Museum, Ice Cream, and Shaving Cream

We took Grandma to the Children's Museum to play with Ellison. We had a great time - Ellison was lit up like a Christmas tree having Grandma to show everything to. I know we've already been down the road of Children's Museum photos more than once, but we've never had Grandma in them, too. :-)

OK, for those of you in the Greensboro area, the new train exhibit is SOOOO adorable! It made me wish I was a little one again. Ellison loved it.

After dinner that evening, the 5 of us headed out for ice cream to Brewster's. Yum! Ell liked her little ice cream with sprinkles that even came with two little candy eyes.

Grandma was the greatest for giving baths. She let Ellison get into Grandpapa's shaving cream. After she was done, Grandpapa was in need of a new can.

[May 22, 2009]

The next day, Ellison got great time with Grandma while I worked (14 hours!!! Worst shift here to date!) and Daddy & Grandpapa worked outside staining our deck. Grandma and Ell rearranged her bedroom, did laundry, and played. Lucky for Grandma that me and Jon were tied up - it was the only day Ellison let her put her down for a nap. :-)

[May 23, 2009]

Hangin' Out

The day after G & G arrived, we simply hung out and played with Mookie. After Daddy got home from work, we sat outside for dinner - it was beautiful out.

Grandpapa surprised Ellison with a treat after dinner - M&Ms. She quickly fell in love, and she and Grandpapa gobbled them up. She was even feeding him.

Ellison spotted Daddy's old tricycle in the shed (not from when he was a child - from when he was, like, 35 years old). This tricycle was all souped (?) up by Jonathan for a ridiculous work tricycle relay a few years ago. As you can see, it goes along with his love for bikes, as in motorcycles. As soon as she saw it, she had to try it out, of course.

[May 21, 2009]

Grandpapa & Grandma Arrive!

We were SOOOO excited that Grandpapa and Grandma were coming for a long visit, and to join us for a beach trip. Besides the 2 hrs they got to see us during our flight layover this past November, it had been a YEAR since they've gotten to be with us! Talk about change when they saw Ellison. With Ellison being a cautious little soul, I thought it would be hard because Grandma would want to moosh her up, and I assumed Ellison would be super-clingy with us. We were thrilled to see her warm up to them in a matter of minutes! She was a little shy for a few minutes, but Grandma & Grandpapa brought a TON of suprises for Ellison, so she was in hog heaven, and they quickly became her friends.

Grandpapa playing with her beloved Teddy.

Opening up one of a thousand surprises. Her Great Aunt Betty sent her all kinds of fun things - all things that Ellison quickly became attached to. Namely, lipstick. She got 3 different kinds of Hello Kitty lipstick, and we couldn't pry them out of her hands for about a week.

She kept asking Grandpapa to help her with her new surprises.

They brought some toys that I used to have when I was a little girl. Do any of you remember Smaller Homes and Gardens? Loved that dollhouse. I'm still enjoying rearranging the furniture in it.

If you look closely, you can see the pink lipstick smothered all over her lips and the immediate surrounding areas of her little face. We joked throughout the week that she had a spare set of lips: her real ones, and the ones that remained even when she would purse her lips together.

Getting to have Grandma read her a bedtime story, and Ellison had to have it done on the mattresses that arrived in her bedroom. G & G brought a "big girl bed" (toddler bed) and another twin bed. Until we decided which to set up, both were in her bedroom. Ellison thought the plain mattresses were the coolest.

[May 20, 2009]

We'd been talking about getting the big girl bed for months. She had been so excited for it and would ask about it all the time. Most recently she started to get concerned little looks on her face and say, "But where my crib gonna go?". She actually was ready to try out the toddler bed after we set it up next to her crib. The first night we ended up putting her back in her crib, after repeated scoldings for getting out of bed at bedtime. We had to cover up our snickers. We'd shut the door, then after a few minutes we'd hear her little lamp turn on. You gotta give it to her - the girl found her way to the lamp without banging herself into anything. As soon as we'd bust her, she'd go running back to her bed quickly saying, "Sorry! Sorry!". Another time, I stood outside the door, only to have little miss open it, startled to see my face, and run back to bed. On the 3rd or 4th time, I listened outside the door as she got out of bed, opened her purse, and proceeded to walk around, then quietly open the door again - and yes, she was startled to see me again. Many cries followed as she was then put into her crib and told we'd try again the next night.

The next 2 days and nights, she slept great in her big girl bed, without any of the previous naughtiness. However, the first night of being in the bed, she woke up suddenly crying loudly. I ran in there, but had to feel around for her, and somehow the majority of her body was underneath her crib. (?). It didn't scar her too bad - the next day was great for a nap. That night, she woke up twice screaming. I can be a little slow at times... especially in the middle of the night - it took both times for me to realize that she had been falling out of bed. So we explained what a big girl she wass and how great she was doing, but that we'd wait until we got the siderails so she wouldn't fall out of bed in a dead sleep anymore.

Where are we now? Well, we just got the siderails a few days ago, which she was begging us to put on immediately, but now we lost our little window and she doesn't want to sleep in the big girl bed. She loves that I'll read her a story in it, then she quickly starts whining that she wants to sleep in her bed. So for now, the big girl bed is simply a decoration in her bedroom.

BTOC

Big Toddler On Campus. It seems we have one on our hands lately. It's too sweet - the twins next door, Hanna and Mary Grace, come over and ring the doorbell to ask if Ellison can come out and play. Ellison suddenly turns into a 10 year old, posing coyly at the door, crossing her legs, holding the door open by herself, and says, "You want to come in?". After hearing me and Jonathan tell the girls we'll all be out in a moment, after dinner, Ellison hollars out to them as they run off momentarily, "I be out in a minute, after dinner!". The girls just eat her up and are SO good with her! They are little spitfires of energy, and rattle off at a mile a minute. They informed me the other week that if I ever need a mother's helper, they'd like the job. :-) Often times, we'll all take off on a walk/bike ride, while the girls ride their bikes, and before you know it a few of the other neighborhood kids join us. Ellison loves every minute of it.

Splashing in the puddle made by the carwashing. She's starting to love puddles.

Playing with the twins in the sandbox one evening.

[June 3, 2009]

A Forgotten Cell Phone Pic

Imagine my gasp when I realized I missed putting in one of my fave pics of Ell a couple of posts ago...  Her frosting face from her pumpkin doughnut at Krispy Kreme on Halloween.  It was even funnier to watch that little mouth talk.

[Oct 31, 2008]

Moose Cafe

Ellison loves going to the Moose Cafe at the Farmer's Market. It's convenient for us to do since it's right by Daddy's work. Ellison always has to go greet the big moose, and name off all of the letters in the sign. It's like tradition now.

Sporting her new fave "purse" that we got at the bag warehouse sale. I had big plans to put her little jewelry in it, since that's what I think it's for, but she had other plans.

Visit to the Dentist

Ellison started asking to go to the dentist the week before her appointment, after hearing that I had a dentist appointment. I kept telling her her turn was coming. She's only been to the dentist once before, 6 months ago, and though she cooperated, she cried during the cleaning and exam. This time? OMG, total turnaround. She was SO excited! When it came to be her turn, she followed the hygienist back, hopped right up into the chair while the hygienist's back was turned, and layed right down. She got to push the buttons on the chair that make it go up, she got to hold the polishing tool, and smell the polish. She was eating it right up! (Not the polish, the experience). She opened her little mouth up like a bird when it came time to polish her teeth, and even loved it when they squirted the water in her mouth and then had her close her lips around the suction. They said what a big girl she was - they said they totally expected to have her in my lap at this age yet. I was seriously dumbfounded that she had such a great experience. FYI, if any of Ellison's little friends out there are looking for a pediatric dentist, Lake Jeanette Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics is THE place to go! The office is SO cute and fun, and the staff and dentist/orthodontist are SO great - an awesome atmosphere with lots of fun things.

How did we celebrate our great dentist visit? With Krispy Kreme, of course! Job security for the dentist, I suppose.
[May 7, 2009]

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 

Myrtle Beach

Noteworthy because this was my first time ever spending a night without Ellison EVER! I got to go on a great retreat weekend in Myrtle Beach with a group of women that I love. There were a couple of our ladies missing from the weekend, but all of us have been in a couple of Bible studies over this past year together. We've learned so much, not only spiritually, but about each other. Though the weekend wasn't quite what some of us thought it would be, I absolutely loved my time with them! I missed my sweet baby girl (and sweet hubby, too) to pieces, but it was great to feel "refreshed". The days leading up to this weekend had me feeling very weary and worn-out as a parent. Though parenting is such a joy, there are times when you just feel like you need to be "refilled" so you can keep going. I felt like I was running on empty the week before. Perhaps because Ellison seemed to be particularly challenging with tantrums and naughtiness, or perhaps because I had been going on 2 1/2 yrs without a real "break". At any rate, it was just what I needed, and I was so excited to get back to being Mommy. I thought Ellison would come running up to me when I arrived home. Didn't quite happen that way. She saw me, shouted, "Mommy!" and without even catching her breath said, "What surprise did you bring me?". Yeah, um, I'm pretty sure she missed me...

For some reason, I only took 2 pics the whole weekend. The weather was so perfect!
Eating lunch at "Cheeseburger in Paradise" before heading back home to reality:

Karen, Nancy, me, Jill, Lauren, and Caralynn.

[April 24-26]