Thirty-One to Thirty-Three Months (Eliana)

So quite a while has passed since I've updated about Ellie.  Where to begin?  Well, Eliana seems to be getting better at pretty much everything she does.  Recently Ellie has been going through what I call a speech spurt.  It happens every so often and is characterized by new words, longer sentences, and a proud mama.  It is highly noticeable right after she is spoken to.  Ellie is an excellent parrot.  It's a good thing we don't say nasty words to each other in our house.  However, she did learn that the file/pumice thing used for a pedicure is a "foot grater".

We're working out issues with bedtime.  Ellie used to be a stellar bedtime girl but has recently decided that bed is not something she wants to do.  Two hours of putting her back to bed after she's gone down is not acceptable.  We've tried what seems like everything and are still searching for the answer.  Things are getting a little better, but there is still a ways to go.

Ellie loves to jump.  A lot.  That's nothing new.  The only difference is how much more daring she in becoming.  I have to watch her like a hawk at the playground so she doesn't leap off something she shouldn't. I'm hoping that her recent leap out of a shopping cart and subsequent crash to the tile floor taught her a bit more caution.

We realized not too long ago that Ellie can count to ten on her own.  I don't remember teaching her that so it was pretty cool.  Maybe if I actually works on the ABCs she'll be able to get those down.  We were really surprised by the whole thing.Her speech is becoming more complex and her vocabulary is expanding rapidly.  We've been having fun recently with Baby Signing Time videos.  Right now she won't do command performances of the signs, but she will occasionally decide to add them in.

One big surprise we got recently was when Eliana started counting to ten.  I haven't worked with her on that much, so it was quite the shock when she popped off with it one afternoon.  Sometimes she'll just count for fun.  My current project with her is to show that counting can stop before reaching ten.  For example, when we were playing a game that has four balls she continued to count them over again until she reached ten.  I'm hoping the concept will sink in soon.  Either way, I thought it was neat thing that she counts.

Ellie's also learning ABCs.  We started to sing the ABC song a few days ago and I'm surprised with what she remembers.  Sesame Street helps quite a bit.  I love Netflix.

We've been having fun trying to be sociable.  Ellie certainly loves it.  Play group is something she looks forward to every week.  I think Ellie really craves time with other children.  Last week we went to the park and she found a new friend there.  I was a little creeped out when one of the dads at the park looked at my daughter and said, "You have one more minute before we need to go home, Eliana."  It didn't take long for me to realize that Eliana's new friend was...Eliana.  They'd been running around holding hands and playing. It was pretty cute.

Let's see...Ellie is still very much into princesses and pretty dresses, but not into potty training.  We had another false start with that recently.  She really wants to wear her princess panties, but I'm not sure she really gets it yet.  I think she assumes that underwear are the same as a diaper and it won't make a mess if she goes in them.  She doesn't seem to like letting it fall into her potty (I think that the problem, anyway) and seems to just let her panties catch it.  Every time I put a new pair on her she wet them within a minute.  I think the learning curve on potty training is pretty steep.  Especially for me.

Easter was FUN!!!  My in-laws got some chicks a week or so before Easter and Ellie loves them.  She keeps asking to see the "beebee chicks" whenever she remembers.  Eliana got in a few good egg hunts.  Mostly she liked to open up the eggs.  It was Mommy who wanted the stuff inside.  All the pictures on this post are from Easter and its festivities, except for the one where she looks drugged/evil.  We made Easter cookies that didn't turn out how we thought, but it was a good idea.

It's hard to believe that in only three more months Ellie will be three years old.  How quickly time passes.