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. :)

20 Months

*Ellie has over 70 words now...I'd been keeping track on a spreadsheet out of curiosity, but now in one day she can say as many as four new words! Yesterday as I was giving her a snack she said pointed into the kitchen and said "working" clear as day--referring to her Daddy who was indeed working in the kitchen. :)

*In the last week she started putting 2 words together. It started w/ "Bye, Daddy", but she's beginning to generalize to other 2 word phrases now as well like "more...cracker".

*Current favorite snack is crackers & peanut butter, or apples & peanut butter.



*She took a 3-wk hiatus from being interested in the potty, so yesterday we decided to give one chocolate chip just for sitting on the potty to renew interest. Lo and behold! In less than a minute she had pee'd in the potty! Then, an hour later, she did it again, and today, again.

*Her current favorite song is the wheels on the bus. She makes her fingers go around and says "whee, whee, whee". My favorite verse for her to sing is the "babies on the bus go wa-wa-wa" 'cause she makes the funniest little fake-sad face. (Still need to catch this on video!)

*She's obsessed with bikes. She also loves cars, vans, trucks, motorcycles, and buses, but she is absolutely infatuated with bikes (she is her father's daughter, for sure!).

*She runs everywhere, with great purpose and is starting to learn how to jump. She doesn't actually get airborne, but she's close! She also loves walking backwards and gets a very proud look on her face while doing so.

Win a MacBook Air...

Win a MacBook Air from Accordance
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Easy Pumpkin Soup

1 onion
1 Tbsp. butter/olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 can pureed pumpkin
1 c. water
1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. shredded cheese (colby jack was good)
salt & pepper to taste
nutmeg (optional)

Saute onion in butter or olive oil 'til tender, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 min.

This is surprisingly filling, but would be great w/ grilled cheese or garlic bread.

Girl or Boy?

Mommy: Do you think the baby is a girl or a boy?
Ellie: Buh.
Mommy: Do you think the baby is a boy or a girl?
Ellie: Guh.
(Notice in each case it was the last thing she heard that she repeated.)
Mommy: Do you think the baby is a girl?
Ellie: Yeah.
Mommy: Do you think the baby is a boy?
Ellie: Yeah.

Hmmm, gender confusion, much? :)

We find out this Tuesday!!!

Random cuteness

* Ellie loves to pretend that she is eating (still her favorite activity). She opens one hand, palm up, and "picks" something from it with her other hand to put either in her mouth or my mouth, saying "ummm" after each "bite". She came up with this all on her own!

* The girl loves to hug, and gives GREAT hugs. She'll wrap her little arm around my neck and press her cheek right next to mine (*melt my heart*).

* She's started "reading" to herself. I'll catch her with a book going "Ah-bit-tib-it-ibah. Yeah!"

* She's had 5 potty-time successes! She's loves just sitting on the potty, and reading/singing/talking for up to about 10 min at a time (great improvement from when we started about 3 wks ago). Mostly the successes are due to Mommy noticing a dry diaper after a nap, or a particular face she is starting to make... but two times she has actually told me she wants to go!!!

* The answer to EVERYTHING right now is "Yeah". "Ellie, do you speak German?" "Yeah." "Ellie, am I the best Mommy in the whole world?" "Yeah." :)
(I realize that soon she will probably go through a "no" phase too, so I'm quite content to hear "yeah" for now.) Currie & I are having fun asking her all sorts of ridiculous questions just to hear her little answer. :)

*She is singing more and more. Last night we had our community group over and I was whispering her bedtime story to her while people shared their requests. Then she started singing "Ba-ba-ba.... Da-da-da...." (her version of Up above the world so high...). Without me saying a word, someone said, "Is she singing Twinkle-Twinkle?" It was the most recognizable she's sung it yet!

Tomatoey-Basil Yumminess

Lately my favorite way to cook is just to make things up as I go and eyeball how much/little of something to put in. The problem with this is that when I try to replicate it, often I can't get it quite the same and it never ends up living up to my memory of the original yumminess.

Tonight I made a tomato-basil pasta that was delish (may have something to do with the fact that this is only the 3rd day I haven't been nauseous in NINE weeks and pasta was a definite no during that time!). Here's an approximate recipe so I can make it again:

-2 Tbsp butter
-1 onion (diced)
-2 tsp minced garlic
-1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
-1/3 cup white wine
-1 tsp Better Than Bouillon (chicken)
-2 sprigs fresh basil (sliced)

Saute onions and garlic in butter. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 min. Serve over whole wheat penne pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.