to our 15 month old broccoli eater

i feel like these monthly letters are becoming just lists of words that you can say, attempt to say, or that you can understand. but seriously.....if you had told me a 15 month old could say, "broccoli" i would never have believed you. but yes, you can say it. we fed it to you once and you repeated the word, and then the next time we fed it to you, you came right out with it. that, and shouting, "beans!!" and pointing to mommy's plate at the mexican restaurant while on vacation. actually, most of your new words involved shouting for some reason. "cheese" comes out with the same demanding tone. as in, "give me that cheese now, woman". whether it's for a picture we're about to snap or a slice of your soycheese, you yell it with the same gusto. and berry (for strawberry). this word also came about in florida. we were sitting in the hotel lobby feeding you dinner, and you started pointing madly towards what we thought was the TV and shouting what sounded like "bah-zhee". turns out, you were saying berry and gesturing at the strawberries on the table. you can also say rice, shoe, eye, down, done, bath, pee, and a jumbled version of the words avocado. you now say "more" in addition to signing it, and you have also somehow learned "elmo". having never watched sesame street, you seem to have a fondness for the little guy. you have seen him at the library and on your diapers, and when you say his name it sounds like he is your one true love. and just recently you starting nodding your head "yes". i feel like there are more words that you say that i am forgetting. and when you are babbling, which is most of the time, i am SURE there are many many words mixed in to the babble that we just don't understand yet. on the drive back from key largo to our hotel in ft. lauderdale, you babbled for almost an hour and a half straight. the other day we looked in the back seat to see you 'talking' to your curious george doll. hilarious. i only wish i could understand more of what you are saying, because what you can and do say melts my heart.
you have gone from carrying one thing in each hand to carrying around as many things as possible at one time. the other day you piled 4 diapers, your toy phone, my phone, and a stuffed rabbit in your arms, tucking the items under your chin as you walked. hilarious. but you are VERY serious about it. you will carry the same things around over and over, moving them place to place as if there is some sort of map or design you are following.
you like so much to sing songs with us, and like to hear the ABCs, "eieio", and your new favorite song is 'pop fly' which you request by saying, "pop pop pop pop!" and pointing to the cd player.
you are down to one nap and (fingers crossed) it is starting to lengthen a bit. and you are also starting to sleep in a little more. every morning now when your papa comes in to get you, you have at least one arm out of your pajamas.
you currently are into reading books of nursery rhymes, especially jack and jill, little miss muffett, and pat-a-cake. you are playing with your babydoll more and also like to take things in and out of your pretend purse. and you are sort of obsessed with climbing onto things and standing on them, whether it is a chair or just an overturned book. you climb on top and do a little dance. speaking of dance, you continue to impress us with your moves. we are currently partial to your slow, swaying move that you do when listening to rock a bye baby.
it is amazing also how you are starting to link things together. like insisting that every utensil is a "SPOON!" and how every letter you see on a sign, cereal box, milk carton, or wherever causes you to shout either, "A!" or "E!"
you are such a fun little girl and you seem to love being around other people, especially other babies. you like to laugh and engage people, which is so endearing to them as well as to us. we love you so much.