Ellie Mae

Every stage is my favorite.  It's funny how as a parent you say "this is my favorite stage" over and over again.  I loved when Ellie was a newborn.  I loved when Ellie was starting to babble and laugh.  I loved when she started liking the swing and going for walks.  I loved when Ellie was crawling.  I loved when Ellie was talking.  I loved when Ellie was just walking.

Now, there a few things that I don't want to forget about this stage before it's gone.

-- Ellie always greets you in the morning with a "mo-ning".

-- She has a routine now of always picking out her PJs before bed.  I've started letting her pick out certain parts of her outfit (i.e. just pants and I'll pick the shirt to match).  It's fun to watch her brain work, pick up one pair of pants, say "noww" (no) and then pick four different pairs until she finds the right one.

-- She talks ALL the time.  Okay, not when strangers are around, but if it's people she knows she will talk on and on and on.  She is very good at play-by-plays.  She will see grandma coming up the steps to take her boots off from getting chicken eggs and Ellie will proceed to say "Mama (grandma) up, up, up.  Eggs?  Booss (boots) off.  Uggghhh (sympathy grunt).  Pussshhh (door opening).  Ah.  Hi!

It's adorable.  Sometimes, though, I swear she's speaking a different language.  She'll just start talking and it'll sound like full sentences, but just not English.

-- I love that she understands things now.  She knows what all done means.  She knows what wait means.  She knows so much.  It amazes me sometimes.

-- On that note, she is VERY aware.  My grandparents have a family picture on their desktop that Ellie loves to look at and point out certain people.  Well, one day she went in there to look at the picture.  The screen was off so she wiggled the mouse to turn it on.  It still didn't turn on so she went down below to push the button on the computer to turn it on.  It's pretty impressive how much she retains.

-- She is an outdoor baby.  Anything that involves being outside she will instantly be a part of.  Going for a walk around the yard, getting eggs from the chickens, going on a run with mom and dad, hanging up laundry to dry, etc.  If she's out there for less than 10 minutes it usually ends up in a meltdown because why would we go inside too early?!

-- She can really communicate with us now.  It's wonderful and frustrating all at once.  She will tell you if she does or doesn't want something, what she wants to do at that current moment, and what she's thinking.  Example: she may go to the couch, bang on it, and say "sit!".  Obviously, you know what she wants.  Sometimes, though, she knows what she wants and she won't take no for an answer.  Thankfully, we're still in this very short attention span phase so we can easily distract her mind if that happens.

She loves to be chased, to play on our keyboard, to read books, to snuggle with her blanket, to throw the ball around, to find sticks outside, to look for ay-panes (airplanes) and eat any fruit she can get her hands on.  

I love her tickle spots, her belly laugh (it cures all), her snuggl-y side that comes out before and after bed, her curly hair, her hip-swinging dance, and her love of animals (except bugs. She saw a ladybug crawling on grandma's hand and did not like it one bit).