Ellie's current vocabulary:
*Ball
*Bow
*Blondie
*Baby
*Bye-Bye
*Mama
*Dada
*Mimi
*G-Daddy
*Dog
*Hello
*Hey
*That
*Water
*Up
*Down
*Uh-oh
*Yeah
*No
*Stop
*Yay
*Please
*Thank you
*Outside
*Light
*Cheese
*Ho Ho Ho (Santa)
*Tree
*Bird
*Done
*Ok
*Hot
*Eye
*Mouth
*Bless You (when we sneeze)
*Rock rock (for rocking chairs and rocking the baby dolls)
*Yuck (her name for poop)
Ellie knows the following animals and their sounds and makes the sounds:
*Dog
*Horse
*Owl
*Bear, Tiger, Lion, Dinosaur...anything that *roars*
*Elephant
*Monkey
*Bird
Body Parts Ellie knows:
*Eyes
*Nose
*Mouth
*Ears
*Tummy
*Hands
*Belly Button
Ellie has been learning at ballet class to walk on tip toes, kick, jump, and twirl. She has accomplished all of these, yet she performs them at home constantly, and observes more at dance class. Ellie has started to enjoy running alongside me in the house or in the yard just short little paces. It is like a game to her. I am so excited to get her into running as she grows! We love having dance parties together.
We have started a little mini mommy lead pre-pre schooling which is all just fun to Ellie. It should be. It should be interesting, exciting, and fun! We learn animals, body parts, colors, shapes, alphabet, and numbers. She has already sang, "ABC" and stops after "C". We read books, sing songs, practice puzzles. We do crafts, science experiments, and we even do exercises and massage to teach her about touch, feel, her body, and how her body is able to move. It is all just a bunch of play, but productive playing.
We LOVE going outdoors for exploring, wagon rides, bubbles, chalk, playing with toys and Blondie. We love our play dates with all our friends. Ellie is involved in Hike it Baby Greenville, Mommy and Me Ballet at Sterling Studio of Performing Arts, Kindermusik of Greenville at Village Arts, and Easley MOPS. (If anybody ever has any questions about these groups feel free to hit me up!! All are so amazing and I couldn't allow Ellie or I to go without any of them!)
Ellie is very sneaky and mischievous like all toddlers, I presume. She is very smart. Yes, I am her mother, but...she is. She is smart in so many ways. Spend time with her and you will be amazed. She is clever. She also knows she is cute and she says hey, or hugs you, or claps her hands like she is proud of herself whenever she gets caught getting into things. It is hard to keep a straight face most of the time. She also hilariously tries to put everything back in order and straighten up in a fast frantic when she hears my feet coming.....then she stands up straight and holds her hands, wears a big grin and says, "Hey!" Sneaky. It is so cute but she still gets her lesson. Gentle love and a pop when necessary. She never even flinches at her poppings. She just smiles and wants to distract me to another item to play. And that is what we do...we proceed and keep loving and playing!
I have been all about Palmetto Basics and how to optimize love and minimize stress in loving and leading your little one. Love and play are so very crucial and important in their strong and happy development. I am so bi into playing with Ellie hands on. People call me crazy for how silly we are or very energetic. I am. But I had this baby to do all I could to give her the best world possible and it is fun getting down on the floor with her at her level and exploring with her....sometimes that means singing the same song or reading the same book, or pushing her around the house in a tray pretending it is a buggy over and over and over again because she wants to, it makes her happy.
Ellie can sing the starts of a few songs. ABC as mentioned previously, Jesus loves me, and some Kindermusik tunes, Riding in the Buggy, Baby Baby My Sweet Baby.
Ellie's favorite play item are baby dolls and stuffed animals. She holds as many as she can at once in her arms, rocks them, kisses them, pats them, sings to them, feeds them, tells the "sh sh sh" to calm them, and tucks them into their crib. She is a nurturer.
She is also stubborn, strong willed, and independent. This will be AWESOME for her adult self. Currently, it makes mommy have to channel in a lot of deep breathing and patience. But I also kind of love it even now because she is pretty great with a fork which she demands to use, she is already almost completely dressing herself, she even tries to change her own diapers which I hope is a sign we can potty train in a few months (fingers crossed), she likes to comb her own hair and put her bows in, and feed herself. Now, she does none of these things perfectly but she is determined to do so and that is really rather awesome. I do love this spirit about her, even when I want to just do it and make it go faster. If we don't let them try when they are curious we are putting such a bock on their independence and neurological pathway development. So take a deep breath and help show, teach, and guide. In saying that, I can also say Ellie is like her daddy and loves to see how things are done and then try and imitate or replicate. For example, she has a tea set with a dessert tray that comes apart. She does not play with the tray as a tray for crumpets, she plays with it as a puzzle that she constantly wants to take apart and put together. She loves when Eric and I sit with her and we guide her in assembling and disassembling. She even knows which piece goes next now, and her coordination for these small pieces are really being honed in as she continues practicing. I love this about her. I do not have this mentality or brain. I am a person who wants it already put together and hates taking time to read directions to figure it out.
Ellie is in love with jewelry, make-up, purses, shoes, accessories, and animals. These are a few of her favorite things.
When we go places, people think Ellie is quiet and reserved. She is a very observant child who watches and examines everything before partaking of it. Give her about 20 minutes and you will see a wild one pop loose. But she is always listening, watching, and preparing to mimic what she observes. Another reason to really be aware of our surroundings, music, words, actions, and reactions.
Ellie is a HAM!! She LOVES to make us and friends laugh and to be the center of attention. She loves to put on a show and just be so stinkin' funny!! When she sees you laugh, she laughs all the harder.
She loves snuggles, kisses, hugs, and playing games of tickle attack, chase, and games where we pretend we are going to "get her!" She still loves peek-a-boo and hiding.
The never ending comment we get about Ellie is how tanned she is. She is not tanned, lol, just has a very beautiful skin tone. She got that from Daddy. This mama lathers that baby up in sunscreen and long sleeved swimmers in summer. We appreciate the notice people take in how pretty Ellie is. She is very beautiful. She is also very smart, funny, and kind!
I love her smile and her dimples. I love her sweet eyes. I love her hair and how soft and blonde it is. I love the way Ellie takes off in excitement with her arms and hands thrown backwards and her face and chest bent forward like a little airplane. I love how she holds her hands behind her back when she is looking things over or walking around.
She currently still has 10 teeth (this includes top molars).
Every day with Ellie is fleeting faster and faster away. She is truly a very sweet and easy tempered, loving, helpful, and thoughtful little baby. She blows my mind with the amount of love and care she already gives. She changes every day and learns something new every day, for real! I love being able to keep a record here for myself.
