The definitive answer on who she takes after. . .

Ho, Ho, Ho

Ellie and I went to "look" at Santa today.  She really doesn't know who the "Big Guy" is yet, nor does she probably care.  I would imagine that he would be pretty scary though.  A strange person, dressed in very odd looking clothing and wanting to hold children.  Aren't these all things we teach our children not to be attracted to? :)

So any how, went ventured early this morning to the local mall, followed the arrows pointing towards the Santa area, and found ol' Saint Nick.  He was amongst a briar patch of big, stuffed animals.  I took Ellie out of the stroller and pointed towards the jolly fellow.  Her reaction?

She looked every which way except his.  She was far more excited about all the animals.  "Duck, duck" she kept squealing while looking at the life sized stuffed swans.

Although her world doesn't include the man in the red suit, I was excited for her.  Soon enough, she'll come to see him as the bringer of good, magical things.  And we'll have a renewed sense of all the goodness in the world.

So, this Mom, is looking forward to next year...already!

15 Months

Another month went zooming by.  I wish I posted more.  I think about it almost all the time.  Like "oh that would be good to post" or "that's a great video for the blog".  I guess being an engineer at heart, I can't say writing is my most favorite thing to do. :)

Let's see...some of the fun things this past month.  For Thanksgiving we headed to Philadelphia to visit the Hartman's.  In California, they were our Thanksgiving family.  Then we moved and then they moved.  But traditions seem to continue on and we traveled over the holiday weekend to spend time with them and all our wonderful friends (Russ, Sean, Mary, David and Rachel).

Maybe it was being around big kids or that we finally got rid of a long standing ear infection.  What ever it was, Ellie's words blossomed over that weekend.  She started to say "Hi" to everyone.  And was clearly saying "steps" (there were many in the house).

Ever since, she's been on a word kick.  Although they aren't perfectly clear, she says: hide, off, hat, hear, whoa, help, eggs, hot, more.  And she tries repeating lots of other words.  And she hears everything.  Even when you don't think she's listening, she is.

She's also mastered stairs.  In previous months, going up was the easy part.  Going down was often sketchy.  She always seemed like she was on a tightrope just about to tip over.  In the last week, she's mastered the ability to slither down stars on her belly.  It's with much confidence and speed.

We also had our first snowfall.  Ellie happily played in the white stuff.  She just likes being outdoors really.  So she doesn't seem to mind the change of seasons.  She seems to appreciate the "new stuff" that comes along with each one.

Daycare/Preschool is another joy in Ellie's expanding universe.  She's now flowing with their established routines and seeming to enjoy the structure.  She only goes 2 days/week so it's taken awhile for all of us to get settled.  Their day goes something like: large group time, snack, outside, family group time, lunch, nap, snack, and outside.  This helps me too.  I've been trying to be more structured about our days together too.

We love her school.  The teachers are wonderful and sooo patient.  Everyday she's there, they do something fun and messy.  I'm so grateful for their explorations.  I don't think I'm be brave enough to do some of the things they do in a home environment.  Like food colored ice cub painting.  Playing with oatmeal, rice, beans, etc. Fingerpainting that ends up everywhere.    

Well it's almost bath/bed time.  To part, here's a fun video of the first snow last week.