Fall, Christmas and everything in between

As Clark noted, long time no blog post. We’ve been quite busy with this two and a half year old of ours. She is extremely smart, very verbal, opinionated, independent, high energy, cuddly and sweet.

Let’s see. Ellie had a good fall. We started off going to the Toledo zoo with her cousin. We’d been to the Detroit Zoo a couple times, but this was the first time at Toledo. She had a great time and is still talking about wanting to go back. Her favorite part was the aquarium, especially when she found the ‘nemo fishies.’ She pretty much jumped up and down and yelled nemo fishies and we stood there for like 15 minutes. We will definitely be going back.

Next came the cider mill. Ellie discovered her love for apple cider this year, and her continued love for donuts. She was entranced by the cider making room and we went back in there twice. She also like the ‘train’ ride, the animals, and most importantly, the giant inflatable bounce house like things. Ellie has decided that bounce houses are pretty much her favorite thing.

We did a fall photoshoot this year. It was a little cold, but Ellie immediately got into the posing. She looked so cute in her coat and the leaves this may become an annual thing.

At the end of October Ellie moved up to the ‘young preschool’ room at school. It’s crazy how big she’s getting. While she was sad to leave some of her friends, she was definitely ready to learn new things. And now her friends have joined her in her room, which is even better. Right now she can pretty reliably count to 20 (although sometimes she repeats a few), sings her ABCs like a champ, can pick out an E for Ellie and wants to know what all of the other letters ‘stand for’ (like M for Mommy.)

Of course next came Halloween. Ellie was excited about Halloween all month. Early in October we were walking through the costumes just seeing what was out there and she found this Minnie Mouse Princess dress and immediately fell in love. We didn’t buy it that day, but she immediately started telling people she was going to be Minnie Princess for Halloween, so of course we had to get it. She loved Halloween. Halloween festivities started out with a party and parade at School. She did a great job walking and smiling through the parade. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up as well. She loved going trick or treating. It was cold. It was raining. But she didn’t care. She went through the whole neighborhood. Definitely my girl ?

This fall we signed Ellie up for gymnastics. It was Saturday mornings for an hour and she had a good time – especially when she figured out it was a class and she had to listen. Her favorite part was jumping and rolling. She wasn’t a big fan of the balance beam but did eventually figure it out by the end. Not sure we’ll continue gymnastics, we might find her another class next – probably swimming or dance. In her class at school they pick one child that has been good all week and let them take home Martin the Monkey, and they get to tell all of their friends on Monday morning about what Martin did all weekend through pictures and a story in Martin’s journal. So of course, Martin came to gymnastics.

Ellie was very happy when we got a giant snowstorm. We started off with a ‘Minnie’ snowman. She had fun shoveling the snow with her little shovels and flopping on her belly in the snow piles. She also likes to make snow angels on her belly instead of her back. And sledding in the driveway. We’ve had snow a couple more times since and she wants to go outside every time.

Thanksgiving was a little less eventful, but Ellie definitely enjoyed hanging out with her family. She’s still working on enjoying the feasting part.

Next of course was Christmas. She loved everything about it. She loved the songs (some of which she learned at school as Clark mentioned.) She loved the tree. She loved the decorations. She talked about Santa. And presents. When you asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would say ‘presents.’ When you asked her what kind of presents, she’s say ‘pink ones.’ So that’s what she got for Christmas ? She was great about opening presents and did a good job of making sure others had gifts to open too.

Now we’re settling into winter. Ellie’s new favorite place is the playland at McDonalds. It’s warm and free and lets her get some energy out so there are worse things.

Ellie’s adventure in getting her tonsils out first started with us going to the Allergist where we confirmed she’s not allergic to anything. Then we headed to the ENT, where he took one look and said yep, they need to come out (or reduced as her case was.)The day of surgery we had to be there at 545, which made her already a little cranky. She was over it as soon as we headed to the prep area and just wanted to go home. They gave her some medicine to help her relax/make her sleepy and that helped. Honestly, she was a little high. And it was hilarious. But it made her go into the actual operation in a great mood. She didn’t come out in such a great mood but recovered quickly once we got home. Now she’s almost a month out of surgery and doing so amazing. She’s eating better. She’s drinking better. She’s wakes up well rested and wakes up less frequently. It’s amazing.

Her favorite character right now is Minnie Mouse, and she still likes to watch ‘hot dog’ (although she occasionally calls it Mickey) and drink milk every morning. She prefers the episodes with Minnie though. Ellie still enjoys dancing and has added singing to the mix – she really likes to listen to ‘her’ music (kids music) in the car and sing along. Sometimes she just makes up songs based on tunes she knows.

Ellie is also into nonsense words right now and frequently ends sentences with them. She thinks it’s funny. She prefers taking showers to baths now and has pretty much switched over exclusively to them instead. She ‘plays her games’ in the shower by bouncing around, putting various limbs in the water and claiming her friends go down the drain.

Her imagination is in full force and she frequently likes to hide from the ‘monster’ or ‘sneaky snake’ or ‘itsy spider.’ She loves hiding in general, especially behind chairs and under blankets. Ellie also enjoys playing with her baby dolls, she has multiple now, and she takes care of them – rocking, shushing, feeding, burping and changing diapers.

Ellie has picked up a stuffed animal that must not be lost. It’s a pink/multi colored kitty we call pinky. She needs it (in addition to her little blankie) to sleep, when she’s tired, when she’s in the car…really anywhere. It’s been a few months now so I think kitty/pinky is here to stay.

Speaking of kitties, Ellie has taken a greater interest in our kitties. She likes to try and pet them (Pandora is starting to let her), wants to know where they are, wants to give them food and toys. I think it’s part of the reason she likes her stuffed kitty.

Ellie is also very affectionate. She likes to give hugs and kisses and snuggle and tell you she loves you…at least when she wants ? She also likes to do every single thing by herself, but at least she’s getting pretty good at them.

I just bought her a full size bed to see if it will encourage her to stay in her bed all night. We’ll see how that goes. We’re also heading out on an adventure where Ellie will take her first airplane ride in a couple of weeks, which she’s also very excited about.

Here are a bunch of cute photos: