Cinco de Mayo 2009

Little princess is officially 2 1/2! I was thankful to get one cute little pic of her with the maracas to mark the occasion, but Ellison decided she had her own agenda during our little shoot. It was like pulling teeth to get her to cooperate for some pics.




She wanted to help me make the little sign this time. :-) Wow, how far we've come from her "1 month old" sign! I love it.
Here's where she starts doing what SHE wants, despite my pleas and begging.


That day, coincidentally, Daddy was bringing home a surprise, and I told her as much. Around the time he was due home, I came into the foyer to find Ellison had pushed this box in front of the front door all by herself, and was sitting on it while watching for her Daddy to pull in the driveway. So sweet!
Ellison with her "new" (via Craigslist) kitchen/laundry unit. She's happily ironing her La-La. Next week we're going to work on how to iron collars.

OK, here goes a rundown of some of Ellison's 2 1/2 year tidbits...

--She's got a fixation with smells. Several times a day, I see her put her little hand over her mouth & nose, and she says "My smell someting". And often it's, "My smell someting stinky", whether it be food, rain, wood, breath, etc.

--I'm starting to become quickly panicked in public. See above. It also takes on the form of, "Mommy, she have a baby in her tummy?" (Even when they don't). There's no way to know this is coming. (gasp!).

--She loves "Flossie", as in dental floss. Crazy, I know. Sometimes it's the only thing that gets us through the toothbrushing - if we tell her she gets to pick out a flossie (those little floss bar thingies).

--She's a milk-fiend. And lately has to drink it out of her old sippies, with a sippie lid.

--Loves tents. Just about every morning, I have to make a tent in my bed with my legs using the sheet, and she gets inside. We make tents over the ottoman/sofa, her slide, her little table, all over the place.

--She is in a streak where she refuses to talk on the phone. I chase her around with the phone on speaker-phone, and she'll crawl behind the sofa. Or just sit there defiantly with her little lips pressed shut.

--She never wants to wear her pants after naptime. She just wants to be free to wear her shirt and panties. Don't be surprised if you see her in our yard with the little undergarment free for all to see.

--We each have to kiss both of her hands after we tuck her into bed at night. She has a very specific request list every night for bed as far as what she needs in her bed with her, and how she needs it. Just when we think we've successfully snuck away a stuffed animal or two to, um, make enough room for our child, she quickly reminds us how much she needs that suddenly-noticed animal. Nothing gets past her.

--She's discovered that she can play her Daddy at bedtime. Before, we would take her potty before bed, and that was it - the rest of the rituals would continue until we walked out of her room for the night. Now, after laying her in bed, and appeasing her various kiss-requests, she starts whining that she has to go potty again. I've talked her out of it in the past, knowing she's just stalling, but now Daddy gives in. He sits her on the potty, and she'll start making cutesy faces at him. He asks her, "Ell, do you really have to go potty?". She always answers coyly, "No..." while giving him these sweet little looks. Little stinker.

--She now notices a subtle difference in her two Teddies, and only "Other Teddy" will do. So much for having a replacement all this time.

--We're considering buying stock in Band-Aids, considering how much she's constantly getting into them and putting them on owies that have long-since healed. This also means we have to buy stock in "Goo Gone" because we know from experience how tough it is to get Band-Aids off Teddy and her other animals.

--She's started calling us "Mom" and "Dad" lately. This still makes me weak in the knees. Where did our baby go? I couldn't believe I heard, "Hey, Ma..." out of her mouth the other day either.

--She's into sorting and matching things.

--We hear "My so hungry" (imagine it with a pathetic little whine) about 563 times a day. And she's so used to turning down our ideas for snack items, that she automatically says, "My hungry for someting else" before we've even given her an option as to what it can be.

--She's all about books. Being read to, reading to her animals, looking at them, making a mess with them, etc.

--Still an accessory queen - her shoes, my shoes, her purses, my purses, her jewelry, my jewelry...

--I'm shocked to say that the requests for watching "The Wiggles" has waned some (though not completely). Never thought it would happen.  Still likes to watch "Curious George" and "Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends"; now she's liking "Veggie Tales", too.  Still likes any show about real babies.

--We've been talking to her about getting her big girl bed very soon.  She gets so excited.  But lately, we've noticed we may have a few issues.  The other night when I was putting her down for a nap, she said, "Mom, will Chrisilla (a stuffed animal she named that sleeps next to her) get to sleep in my big girl bed, too?".  When I reassured her, she then asked, "And all of my animals, too?".  I had to tell her we'd make a new bed for them since they won't all fit.  You could see her mind mulling this over.  Not too long ago, she started asking where her crib would go when her big girl bed came.  When I told her she wouldn't need it anymore, that we would move it to a different room, she became sad and worrisome.  So she may have 2 beds for a while. :-)

--She's so into playing doctor with my real stethoscope.  She'll say, "Mommy, lay down, close your eyes, and take a deeeeep breath... That sounds just great.  Perfect.".  If I happen to mention that she has a sniffle or something, she'll suddenly get this twinkle in her eyes and say, "Yeah, my probly need to go to the doctor!".

--She's always asking, "Mommy (or Daddy), are you happy?".

--She now asks me to paint her toenails and fingernails.  "Mom, will you paint my nails pink, please?".  And she loves tattoos.  The temporary ones, of course.

--When we go on walks around the neighborhood now, she wants to get out and get her own exercise.  She even jogs, coaxing me along the whole way.  Ha!  She likes to bring her Teddy or baby in her little stroller and push them, too.

--We constantly hear, in a very drawn out and light voice, "All-by-my-self".

--She loves making up songs and switching around the words to established songs to be silly.

--Jonathan and I gasp on an almost-daily basis at the things that come out of her mouth.  Where does she get some of that stuff???  Like, "My look like such a genius!" (we do not use that word, seriously), and "Not exactly...".

--Every morning when we're lying in our bed, she says she's so hungry and wants me to bring her milk and marshmallows.  Every morning.  I thought I was being clever when I would bring her like, 3 little marshmallows, on top of Crispix (she's into dry cereal and separate milk lately for breakfast).  Today after her request, I started to get out of the bed to fetch the items, and she said, "And I don't want any Crispix, Mom."

OK, there's a run-down