Ellie (1 yr 11 months)

Here's a little about Ellie these days.

-She isn't growing like she used to and is smaller than a lot of the kids her age. But she's still chubby!
-She is turning into a talker, just like Alta was at this age. She is making huge leaps in her communication skills the last couple of weeks. Instead of just repeating phrases people say to her, she comes up with her own.
-Her favorite word is probably "self". As in, "I want to do it myself and if you try to help me I'll scream". This makes getting dressed and getting in the car especially frustrating. (This picture has nothing to do with her stubborn streak, it just makes me laugh because I don't know how she got a shoe print on her face)

-She hums and sings when other people sing. She also likes to pretend to go to sleep and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to herself, except she pronounces it "tinkle tinkle".
-She likes to dance. Whenever she hears music, whether at home or in a store, she stops what she's doing and starts dancing and humming. Here's a video of her showing off her favorite dance move. (even though I'm retarded and can't figure out imovie to edit it so you have to watch the whole thing, and why is it posting twice? I'm new to vimeo. and apparently to technology.)


-She is generally a very happy little girl. Whenever she throws a tantrum or cries about being hurt or scared, she'll be absolutely inconsolable for 5 minutes and then suddenly stop and say "All done crying. Happy now." and keep playing. Funny girl.
-She is much more into pretend play than Alta was at this age. Of course, Alta didn't have an older sister bossing her around, saying things like, "Let's pretend you're a dog, Ellie!".

She pretends a lot with her animals too:

-Her favorite pretend game right now is "walking to Mal's house". I can't wait until they're old enough to do it for real!

-She loves being outside. Alta and Ellie are always going on walks around the cul-de-sac

or swinging and jumping at Grandma Lorna's house

-She loves books. She will bring me book after book to read to her, and if I'm busy she will often sit and look at a book by herself. She also loves when Grandpa reads to her:

-Some days when Alta is at preschool, Ellie gets a little clingy because she's so used to having a playmate. But other days she takes full advantage of not having to share toys with anyone.

 -And lastly, she will be turning 2 in less than a month!!!