And, believe it or not, I do feel like she's ready. She's had so many milestones and major life changes in just the last 6 months or so that I feel like she's shown what a big girl she is. She was a potty training success story, she got rid of her pacifier with much less anger than I had anticipated, she moved to a new house, started sleeping upstairs, took it like a champ when Mommy and Daddy went away for a week, and made a super smooth transition into a big girl bed. And all that is just since January.
Two was challenging but amazing. Two was funny and exhausting. Never in the history of all time has some required more or asked more questions. We are working on her being a little more independent and not latching herself on to me. But the snuggles have been great. I still give in every time she says "But, Mommy, maybe you just cuddle me just a little minute?"
Her eating has improved by about 5%..... it's not great, but it's something. She's still a champion sleeper. She still takes naps. She uses the potty but can't pull her pants up and down by herself so I have to be very much a part of the whole process. She goes into her school or her Sunday school class without crying for me 80% of the time. (This is only thwarted when she goes into a classroom where there is a kid already crying in there. If she arrives and there is a sobbing child, she wants no part of whatever sadness must be going on in that classroom.) (I've started trying to arrive earlier than all the other kids to combat this issue!)
She talks A LOT. She still doesn't grasp a lot of concepts like time and days. She still gets confused on which is meal is breakfast, lunch, or dinner, as she will ask me at 7am for some lunch. She says "next to-morning" and "this morrow" and will say "Daddy, we gonna have pizza for dinner this mornin!" instead of the truth which is that we are having it tonight.
She gets her tenses mixed up.
"Are you hungry?"
"I did!"
"Do you need to go potty?"
"I sure am!"
She says "for" instead of "to". For example, "Can you give that water for me?"
She also doesn't always get the concept of why.
"Ellie, you can't have ice cream because you didn't eat your dinner."
"But why not?"
"Because you didn't eat your dinner."
"But why not?"
"I don't know why you didn't eat your dinner. That's your own issue to deal with."
Other cute things she says: (I love to document this kind of thing!)
Possi-sickle (popsicle)
I so really hungreem! (hungry)
This is wunnerful! (wonderful)
I can't believe this!
I can't want it
Don't do that Mommy, that make me really sad!
I can't eat that, it's too yuck.
We go outside for just a little minute?
You not say no for Ellie (Again, with the for instead of to!) :)
Movie-ater (movie theater)
Mommy, I have to tell you sumpin. (something)
She still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Curious George, and the ongoing love for the Bubble Guppies is strong. She also has grown to be obsessed with the Paw Patrol. She watches Rapunzel, Frozen (Anna-Elsa, she calls it) and The Little Mermaid on the regular. She is also quite obsessed with Big Hero 6, or "Baymax" as she calls it.
She still loves to watch little videos (Bideos!) on the "iPag."
She loves to ride in her daddy's truck. She loves dessert and going down slides. She loves to carry little bags and she likes magna-doodles. She loves for me to tell her stories and sometimes she really will just take off running in circles in a random patch of grass. She remembers EVERYTHING, so much so that it's scary, and I love looking at her in the rearview mirror and see her staring out the window, trying to figure something out. She'll furrow that little brow, taking it all in.
When she says her bedtime prayers, she basically uses it as an excuse to recap her day to Jesus. "And thank You, Jesus, for I go to the park, and I thank You Jesus, that Moxie ate the grass, and I thank You, Jesus, that we see our friends this-morrow. And Jesus, I go see Minions movie with Mommy and Daddy next to-mornin."
She's smart and funny. She's sensitive and tender. She's got a good bit of drama in her. She loves songs with a good beat and will bust out her dance moves when you least expect it. She is full of all of the opinions and she isn't afraid to share them. She is so, so full of joy. She is a gift and a blessing and a treasure and I genuinely love her more and more every day.
Thank you all for being so encouraging to me as a mama and for loving her so much. It is a joy to parent her and we are so thankful to God for the gift that is Ellie Paige.
Happy Birthday, sweet little bug.
I'M NOT CRYING; YOU'RE CRYING!
ReplyDeleteOh, let's be real, we're both crying...