No photos here.

Several months ago, I started a list of "Elliott's tricks" and continued to add to it as she learned new words and started doing new funny things. I hadn't looked at it in a few weeks and I am astounded at how much she has learned in such a short time. Here's the list I started back in the fall (which is by no means comprehensive -- I can't keep up!) and then an update below that.

• Says mama, dada, scout scout
• She is both "all about mommy" and "daddy's girl" -- she will dive from one to the other when in public.
• Anything with 4 legs is scout scout
• Can pick out the green frog from all the bath toys
• Knows that a doggie days woof woof
• Loves shoes and jackets but hates socks and hats
• Will point to her head, tongue, belly, feet, mouth
• Signs more, all done, hungry, bath
  
• Says milk, water
• Says Ant Lindsay "Yin-Yee!"
  
• Points and yell/growls "Matt" when she sees his picture
• Loves to hug ("awwww") and kiss ("mmmm")
  
• Working on running
• Climbs on anything and everything
• Sleeps 12 hours a night (bliss)
  
• Eats almost anything in the fruit and dairy families but throws everything else. Consequently, Scout is getting fat.
• When out for walks, she points to and identifies trucks, cars, trains, buses, ducks, water
• We live across the street from the fire house so she has been perfecting her impression of sirens.

January update:

• When we're in the hall, she'll lift her arm to me and say "hand!" -- once I give her my hand, she takes off at a run. This is especially funny when she is clomping around in her boots. She also insists on carrying my keys ("ghee?").
  
• Several times a day, she'll come to me, lift her arms and say "up." This is usually followed by a hug and/or a wet kiss.
  
• Twice a day, we'll ask her for help giving Scout her food. Elliott will drop whatever she is doing, run to the closet and bang on the door. Once it is opened, she'll get one piece of food out at a time and give it to Scout.
  
• Her two new favorite physical tricks are to "run run run" and "spin" -- she also loves to dance.
  
• She's beginning to understand the concept of "later." She wants to call Uncle Matt every time she sees my phone -- but 7:15am is too early to call Uncle Matt. We can call him later. One day she saw my phone and said, "MATT MATT," to which I responded, "not now, we'll call Matt later." So she said, "Yin-Yee!" "No, Lindsay is at work right now." [confused look] "Dada?" "Yes, Lindsay is at work with Daddy. We'll call them later."
  
• Several times a day she asks for Mimi and Nana. She doesn't understand that New York isn't next door.
  
• She can't quite say "Grammie" yet but has consistently been calling my mom "Tsee-tsee."
  
• She's still a water baby -- some nights she'll spend 40 minutes in the bath. She loves the game of "Daddy is going to pour water on your hands ... and now your feet ... and now your belly ... and now your head!"
  
• Now that the list of animals she can impersonate has grown exponentially (lions, ducks, dogs, cats, cows, frogs, etc), we are trying to teach her to say the names of the animals. So far she just roars, woofs and ribbits at us.
• When she is tired for a nap or for bed at night, she'll grab Bonus the baby doll and Stanley the dog, and head into her room. That's it. When she's ready, she's ready.
  
• She's a tickle monster. This might be my favorite trick of all. If she's in the right mood (which she is in several times a day), I can get her absolutely guffawing. It's the best when she gets the hiccups from laughing.