21 Months Old!

Well, I pretty much document all of Ellison's quirks, activities, favorites, etc. as I go along. BUT, it wouldn't be me if I didn't write at least a small book for the occasion. :) I'm going to insert a disclaimer of sorts here: This blog is not only for our loved ones who don't get to experience Ellison in person, but also for the sake of keeping track of all of these things since I can't imagine I'll ever get around to making a scrapbook. There, I feel better now...

Ellison is still loving coloring, drawing, puzzles, dancing, books, cleaning, and just about any other activity. She's always asking to ride her bike (with her "helmeet"), and do just about anything outside. Though she's always enjoyed going to the pool, she now asks to go ALL the time - even before bed - since her love of "swimming" took off. She even tries "swimming" on the carpet - it's quite funny. She's all about climbing onto everything, much to our horror at times. She could spend hours in our front yard picking at the flowers, if only the "'squitos" wouldn't like her so much. She wants to put on & take off items of clothing or shoes all by herself... Do you know how hard it is for a control freak (not speaking of our beloved) to sit there and just smile & watch, as you see your little biscuit's two legs going into one pant leg???

She's talking so many more phrases now, and I swear I have a little tape recorder around me all day long. She repeats everything, and imitates just about everything we do, much to our delight and dismay. :)

Yes, her love for the Wiggles and Curious George continues, but she's really starting to take a little interest in "Bob the Builder", "Little Bill", and "Max & Ruby" suddenly. These do not compare to the aforementioned ones, however. There is one other DVD that she asks for now, it's the HBO Classical Baby DVD. We've been playing it for her before bed because it's so calming (Mommy & Daddy wake up startled and drooling to Mookie making toast in the kitchen), and there's one little skit on it where an animated cow sings opera. Ellison stands up in our lap, and moves her mouth (think an opera-shaped mouth), and will try to belt out those high notes. It is SO cute! Then she continues swaying gently to the rest of the skits/songs.

Fave foods are "noodles", "'roni & cheese", "bread" and crackers. Thankfully she loves some fruits & veggies, but we're at that point where she will not try ANY new foods. My taste buds are bored just thinking about her diet, but hey, she apparently doesn't mind.

She has a love/hate relationship with Bo as she gets older. When we go on our evening family walks, Ellison has a fit if we don't let her stroller be right next to Bo where she can reach out her hand to pet him and keep repeating, "Goo' (good) boy". Other times, if she happens to drop a coveted noodle on the floor during a meal, she immediately says, "Boey" (for him to come & eat it up). Because he's so big, she doesn't like standing by herself around him; he has no awareness of little people, so he just plows into her. So when this starts to happen, or if he's begging, she'll take it upon herself to command, "Doe (Go) on, Boey!" as she waves her arm forcefully.

This past month we've seen more blood coming from Ellison's little knees than ever. You can tell she's a toddler - always seems to have abrasions on her lower half, which has brought about her fascination with BandAids (Hello Kitty ones, to be exact). After wasting 3/4 of a box on the little suckers, and after Ellison constantly wanted the BandAid either "on" or "off", I've had to get creative, depending on whether she truly needs a BandAid or not. If she does, I have to tell her the owie needs to go night-night, and then she's fine with having it on. If she wants one on, and she doesn't need one anymore, I tell her the owie wants to see the sunshine. So as my reward for being so creative, I now get to hear "No AndBaid (that's how she says it) on... sunshine", repeated over and over and over. And over.

Ellison's new way of telling us she loves us, is for her to wrap her little arms around any part of our body, and say, "......SOOOOO much!!!", while she pats us.

OK, I told you it'd be another book... :)

Monkey

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we've got a little monkey on our hands.

Ellison clearly feels she's mastered the fine art of coloring, so she decided to challenge herself by coloring with her toes.

First Little Piggies!!!

No, folks, I'm not referring to toes here. We finally got to put Ellison's first pair of piggie tails in her hair! When I casually mentioned to Elli that we should try piggie tails in her hair(while I was playing with her hair), she just said, "Otay" and then asked to sit in front of the big mirror. Those teeny tiny rubber bands are NOT user-friendly, so I thought she'd whine about me hurting her, but she never let out a peep. I loved the end result - I just wanted to eat her up, but I simultaneously marveled at the fact that God gave me a little girl, since I clearly don't have a knack for being a hairdresser. Hopefully she'll allow me lots of practice.

Playing peek-a-boo while I was trying to take her pic.

The Bond

The bond these 2 share...

One evening before going to bed, Ellison just held her daddy's face in her hands.

Jonathan always jokes that we better never get a divorce, because I would never see Ellison again - she would tell the judge she wants to stay with her dad. I guess it's a good sign that I think it's funny, too. :)

So Whose Birthday Is It?

I think Mookie thought she was getting to practice for birthday #2 in a few months. I turned even more old last week, but Ellison was happy to celebrate that. She dug nearly every colorful sprinkle of my ice cream cake off, then just dove in with her little spoon. I think this girl loves ice cream as much as her mommy and Papa (grandpa) do. Was it coincidence that she screamed when we put her to bed 2 nights in a row (the same 2 nights she enjoyed ice cream cake)??? She also enjoyed opening my birthday gifts in front of me while I was on the phone, while she was supposed to simply present them to me (from her & Daddy). Always my little helper. :)

Cutie Patootie

Nothin' more to say than that... :)

(as you all breathe a sigh of relief)

Overnight Guests

We had a nice treat last week when we got some company. Ellison's Titi Sara, Uncle Jerry, and her cousins, Haille & Alexandria spent some time with us on their way home to Jacksonville (FL, not NC) from a family vacation in Washington DC. As always, we had a great time with them, and it went by too fast!


Ellison and her little buddy, Alex. Showing us the cute little dress they brought her. Alex is great at entertaining Ellison, and Haille is great at entertaining Bo (our beast of a dog). Bo had an extra little spring in his step while they were here. It quickly dissipated upon their departure, however.

We all went to the Bur-Mil Park pool (where we frequent this summer) for a little while.

This is one of Ellison's fave things to do there - play with the watering can & fill up containers.

Though Ellison goes down this kiddie water slide all by herself, it was extra fun for her to go down with Haille, who gave her some great speed coming into the pool. You would've thought we put some Crisco on her hiney.

Fun in the fountain area.

Daddy with the 3 girls. Ellison will only ever go in this shooting-water fountain with her dad.

The Ausher family: Alexandria, Sara, Haille, & Jerry

Lunchtime in the shade.

New Step-Stool

Ellison LOVES the new step-stool we bought for her! She thinks it's so neat to be able to wash her hands at the sink without being uncomfortably held up anymore. We can assure you our child has the most sanitary hands this side of the Mississippi. I think we'll purchase some stock in the soap companies.

Daddy ups the fun factor often by filling up the sink and putting her boats in it. Me? I hide the suckers...

Computer Play

Having fun spinning around on the computer chair, then "typing" at lightning fast speed.

As you can see, poor Teddy and La-La became chopped liver before you could say, "carpal tunnel syndrome".

Breakfast Time

This was the first time I saw Ellison drinking the left-over milk from her cereal bowl. (Oh, yes - the occasion HAD to be marked with a photo! Ha!) She seems so old. :)

Mealtimes, especially breakfast, have become "shared" on many levels as of late. When I sit down to have my bowl of cereal next to her, she immediately ditches her perfectly good bowl of cereal by pushing it completely out of the way, then asks me to "move that" (my bowl) in front of her, and then she needs my adult spoon. Glad to share with my little bug, I now grab 2 identical adult spoons, and we each partake in eating "my" cereal. She has still taken it a step further. After about 1 bite of the cereal, she wants MY spoon (identical to hers, mind you). So we switch, and finish the bowl of cereal together.

Independent When Convenient

Can you see "guilt" written all over this sweet little face? Ellison asked me for "goldfish" crackers the other day, with which I responded a "no" along with a simple explanation. After I finished, I waited for some sort of objection (in the form of extreme whining), but silence ensued. I went about my business, then peaked around the corner wondering what she was doing. Naughty little E went and opened the lazy susan to get out a little snack cup, then opened the package, and proceeded to help herself to the goldfish. You can just see her look of victory. She always has this way of being so darned cute when she's being naughty!

This day started a whole new theme in our house, little did I know. At least a few times a day, I hear her say, "By self" when I'm trying to help her with something. For Pete's sake, we're going to be bickering about who gets to drive to the pool soon.

Daddy's Owie

A photo with her recuperating daddy. He had a shoulder scope done this week, and Ellison kept wanting to touch his bandages. A future in the medical field, perhaps? Sure, along with dancer (NOT on a pole!!!), piano player, artist, nanny, car expert, etc, etc...

Our Little Monkey

Just some shots of our little monkey girl.



I caught a glimpse of her actually picking up her sippy cup from the floor like a monkey, using only her feet to get it to her hands, rather than bending down to get it. I think she's seen me do this lazy trick one-too-many times to pick up a fallen La-La.

And she's really getting to be quite a little monkey on her "house" (as she calls it). Her house was supposed to make its way outdoors, but she uses it every single day, and my bod doesn't feel like sweating profusely in this hot, humid Carolina summer just so we can get eaten alive by Biggie-sized " 'quitos" (Ellison's pronunciation of 'mosquitos' while clapping her little hands together).

Potty Time

She's fully clothed here (duh), but this past Sunday Ellison went pee on the potty for the first time! Again, we're not real consistent here, but now she's done both deeds on her plastic throne! I guess she wanted to "perform" for an audience this time (i.e. Abby Cadabby, Curious George, Teddy, Elmo, etc.). Oh yeah, and Daddy too! This was the first time Daddy got to see Elli do anything on the potty.

Wardrobe Fun

So to give Ellison some closet fun, we hung one of those little bars from her closet rack so that she could reach and play with the hangers, and slide her clothes over (as if shopping), because she loves doing that in stores or if you lift her up to reach the ones in our closets. Well now she's started this thing where she takes all of her pants and skirts from her little rack and lays them all out all over her bedroom floor, one at a time. Trying to make it seem "fun" to put them all back is slightly more challenging.

Chalk Art

Ellison could spend days outside in the driveway drawing with chalk if we'd let her. Alyssa Fennel, one of the neighbor girls, came over to join us one late afternoon until Daddy came home.

I swear, EVERY kid wants to pick up little ones -- usually to the little ones' dismay. I'm surprised we got a smile on Ellison here; most of the time Alyssa was trying to pick her up, and Ellison would whine to be put down.

This One's For You, Meema

Now that Ellison's finally sprouting a little more hair, I've been anxious to put little velcro curlers in her hair. Ellison loved the process, and sat as still as could be, fascinated with the interesting reflection in the mirror. This was the next best thing to going to Meema's (this is what Ell has started calling her Grandma P.) for an official hairdo.










OK, so the results were a little more haphazard than we were expecting, but she's still our cute little button.

On a side note, Ellison just saw the computer screen with these photos, and started to whine. When I asked her what the matter was, she said, "curler" and touched her hair. She just had me put them in again. :)

Everything Baby

Ah, yes, not only is Daddy subjected to wearing princess hats on occasion for our little nugget, he also now has to be a "baby" when the wind blows just right. Ellison instructed her "baby" to lay on the pillow, then she covered him up with the baby blanket (OK, so it only fit his left shoulder), and proceeded to feed him with the bottle. This girl is all about her babies lately. The other day I caught her cradling her baby (the one that's practically bigger than she), while she was simultaneously swaying back and forth & bouncing up and down, while repeating, "Sh, sh, sh..." over and over. I guess even pretend babies are fussy at times.

Could these 2 look any more alike?!

Ellison's turn at being the baby.

Crazy Hair

Poor Ellison has to still wear sunblock on her head if we don't put a hat on her, since her little locks are a wee-bit sparse. It makes for some crazy 'dos, and some greasy hair for the rest of the day.

"Luv You"

Yesterday Ellison dished out her first unsolicited verbal dose of affection. To her dad, of course. :) She and Jonathan were sitting on the piano bench side by side, when she leaned her little head against his arm, then asked him to hold her as her little arm slid around his back. When he held her, her little arm started patting his back gently, and she said, "Luv you" as she looked up at him. AWWWWW!!! So SWEET!!!

Ellison's First Bike

Elli was SO EXCITED about her new tricycle, that she tried sitting on it while her dad was still putting it together. We bought it thinking she may enjoy our evening strolls around the neighborhood more. We were right - I'm just hoping the novelty of it doesn't wear off too soon. She loved it so much on our first trial walk, that she refused to get off it when we arrived back at the house. It was the first time ever that she didn't mind wearing a bike helmet. (No, we did not try to make her wear it on stroller rides. She fought it on the rare occasion that we had to put it on her to ride on the back of our bikes). Steering has become a challenge during the walk/ride now, but we're getting there.