing table - thankfully Elmo (whose face is on her saline spray bottle) keeps her attention.

Most recently, she's spoken her first real phrases: hi (or bye-bye) mama (or dada), and ni-nigh mama (or dada). "Noo" (no) and "down" (surprisingly said quite clearly) are two of her favorite words. Our favorite word she says is "boom-ah!" which she says with gumption whenever she falls, sees someone else fall, reads about falling, throws something on the ground, hears a loud noise, etc. It's ridiculously adorable, and manages to get daddy all giddy when she does it.
"Boo-bahs" (blueberries) and "chee" (string cheese) are holding firm at the top of her favorite food list, with "kwa-kahs" (crackers) a new contender on the list.

She still loves books and her baby dolls more than any other toy we own, and we continue to be completely enamored with, entertained by and in awe of her. Sweet Eleanor Claire.