2 1/2 Years

Recently, living with a 2 1/2 year old has been quite a challenge.  Another blogger likened them to little terrorist or dictators and honestly, it's been exhausting.  When Ellie is happy, the whole world is happy but when somethings off, she's nothing but misery.  Braden has more skills to deal with our emotional volcanic like child.  He's great at distracting her when she begins to fixate on something we don't want her to.

I other hand, work really hard to avoid all known triggers.  So by the end of the day and certainly week, just want to go on a mental vacation.

She also experienced her first nightmare late Feb.  Pained screams woke us one night.  We went running into her room.  To her credit, she had already turned the lights on.  But was insistent that a dinosaur was in her window and wanted to eat her and all her stuff.  Since that night, she has only slept thru the night once.  She now wakes up and wants something...diaper change, a drink, to be rocked, etc.

So on top of the temper tantrums, we are also feeling less rested and equipped to deal with her swings.  Ahhh...all of this is making is really hard to "enjoy" parenting.  We know it's a phase but jesh a little break would be nice.

On the upside of things, she now communicates in full and complete sentences.  Most people can understand her, most of the time.  Her grammar lacks but all the words make it into a sentence.  And she even uses slang regularly.  This part we have loved!  It has been a riot to hear all the things she thinks about.

She also has been singing lots.  She knows the music from our music class better than I do.  She's just as happy making up her own songs too.  Sounds like this is a kid thing...cause' I forgot how to make up songs long ago.

We really hope that sleep and a less emotionally needy Ellie will come in the next month!

COSI - Columbus Science Center

The family took an unexpected road trip yesterday.  A monster winter storm hit Ann Arbor Tuesday night.  7 inces of sticky, wet snow accumilated on the trees, weighing down branches to the point of them breaking....everywhere!  Living in a nice tree'd area has it's down falls when you don't have buried power lines.  We lost power sometime over Tuesday night and it wasn't predicted to be back until Friday!!!








Braden was scheduled for a day trip to Columbus, OH.  So he offered to let us go and hang out there.  Today Ellie and I went to a really neat Sceince Center, COSI.  She could've spent the entire day hanging out there.  After, we headed into this fun part of town called German Village for lunch.  In German Village, the streets are still brick pavers and the housed are all old colonial bricked buildings.

Kids Kick the Cool Out of You

Before we had Ellie, a New Yorker we met skiing told many hilarious stories about how his kids slowly dismantled his previously "cool" life.  And at the end of ever story, he'd say "kids kick the cool out of you".  And although he seemed to genuinely miss his previous life (fancy cars, nice furniture, big vacations, etc), he'd always say just how much he loved his children and the life he was currently living.

I had an epiphany moment the other day as Ellie and I were tromping around at a local park.  Children are the great equalizers of life.  Children have no idea what status their parents hold in the world (at least for now), nor do they care.  They are driven to grow and learn and grow and learn.

Ellie could care less about all the "cool" things I have achieved.  She just wants me to be her playmate and tromp around in the park.  I finally understood what that New Yorker meant.  The "cool has been kicked out of me".

I've realized just how humbled Ellie has made me.  I really don't seek nice, expensive things anymore because there's a high probability that they will be slimmed up with sticky hands or punctured or accidentally broken. 

That staying patient and calm with a 2 year old is one of the most difficult skills I've ever acquired.  Getting upset only makes things worse and gets neither of us anywhere.

That time goes way too fast and we don't "see" it in our regular adult lives.  But with kids, we get to watch time pass as the inches accumulate, the words collect and they become people.

And that I'm caring less and less about status in the world.  When I meet other parents, no matter who they are and what they do, they have the exact same struggles with their children that I do with Ellie.  The great equalizer in life.

The moon

Last night Ellie and I were driving back from my sister's and there was a full moon in a clear sky.  She struck up this conversation:

E: The moon is following us
Me: Yes, the moon follows us
E: Silly moon
Me: Yep, silly moon
E: We take a rocket ship to the moon
Me: (Surprised) Yes, we have to take rocket ships to get to the moon
E: In outer space
Me: (Again, surprised) That's right in outer space
E: And we float!
Me: (Where is she learning this stuff?) You're right Ellie, we float in outer space because there's no gravity
E: Yup!

Ok, note to self, there's way more going on in that little than I could ever imagine.

Haircuts and #2's

It's a beautiful day in Michigan.  Sunny and bright.  Ellie is fully recovered from a bad bout of norovirus last week.   She's in a great, playful mood.  What I had planned for our Monday morning was cancelled so I decided to take Ellie for her first haircut.

We've been prepping for this.  A new children's haircut place opened in November so I knew this would be the best place for a great first experience.  Ellie and I went and checked the place out in person a couple weeks ago.  We met a really wonderful stylist, Kristin, who helped us decide to cut 4 inches off.  Then we watched a YouTube video of a little girl getting a haircut.  So all that was left was to go do it! 

Ellie did great!  She asked to hold my hand but she sat still and did all the things that Kristin asked her too.  It didn't hurt that there was a sucker, a certificate and the promise of Chipolte quesadillas afterwards :)

And if that weren't enough excitement for the day, she decided to go #2 on the toilet at the place.  After she completed her job, she looked at me with a smile "Do you want to see it?"  Oh, the things we do as parents. :)

I Funny

Ellie's starting to do things and then asking "[Am] I funny?"  I'm not sure if this is something all little people do at some point in their personality development, but it's cracking me up.  And it's just plain fun to see.

Pink Socks

Another gear showed up last week.  Ellie's language took a jump in range (like lots of new words) and complexity.  She was using slang and inflection I haven't seen from her.  We were having full exchanges of conversation.  Talk about startling and funny.  It's pretty hilarious to hear her thoughts...they sometimes are a flowing stream of conscientiousness.  She just starts talking as if eveything that comes into her mind then flows out the mouth now that she has the words and capability. 

The other thing that happened last week involved pink socks.  We were getting ready for daycare/school on Tuesday which we do twice a week.  I've always picked out most of her clothing.  Sometimes I'll give her a choice between two shirts or two pants.  But she's never shown a lick of care about what she wears.  Until Tuesday.  I put her in a pink top with jeans.  I chose black socks since they hide more.  After putting them on her little feet, she looked down and said "Not those momma.  I need pink socks." (knowing that the black socks wouldn't match her top but the pink ones would)  My eyebrows raised in astonishment and I happily complied.

No, No, No

We hear a lot of "no's" these days. Or more specifically, whatever we ask of Ellie these days, she's inclined to do the opposite.  At first I was really hurt, frustrated, etc but more recently I've caught on to this being "very 2 year old" behavior and no reflection of what we are or are not doing.

So here's a quick video catching Ellie at her finest "2 year old" self.

Taking after Piscasso

Can you see the face Ellie drew?  I think Picasso would think it makes perfect sense :-)


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Preschooler

All quiet in the house.  B is traveling and Ellie is napping.  Good time to catch up on "stuff".  Christmas was crazy this year.  We are blessed with a big, loving family.  That means lots of events around the holidays though.  All fun events and Ellie loved all the Christmas traditions...Santa, presents, cards, singing, etc.  But I think the time just after the Christmas was most fun for B and I.  We didn't have anywhere to be and no one to see :)  Just time to be at the house and to play in the snow.

In the last month, Ellie grew taller.  She's now fully into 3T pants and 4T shirts.  Her sense of being also grew.  In many ways she looks and acts the preschooler now.  We marvel at the sentences she puts together, the logic she uses and the skills she's acquired.

She's been a Daddy's girl...hard core... recently.  Somehow it feels like she's battling me out for Alpha female status.  Is that possible?  She seems to engage in power struggles with me that she doesn't with Braden.  I definitely sense that she has type A tendencies.  She can get very bossy towards others (children and adults alike) when she wants something done a certain way.

I know I have that in me too...so I'm not sure if it's nature or nurture.  But if you were to ask me, it seems to be encoded in her genes.

The other thing possibly genetic that I've found fascinating recently is her propensity (is that the right word?) for saying "sorry".  It usually comes at times that seem odd.  Like she accidentally clips the corner of a end table, causing herself a bump but in no way hurting the table or anyone else.  She'll say sorry. 

But won't necessarily apologize when actually required...like taking a swing at me out of frustration.

Talking to my cousins at a xmas gathering, we figured out that most of us have the tendency to plead apologies for things that don't necessarily make sense to others.  The word "sorry" is over used and can annoy those around us because it's used so frequently and for petty things.  And most of us do it...although we had lots of different inputs and only one common set of genes growing up.  Can our few commonalities be this strong over so many different families?  It's such a crazy, crazy thing to me.

Whatever it is...Ellie seems to have it too :)

We are just starting potty training full time this month.  I'm not ready to commit to training underwear yet but have made the transition to pull up diapers.  I'm putting her on the toilet at regular intervals.  Some days it seems like she gets it and others not so much.  My hope is that we can make good progress towards full potty training before she reaches preschool in a few months.

Other than that, we're enjoying a relatively quiet January and focusing back on our unit of 3 :)

Memories

This past month brought long term memory.  Ellie is now keeping track of events that happened days ago and events that are yet to happen. She tells me on a regular basis what part of her body has been injured, whether accidental or not, and who the culprit was.  And she'll hold onto these battle stories for weeks.

And it's been interesting to test her future event capabilities.   I intentionally tell her who we plan to see the next day before she goes to bed.  In the morning, I ask her if she remembers who we're seeing today.  And her recall is almost 100%.  Although not rocket science, it falls under the brain switch stuff I find so fascinating.  The stuff that wasn't there one day and is there the next.

She's also starting to get much more descriptive in her conversations.  A couple weeks ago, I was walking out of the bedroom putting some new earrings in.  She asked what I was doing.  I told her and then asked her what she thought of the new earrings.  She replied "It's so beautiful Momma".  Like seriously, where and how do they learn these subtle things.  She even emphasized the word beautiful like we all do.  I know there's a lot of mimicking but to see her human-ness develop is still neat to me.

And there have also been some not so great moments.  An all too common phrase recently has been "No, Mamma" with the hand extended into the STOP motion.  When I tell Ellie that it hurts my feelings and that I find it disrespectful, she'll make the same motion with her hand...only this time she silently mouths "No, Mamma".  As if there's a difference since she's not actually saying the words.  Sigh.  I guess there's some bad that comes with all the smart-y goodness.

Here's a clip of normal life stuff.  My Mom is playing with Ellie.

November Thoughts

The month has been filled with ups and downs.  Honestly there are days where we seem at odds all day long.  But then there are others where we seem so in sync and have lots of fun.  The last couple have been good, happy days :-). Some Friday night fun attached in the video!

Reptile Zoo

What to do on a snowy Sunday?  We headed to the new Ann Arbor reptile zoo.  Snakes, Turtles and Frogs OH MY!

Ellie's first party

I was talking to B on the phone and turned around to see "friends" in the chairs and the table "set" with table cloth and all.  More preschool play coming on line :-)


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Ellie Speak

I have to say...I'm totally digging on the third year of life so far.  Being able to fully communicate is really wonderful and makes parenting so much easier.   Not that parenting is easy but it's nice knowing that your little person is fully aware of what you are directing to do (or not to do).  I can hold her more accountable because I "know" she knows what we are saying.

But on the more light hearted side, it's also fun to see how her brain is processing grammar at this stage.  Ellie definitely has "Ellie Speak".  I've been jotting down some of the funny/interesting/cute phrasing she's used in the last month.

• Big "Sleep" = Big Bed
• "Happy Birthday" = Ice Cream and/or Cake
• "Walking man hiding in the hand" =  Our Pedestrian Signals are a combined Hand/Walking Man.  So she observed that the walking man was hiding behind the orange hand when looking at the lit hand.
•  
• I'll be righhhht back.
• Just one minute
• Momma says "Where are you Ellie?" She replys "Here am me"

She's loosing the heavy accent and I find people are starting to understand her better.  Although she seems to be lispy or has a way of pushing her tongue forward making "thhh" sounds instead of the correct sound.  Ahhhh...the joys of learning a language.  Something that's not very easy at all....coming from the person who's been trying to learn Spanish my entire adult life :)

Ellie's Frog

There's a statue of a frog at Ellie's school and she loves seeing it at the end of most days.  She used to just touch it but now she climbs it.  Oh to be a toddler :-)

Saturday Morning Pancakes!!!

Saturday Morning Pancakes!!!

24 Months! 2 Whole Years!! 730 Days!!!

 


Oh Elle Bell... I am more grateful now then ever that we've been writing monthly.  I couldn't possibly recap this past year in one blog post.  There has been huge growth for you as a person and for us as parents (and as people) too.  I see Aunt Amber's picture above and I am so in love and struggle to remember all the days I'm soooo frustrated.  And there have been many...especially when Daddy's traveling.

You have maintained your super sized self.  You are still off the charts in height at 37ins (we're moving into 4T shirts and 3T pants).  Weight is up in the percentiles too, coming in at 32lbs.  Ever since the ear tubes went in earlier this year, you have been a generally happy, healthly human.  Don't get me wrong, we have had numerous colds, viral pink eye, fevers that lasted 5 days and fevers that reached 104.5 degrees.  But all run-of-the-mill, toddler touches everything and gets sick kind of bugs.  Nothing that's required special medicines.  So we are very, very blessed and grateful.

Your personality has grown into that larger than normal size.  You are much bolder and determined than we expected.  Given your layed back first year, I don't know if we were expecting your obstinance and determination to be as strong as it's been this second year.  It's not easy to move you off something once you're set on it.  Things have a certain order and you are very vocal and almost pushy if someone doesn't follow this order.  You give me a much harder time about things as compared to Daddy.  He says I'm too soft and you know it.  I would have to agree.  There's a certain crying pitch that you can hit and it makes my insides so uncomfortable.  I just want it to stop because it makes me feel so uneasy.  But I'm working on building up my resistance knowing it's important.  You can't always win.

I don't know if we just have a huge bias given our engineering degrees but you seem to be very mechanically minded.  Others have noticed too.  You are drawn towards puzzles, shape sorting and maze like games.  You love your books and reading favorites over and over.  We still haven't ventured past Seseame Street and Blues Clues but you are perfectly happy watching Elmo and crew over and over.

You enjoy being outside, being active.  You practice jumping over and over although your feet barely leave the ground.  You've just started pedaling your tricycle without assistance.  You love being chased and tickled.  Swimming was a big hit this summer.  You can dress yourself, getting pants, shoes and shirts .  You walk up and down stairs needing little assistance.  You could probably get out of the crib if you wanted but you wait for us to come and get you.

You hate having your long, beautiful hair touched.  I find it ironic that God would give you such unusual length and you hate having anything done to it. 

Leaving your second year though I would have to say that singing has been one your major accomplishments/differentiators.  It started with ABC's and continued with Twinkle, Twinkle, Patty Cake, Happy Birthday, Old McDonald, and what ever other song might come up.  You even like making up your own songs which makes people smile.

People continue to comment on your natural joy and excitement.  You readily smile and love to have fun.  And get crabby if we don't do something that involves playing and laughing.  You discovered social graces this year.  You like holding hands before a meal and saying a meal prayer.  You also love to clink your sippy cup and "cheers" others.  Please and Thank You's are coming.  Sometimes they are natural to you and sometimes, we have to strongly suggest using them.

Not much good to say on the food front.  We went from a baby that cried tortuously if a meal was late, to a typical toddler that's too distracted to be bothered with food.  You have your favorites and would rather not eat than try something you're not interested in.  We have to sneak veggies in via crusher pouches.  You like fruits.  Love breads.  Will eat chicken.  And LOVE milk.  I think milk has sustained you at times.

Sleep has been good.  Not great.  You still wake once a night here and there.  But I am definitely appreciative for the fact that you happily go to sleep at 7-8 and sleep for 12 hrs.  And appreciative that you still take 2 hr naps.

Your words have arrived and are talking more and more in sentences.  You have a very heavy "accent" which makes it hard for others to understand you.  But as you learn and add more words to your statements, it makes it easier to figure out what you're saying.

We are very grateful in so many ways to have you in our family.  Love you always, Mommie

PS.  It's perfect that Aunt Amber took pictures of you in this dress.  You loved it the first time we put it on.  You squealed "sparkles" and love to look at the bejeweled neckline.

Playgrounds of the nation

I have been spending the last two weeks touring the playgrounds of Salt Lake, Portland and Seattle.  I have to say that Washington might be the best - but i am willing to take up a world tour if i can find a sponsor.