Almost Two!

My how I love this little girly of mine! She is the silliest, cutest, smartest, happiest toddler I've ever had the privilege to birth (so far). I know. That really doesn't mean much but if I said she was the -est toddler ever I might hurt some feelings.

This month has been MUCH better in the fussy department. I think the worst is over for the molars. Knock on wood. She still has the occasional bad days but who doesn't? Generally she is just such a sweet little thing and so excited about everything!

Now that summer is FINALLY here Ella has found a new love. Swimming! A couple of weeks ago my old roommate and I took a trip to wally world and got our kiddies a pool. They've absolutley loved it. I have to hide Ella's swimming diapers because if she sees them she won't eat or do anything else until she's had a swim. Several times Ella has woken up saying "Swim? Swim?" She also loves running through the sprinklers.

Ella has a new game she enjoys playing as well. I guess you could call it the name game. She points to me and says "Mama?" Then to herself and says "Ella?" Then to Andrew and says "Daddy?" You get the point. She's getting extremely good at it too. For naming people who aren't here she just uses pictures. She knows most of Andrew's family. Her favorites are Matt and Mike (Andrew's younger brothers) though it's hard to tell the difference between the two. She's not quite the "T"s down yet so Matt is "Mak" and she says mike just fine. You just have to pay attention to which vowel she's using. It helps that she is usually pointing at the picture too. She is so smart! She can tell Jacob and Tyler apart (my older brothers are twins.) She does get Evan and Ethan a little mixed up but she knows Parker. We also just call Aunt Allyson Aunt Sissy (which can get confused with aunt cyndi) She also knows most of the Disney princess's. I have only heard her say Aurora but I assume she can say Belle too, at least. She also likes to name her usual friends elmo, buzz, woody or any character from Toy Story, Doug (from Up) Wall-E etc. She loves Pixar by the way.

Ella is SUCH a show off! Anytime someone new is around she just turns on the charm. It's so funny. She flirts, shows off her mad naming skills, does her animal sounds, jabbers on and on like she's telling a story. She does not seem to be like either of her parents. Andrew and I are both shy to a point. This girl may pretend she's shy for about 5 seconds and then that game is over.

Every day there's something new with my girl. She's such a smarty. So curious, energetic and excited about life. Each day, even the stressful ones, I'm so grateful for her. She makes sure to let me know she loves me. If I'm sad she gives me big hugs and kisses and tries her hardest to make me feel better. I am on lucky mama.