I just realized I haven't updated on Ellie in a while. I may need to reference this when Thing 2 is her age, so it would be nice to have on record. She is currently a super busy little bee. She sleeps well (11-12 hours). She is taking dry naps (no diaper). She now WANTS to use the big toilet instead of the potty chair. She peed and pooped (in the toilet) today at Target after telling me she needed to in the middle of the baby clothes. I'm seriously considering taking the potty chair out of my car, but I'll probably leave it there for emergencies.
At her last weigh-in, she was 23 pounds 6 ounces. She's still petite, but has started to gain a little weight/muscle. Grandma just delivered a new batch of big girl undies in the next size up. I think she'll be able to wear commercial underpants from now on. I just saw Hanna Anderson makes a conservative underpant for 20-30 pound shrimp boats. At that rate, she'll be able to wear the same underpants for another year or two.
She currently is in love with The Train Song and actually requested to stop watching Mystery Box to watch it the last time we did her nails. Another favorite is the Elmo Song. She hasn't requested the Bus Song in the car lately, but she does spend a lot of time babbling and even engaging me in conversation sometimes. She is speaking in caveman sentences. "Mommy blue jeans." (trans. Mommy is wearing blue jeans.) "Mommy car, no Daddy car." (We're in Mommy's car, not Daddy's car.)
She has become quite the whiz with puzzles and sorting. One of her favorite toys right now is the Melissa and Doug block farm puzzle. It has 6 different puzzle pictures you can choose. She prefers Mommy to complete the puzzle, but she can now identify all the correct pieces for whichever picture she chooses to "make". Currently, they are abstract Cubist pictures. But, some of the pieces are tricky to categorize, so she is on the right track. So far, she is not real great on color identification. Her standard guess is that something is blue. Then, pink. She does know some colors, but most of the time, I think she is messing with us. Sometimes, she can count to ten. Other times, she gets tripped up around "six".
Ellie recently decided she was ready to graduate from her high chair to a booster. So far, she has been pretty well-behaved. However, when we use a booster at a restaurant, she usually climbs out at least once or twice to sit in my lap. Still working on that one. She also has decided she is too big for a bib (since they don't use them at school). However, I have put my foot down and require one when we eat red sauce or yogurt. This morning, she circumvented the bib and rubbed yogurt all down her black pant-leg. I may be outclassed.
She likes to draw. Mommy is pretty tight with the crayons for now, but she draws at school most days, at every restaurant, and every time she goes to the library. Hopefully, I'm not stifling her artistic spirit.... She has started being able to identify the ripe raspberries on our bush (as opposed to eating the unripe ones). Right now, raspberries and strawberries are somewhat interchangeable since both are grown right outside our house and she can eat them fresh.
She is getting braver about going down slides. She can be very sweet and understands the concept of sharing. Today, she got to the bucket and scoop at the playground a split second before an older girl. The girl tried to take them away and her father scolded her to give them back since Ellie had them first. The girl started crying, so I encouraged Ellie to take them over to her and share since she had already played with them quite a bit. After thinking it over, she did and they were able to play together a bit. We'll see if that good will lasts after she has a sibling to compete with.
In books, she is still interested in Thomas, but now also likes one from the library called "By Myself" about doing things independently. I'd like her to get to the point where she can at least lower and raise her pants herself. She got a pair of velcro Chucks today. Maybe she'll start putting on and taking off her shoes soon. She likes to walk up and down the stairs now. She still prefers a helping hand, but she is learning to hold on to the wall or rail, so by the time I'll need to carry Thing 2, she should be okay. She also likes anything Curious George and an old 50's book called "Saucy", about a dog who has puppies. I'm not sure why, but she also likes anything about rabbits.
I could go on, but that's probably enough minutia for now. I'll try to get pics for next time. If anyone knows of any good kid/family portrait photographers in our area, please share. We're looking to get this year's holiday pics and documentation of Ellie at 2.
