25 Things About Me - Elizabeth

Cousins Aspen and Dawnie recently wrote "25 Things About Me" blog posts, so here's one for Elizabeth:

1. Elizabeth was born 20 months ago in August of 2009. It was an induced labor, so we stopped up at Blockbuster the night before and picked up all three "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies. We spent the day at John C. Lincoln watching the "TMNT" trilogy (Daddy's choice) and then "Father of the Bride Part II" (Mommy's choice) as we waited for  Lizzie to make her big debut.
2. Lizzie has been dropped WAY too many times. In fact, her baby blessing had to be postponed because we took her to the ER to make sure she didn't have a concussion after falling out of her carseat that morning.
3. Lizzie has lived at four different addresses in two different cities since she was born. (Five addresses and three cities if you count when Mommy was pregnant.)
4. Lizzie currently weighs just under 21 pounds--that puts her below the 5th percentile for her age.
5. Lizzie's small size might be explained by the fact that she has some pretty crazy food sensitivities. Not only is she allergic to milk products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.), most fruits give her a really bad diaper rash.
6. Lizzie is also a very picky eater. She doesn't like vegetables. She loves fruit, but she can't eat most of them (see #5). In terms of protein, she only eats peanut butter or chicken nuggets. But she loves carbs! Cookies, crackers, chips, pretzels, bread, french fries, etc.
7. Elizabeth goes by many names: Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzie, Elisa, and--our personal favorite--"Lizza Bizza."
8. Lizzie's pretty quiet in new surroundings, but around the house she loves to talk. Some of her favorite words are: nana (banana), cookie, no!, daddy, momma, Heidi, shoes, keys, bye-bye, amen, kisses, etc.
9. Lizzie loves music. When she hears music, she loves to shake and dance. Some of her favorite songs are "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."
10. Lizzie loves her little sister. She loves to give her hugs and kisses, and she loves to share her toys (but she can get a little rough sometimes). One of the first things Lizzie says in the morning is, "Where's Heidi?"
11. Lizzie has recently started going up and down the stairs like a "big girl." Instead of crawling up and down, she walks and holds on to the wall for support.
12. Lizzie recently mastered the art of unzipping things. I have to put all of the scripture cases, DVD cases, CD cases, laptop cases, and cameras up high where she can't reach them, because she loves to open them up and take everything out.
13. We recently bought Lizzie a new potty. She's still figuring out how it works. She likes to remove the seat and try to climb inside.
14. Lizzie loves to go for walks outside. In the last couple of weeks she's decided that she doesn't want to be confined to a stroller anymore--she wants to walk--so walks have gotten to be a lot more complicated.
15. So far Lizzie has visited five different states: Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New York, and Pennsylvania.
16. Lizzie is lucky enough to have five grandmas and six grandpas.
17. Lizzie has two boy cousins and no girl cousins.
18. Lizzie has recognized pictures of Jesus from a very young age (maybe because there is a large picture of Jesus in her room). Every time she sees Jesus, she likes to exclaim, "Jesus!" (Sometimes she overgeneralizes, though, and thinks that anyone with a brown beard and long hair is Jesus. A few weeks back, for example, she saw a picture of Muammar Gadafi on the cover of Time and thought it was Jesus. Oops.)
19. Lizzie is finally starting to feel comfortable in Nursery. Even though she's been nursery age for 2 1/2 months now, she hasn't attended very consistently due to sickness, visiting Grandma's ward, etc. But for the last two Sundays, she has attended Nursery all by herself. (But Mom and Dad still have to sneak out when she's not looking or she freaks out.)
20. Lizzie has crazy allergies--completely with runny nose, itchy eyes, and wheezing. Consequently, this week Daddy had to chop down the tree in front of our condo, and we had to pay $100 to have our air ducts professionally cleaned. (She seems to be doing a lot better now.)
21. Lizzie hates to drink water. To get her to drink water, we have to mix it with juice.
22. Lizzie is fascinated by animals, especially dogs. We have several dogs around the complex (including right next door and downstairs), and she loves to see them and try to imitate them by panting and barking.
23. Lizzie loves to get into drawers and cupboards. She goes straight to the drawers and cupboards that don't have child safety locks and empties them. (She's gotten really good at emptying things, but not so good about putting things back.)
24. One of Lizzie's cutest tricks: She can say "Oh no!" in the saddest voice ever. It's a riot.
25. Lizzie has short hair for her age and refuses to wear ribbons in her hair. Unless she's dressed in all pink, strangers are constantly confusing her for a boy. 

We are lucky to have Lizzie around. She's a sweetheart and a lot of fun.