21 Months

Here are some of my favorite Ellie-isms lately:

*She's so polite and often says "dak-oo" (thank you) to me even if I'm just walking by and stroking her hair or handing her a drink. She also says "shoo-me" (excuse me) if she wants to get by, or if she burps. :) And, she totally melts my heart when she says "Wuh-loo...Mommy" (love you). I love the little pause in her new "sentences."

*She's obsessed with her new owl jammies. I hear her saying "Hi, Owl!" from her crib in the morning. (Love how she talks to inanimate objects!)

*She is quite the extrovert. Every morning I hear her going through her list of friends (people she sees at church, school, family members, etc.). She's been known to ask "Amy...soon?" at least 50 times in a given day.

*She's been sleeping a solid 12 hours at night (7 pm to 7 am) and most days takes a 2 hour nap (2 -4 pm). Of course, this bliss is probably about to come to a end as we get ready to transition to a toddler or twin bed this weekend (so baby brother can use the crib in a few months).

*She's really into reading lately and often says "Mommy... sit" while patting the floor next to her. Then she'll say "lap" and back herself up into my almost non-existent lap. Favorite books right now are "Nernie" for The Sesame Street ABC Book and "shool-ee" for Grover Takes Care of Baby (which has a picture of a stroller on the front).

*She says "Uuuhhhh, no." Most of the time this is pretty funny, like "Um, let me think about it...no." Unless, of course, she's disobeying and not doing something I asked, then, not-so-cute.

*She sings "Uppa, uppa, uppa, GUY" (translation: "up above the world so high") while rocking her baby to sleep. This video was taken about a month ago, but she can sing the entire tune perfectly now.

*Potty training is going well and I honestly think that if she wasn't in the school nursery 20 hours/week and I could actually try putting her in underwear that she'd be trained by now. Most of the time she LOVES going and sitting in there (chocolate chips = great incentive!) and is now to the point where she's sometimes telling me "po-lly". She pees in the potty multiple times a day, but doesn't yet keep her diaper dry.

*She has conversations with her stuffed animals or babies and I'll frequently hear her say, "Yeah, Oh-kaay," like she's agreeing with whatever they've just "told" her. I also love it when she says "Wooow....pree-lly."

*She started counting "one, two, free!" last week. Most of the time she's gets a bit confused and says "one, two, one" or "free, two, free". We think she really gets the concept of two though because when we give her one yogurt or one chocolate chip, she immediately says "Two?"

Man, I love this kid. :)