Ellen at 17 Months Old

In the past week I have had friends or strangers refer to Ellen as "a pistol", "so independent", "not afraid of anything", "a girl with attitude" and "a lady who knows what she wants." These statements are all so true. She is such a hoot. And she is still amazing (or so we think!) I'm guessing it's a combination of being the second child and being a girl, which I think mature faster than boys, but she just seems so sharp for her age. And she still seems wise - definitley an old soul.

She can pretty much communicate anything she wants to us via sign language, made up actions or words, but here are the words that she can say now: dada, dootus (lucas), memma (emma - dog next door), TT (tyson), mine (she says this a lot!), apple, hot, poo poo (can you tell she has a 4yr old brother?), elf, uh oh, ouch, bye bye, dis, dat and diaper. The little stinker still won't say mama. She said it the other day when Wendy asked her who I was, but then she grinned at me like she had let it slip on accident and hasn't said it since.

Her schedule now is to wake around 6:30 or 7:00, nurse, play in her room and then head downstairs for breakfast. During the week Miss Karen arrives at 8:30 while Ellen is eating breakfast. She plays with Miss Karen, has snack, has lunch and then goes down for a nap from 11:30-2:30. Upon awaking she has a snack and then we play until dinner time. She goes to bed around 8pm. I lay with her until she falls asleep (no nursing) and then she sleeps until about 1 or 2, cuddles with me and then will wake up one other time to cuddle before she wakes for the day.

Some random things about Ellen:

- she LOVES dogs. When she sees one she makes a noise that sounds like Donald Duck, including when she sees Tyson. She is infatuated with the dog next door. She says "Emma" a hundred times a day and is always wanting to look out the window at their house to look for her.

- she has this look that we call "the stink eye". She squints her eyes and crinkles her nose like she smells something bad. This is the look you get when you make her mad.

- we like to bump heads, give kisses and eskimo kisses daily.

- she is a ham and loves attention. She'll lock eyes with a stranger and smile or wave at them until they respond. At the park this week an older couple were at the park with what appeared to be their 1yr old grandson. Ellen spent a lot of energy trying to steal their attention away from the baby... by twirling in the sand, dancing around, waving, etc. And at Charles's bday party this wknd she was rolling on the floor trying to get people to pay attention to her.

- Sometimes I sneak into Lucas's room to get a good bit of alone sleep in until she wakes up again (Lucas is with Jeff at this point). When Ellen wakes up to find me missing she walks across the hall into Lucas's room to get me. She walks in, I hear her, and then we both walk back to her room. Seems so mature.

- she smiles most of the time, although on film I usually get her serious look.

- she is a decent eater, but not great. She'll try just about anything.. any veggie, loves avocado, a fan of fruits, but she seems to get bored with it before she could possibly be full. It will be interesting to see where she is on the scale next month at her 18 mo. appt.

- If we in her room getting ready for bed she will often try the "I'm hungry" sign with her serious expression. Usually it's nothing more than a ploy to delay bedtime.

- She loves, loves, loves baths and showers... just like Lucas did and still does.