Well, the official announcement (everyone knows it's only official once it's on Facebook) took place about a month ago, but here are the pictures anyways.
We announced to our family while we were in FL for Ana's graduation. Currie took a family picture and said "Say cheese", then he took another one and said "Say Abby's pregnant". Everyone was quiet and probably confused, plus I don't think everyone heard him, but eventually it started clicking and we got this reaction. :)
And, here's what the baby bump currently looks like at 16 weeks:
Four weeks from today we find out what we're having!!! :) A
The ticker at the top of this page says my baby is 18 months old today! To celebrate this milestone, this morning we went for donuts. We gave Ellie her own cake donut with one, pink candle and then sang "Happy Half-Birthday to You". I think we may have to keep up this little tradition for all future half-birthdays.
This afternoon we had her portraits done. They turned out great (which makes it SO hard to choose only the poses our budget will allow)! As per the photographer's suggestion, we took some of her favorite toys: her white bear and her basket of veggies. This helped SO much. It kept her busy and the lady was able to capture some real "Ellie" poses. (The picture below is not one of them, but she is cuddling her white bear.)
I feel like Ellie is doing so much now and gaining so much independence so quickly that I hardly know where to begin! Of course, if I had blogged even once in the last 5 months I wouldn't be in such a pickle. So, settle in for a loooong post, people, in the format of random items that I love about my Little Honey, or just things I don't want to forget. Don't worry though, if you stick with me 'til the end of the post, I'll reward you with an adorable video. :)
*She loves to hold my hand when we pray for our food, and always says mee-maw for amen. Lately she uses the other hand to cover her eye when I say Close your eyes.
*She loves to put on her winter hat! Who cares that there's a heat advisory going on and that it makes her little head sweat while she's playing inside, but she loves the darn thing. Typical Ellie is her with this little hat on, her purse slung over her shoulder, and her white bear stuffed under her armpit. :)
*She LOVES for us to sing The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and tries wholeheartedly to do the hand motions. She's also started singing herself recently and is experimenting with getting louder.
*She points to anything and everything and says Eh! at least six thousand times a day. I have to constantly remind her to say it, or sign it, or I play the guessing game as to what she wants. I think she will be SOOO happy to be able to talk, because she obviously has a lot to say.
*I've been using the family calendar that I made to teach her everyone's names. So far she can say Dee Dee, Papa, Will (W-uhl), Nene, Dan, Addie (Ah-duh), and, by far her favorite one to say of all, Eli (E-ya!!). I have caught her several times leaning on the coffee table, studying it herself. Other new words include water (wah-wer) and apple (ah-pul).
*She's becoming more and more independent in the eating department. We've been reluctant to let her "have at it" because neither of us likes to be messy. But now she can successfully use her little fork to eat sausage & scrambled eggs, she likes to have crackers and cheese in her little compartmentalized tray, and tonight she was delighted to discover that she could dip her fries in ketchup!
*We're in the beginning phases of potty training. We bought Ellie a potty chair and a doll that wets and has her own potty chair, we've been reading books from the library about going potty, we let her run around w/o a diaper so that I can monitor her patterns and so she can figure out what's happening, etc. The first time she peed on the floor she looked down like What just happened?! Why would she know? It always happens in her diaper... She does point to her diaper now immediately when she wants it changed. All good signs!!
*As of today, my baby is completely weaned. I think I would be much sadder if I didn't know that she was completely ready (we were down to just the morning feeding and she's been more and more distracted and ready to play). Also, I know that in 6 months I'll have another little mouth to feed, which makes the weaning a bit easier. Still, I had to really force myself to make the break today and her 18-month milestone was a tangible goal in my mind. (Though writing this is now bringing the tears as I process the finality of the whole thing). Truth be told, I am really going to miss those precious times of holding and cuddling.
*She still takes two naps: 1-2 hours in the morning and about 1 hour in the afternoon (on a good day...sometimes she just likes to skip a nap altogether to keep us guessing). She's still a solid 11 hour sleeper at night, going to bed at 8 and getting up at 7. (This may be changing...this past week she's let us sleep in 'til about 8:15 one morning!!)
And, now, because you've earned it: An Adorable Video:
Busy, busy, busy! This little girl practically runs from one end of the room to the other, stopping for less than a minute to sling a purse over shoulder, page through a book, explore what's in her diaper bag, or tuck a stuffed animal under her armpit.
She continues to be a little chatterbox, jabbering away in Ellie-ese! words: hi, bye, baby, dada, mama, papa, uh-oh, ‘nana, boo, and ball. signs: hi, bye, eat, more, milk, up, all done, bath, thank you, drink/water, help, I love you, yucky, yes, and no. She points to things constantly and either says "eh" or makes the "more" sign to help us figure out what she wants. For instance, she'll point to her coat, make the "more" sign, and say "bye". Beyond this, she is understanding so much more than she's saying. Last week when we left her w/ a babysitter, we explained what was going to happen and she waved and said "bye" to us on our way out the door (much better than the tears I was expecting)!
Today I listened to this in preparing to teach my 3-year olds about American Robins. I even discovered that American Robins and European Robins are completely different birds, w/ different scientific names. (Don't laugh, I'm new at this, folks!)
I came across this beautifully illustrated book: The King of the Birds. The back page is a key that lists the 48 different birds that are illustrated on page 12 of the book. Absolutely gorgeous. (I keep an Amazon wish list for Ellie because I come across so many greatliving books in our school library.)
I read up on Mary Cassatt in this book, looking specifically at this painting. Last week the kids had fun lounging like this Little Girl in a blue chair that I brought in from the office. Their imitations of her expression were priceless (next year I'll bring my camera)!
In short, I love the fact that as I plan my lessons for this week I am learning right along with the kids; what better way to spend a morning while Baby Girl takes her nap?!
This month I feel like someone pulled a lever that has propelled us into Full Speed Ahead; Ellie is doing so many new things these days I can hardly keep up!
She: *signs more, eat, up, and all done (the last is always accompanied by taking off her bib) *has taken a few very timid "baby" steps without holding on (I've seen it twice about a week apart); she can walk just fine holding onto my pinky, but is just very reluctant to let go *covers her own eyes to play peek-a-boo *rocks her baby back and forth when I sing rock-a-bye-baby *can crawl up stairs and go down them backwards (her daddy taught her this) *is stuck on the word bobby- not sure if she just likes the sound it makes or if she's trying to say bunny or something, but she has said it a hundred times this week! *LOVES to say uh-oh; I think she purposely drops things so she can have a reason to say it! *greets everyone we pass in the grocery store with an enthusiastic Hi!! *has gotten super cuddly w/ me b/c she's hit full-on Stranger Anxiety phase and I just eat it up! *immediately looks around for Bunny when I get her up from her nap, and then shows her to me, then kisses her multiple times on the nose (*adorable*) *identified where mommy's nose is for the first time yesterday and, *screamed Dada! when Currie walked into the room tonight! She is such a little munchkin, and I just love her to pieces!!
