She likes to move it - move it!

Thursdays are quickly becoming one of our favorite days.  Elli started her first dance/gymnastics class.  This class is exactly suited to her developmental needs, which means I'm one happy Mommy with a very happy three-year-old.  They do learn real ballet, tap, and gymnastics skills, but in a fun and creative environment.  Yesterday, for example, they worked on first position, but they also got to expressively dance like several different animals. 

During the tap portion, they practiced shuffle steps (I think that's what they're called?), but they also sat in a circle and tapped their toes as part of a story time.  Elli enjoyed every single minute!  She frequently seeks me out through the glass and gives me a shy smile.  This was only the second week, but already I noticed a big difference in how she followed her teacher's directions and participated in class.  Last week she might have just run around in circles for most of the class, too excited to actually dance!  :)

Dance is challenging her coordination and ability to listen and watch closely so she can do what her teacher asks.  At this point, gymnastics is stretching her gross motor skills beyond her comfort zone.  She tries to bring her legs up to the bar, she balances (even hopping!) on the balance beam, then leaps off onto the mat.  She attempts somersaults and hand stands.  In the next few months, I have a feeling she will grow leaps and bounds!

Oh, and I just have to point out her gymnastics teacher (bottom right) who has more energy than the entire room of three-and-four-year-olds, God bless her. 

Little Ballerina

Since her third birthday, I have been amazed at the growth in Elli's imagination.  She's using her closet for her house; holding a "school" for her buddies; and having a dance party with Daddy in character as Beauty and the Beast.  (This is my favorite, because her Daddy puts on a suit jacket and plays along.  Precious!)  She is almost constantly dressed up as a princess or moo-moo or ladybug.  

Or my personal favorite - a little ballerina.  

She twirls. She spins.

She loves her little tutu and slippers.

I think she fancies herself Angelina Ballerina.

Every twirl has a wind-up.

She is a sweet and silly sister-ballerina.

 A sassy Rule-Keeper. "Mommy, no stand on that!"

 And this little face is pure joy, but she tries to hide the smile.  Something that is so uniquely hers.

Keep twirling, little girl!

Three

Okay, I couldn't even type in the title of this post without tearing up, and I'm really not a crier.  Oh dear, this is only going to get worse, isn't it?

My sweet Elle-belle, 

Today you are three, which just seems impossible.  You're no longer my little baby and part of me kinda misses your bubbly little infant-self, but at the same time, I'm totally digging your energetic, hilarious toddler-self as well.  You make every stage so fun!  In a later post, I'm going to let you tell us more about who you are at three years old, but here are a few moments from this past year that I don't want to forget:

• This year was monumental in your life for one simple reason: you opened up your heart to little Caroline and became the world's best big sister.  Seeing your eyes light up the moment you saw her (and how you patted your knees, saying, "Right here." because you wanted to hold her) will be one of my most treasured memories.  But the thing that really gets me is that you still light up when you see her!  You are so excited to come with me to wake her up from naps, and you are so delighted to spend your days with her.
• If I could bottle up every thing you say, I totally would.  Your vocabulary and clarity have increased astronomically this year, and I just adore all your precious toddler thoughts.  Beyond the content, you have way of saying things that is all your own.  Sometimes I think you sound like you are bilingual (although, sadly you are not), because you will say things like "the house de me."  Your 's's tend to sound like 'sh', which can make for some pretty funny moments (for example - "I sitting on the potty), but also make for some adorable words like "shweeming."  And finally, I can't get enough of how you say Christmas - it sounds like "Tritmush." 
• As I watch videos from earlier this year, I am struck by how fluid and kid-like your movements are now.  You add in extra spins and kicks just because you can, and your little strut is just hilarious.  We have a lot of dance parties at our house, and girl - you have got some moves!  Those are undoubtedly from your daddy. 
• One thing you get from both of us is your love of arts and crafts.  (I should clarify - the arts are from Daddy, the crafts are from me... I lay no claim to artistic ability whatsoever, but I love me a glue gun!)  You will spend the longest time coloring or painting, and you are never happier than when we do a craft project together.  Your projects are usually intended by your own choice for someone, although Mommy is not terribly consistent about mailing them to the recipients.  :) 
• Recently in BSF, you heard the story of Jesus ascending into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and you've been fascinated by this ever since.  Often, when we talk about praying to Jesus, you will beg to go "up in da sky and seeeeeee Him!!!"  I hope and pray your desire to see and know your loving Maker will always be this strong!  

I could go on and on.  You bring our family so much joy and laughter; you are a kind and loving daughter and friend.  Your daddy and I feel so blessed to have you as our firstborn daughter, our family's big sister, and our little friend and companion.  God is so good!

Love you so much.
Mommy
!

Speaking of Getting Big...

 My first baby is nearing three years of age, can you believe it?  I can not.  She's still got baby soft skin and remnants of those pinch-me-please rolls, but the truth is, every day the little girl in her blossoms a bit more.
Her favorite words right now are, "I do it, Mommy!"  And the cool part is?  Most of the time she does.  She puts on her own shoes, buckles half of her car seat, and likes to choose her own clothes.

 She loves to twirl around in her frilliest dresses, although her favorite is the "purtle choo-choo dress" (purple tutu dress -- it took Daniel and I a while to figure that one out!).  She is constantly pretending things, like her "camera" below, and having imaginary conversations with any and all of her toys.  The current favorite is her robot that Daddy built out of duplos and her toy vacuum.  Yup.  She carries the vacuum around the house with her, talks to it, feeds it, disciplines it.  Never a dull moment around here.

Elli continues to embrace being a big sister!  She was thrilled that Caroline was going to be sleeping in the same room with her.  Every morning she greets her baby sister with, "Dood mornin' shweet durl!" and a hug and kiss. Daniel and I feel so blessed to have Elli as our daughter.  She keeps us hopping for sure, but she adds so much laughter and sweetness to our family.

First Day of School

 Just like that, summer is over, and the fall semester is up and running.  Life is just a little bit crazy right now as we reenter our routine and schedule.  Our jobs are busy and exciting right now, but if I'm honest, I really hope I can learn quickly how to juggle mothering, work, and homemaking a little bit better.  If you happen to come over, please don't judge my un-vacuumed floors or scatter-brained meal plans.  I'm working on it.  :)

This girl was pretty excited to be getting back to school.  A few weeks ago we had to turn in some forms at her school, and she wanted to stay so badly!  In fact, while getting ready for school this morning, she asked me, "I stay and play with all toys?"  

 When we got to school, she got a little bit nervous when I took her to a new classroom with a new teacher.  The two other kids in her class were familiar faces, though, so hopefully she'll warm up quickly.

 So much has changed since her first day one year ago.  She's taller, she can jump and run much better, she is so much more verbal.  And of course, she is a big sister this year.  Such a good one!  When I tried to get her to stand in front of our house so I could take a picture, she wanted Caroline to be in it as well.  Happy to oblige. 

Beating the Heat

 Along with the rest of the country, we have been in a terrible heat wave!  Several days have broken records, and I read somewhere that we are on our 26th day in a row of highs in the 100s.  Yuck.

Despite the heat, we managed to enjoy some morning activities with my parents.  Saturday was cloudy and breezy, so we walked to our "blue park" where Elli showed Grandpa and Mia the ropes.

 And got a little sweaty (and adorable) in the process.

On Monday we spent the morning at the zoo, complete with a ride on the choo-choo.

Instead of visiting all the animals at the zoo, we spent the morning in the toddler cove where the pool is cool and mostly shaded! Elli fed the turtle...

 built sand piles with Grandpa...

and practiced sharing our toys (um, yeah... still a ways to go on that one!).

And Caroline had all kinds of smiles for Grandpa and snuggles for Mia.

This picture needs a caption.  Any ideas?

(Thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting me have some of your pics!  You got some awesome ones!)

2.5

When I think about how much Elli has changed in the past year, even in just the last six months, I am blown away!  I love discovering this little girl's personality.  She is spunky, funny, caring, passionate, busy, clever, relational, silly, thoughtful, and curious.  And so much more!  

I decided to let Elli tell you a little bit about herself at two and a half:

Favorite color - red

Favorite thing to do with Caroline - "Eeeeeeee" as she hugs herself  (squeezes, I think)

Favorite thing to do outside - play at the park

Favorite book - Bible  (great answer, babe!)

Favorite thing to do with Daddy - "RARR!!!"   (Daniel and Elli play a game where he is the bear and chases her while she giggles and screams)

Favorite food - "wawawa"  (watermelon)

Favorite thing to do with Mommy - run  (what she calls tag)

Favorite thing to do with Ginger - "niiiiigh" as she shows me a nice touch and an angelic face.  (This is probably a more accurate answer to what she knows she is supposed to do with Ginger.)

 We are crazy about you, sweet Elli-belle! 

Innocent

 Look at this sweet little face.

 Precious. Adorable.

Angelic, really.

I mean, could you be angry with this face?

 Yeah, me neither.

Even when she gets into the packing peanuts.

I knew it was too quiet in the house...

First Haircut

May 5, 2011

We are having quite a week, full of fun adventures and some pretty big firsts!  The timing could not be more perfect, because I hardly have time to think about the fact that I'm nine months pregnant!  (Ok, so it's pretty hard to forget at this point.)

Elli had her very first haircut on Wednesday!  I have known for quite a while that she desperately needed one, but always hesitated to actually take her - partly because I did not have a vision for it and was afraid it would look worse, and partly because I do love those sweet curls in a ponytail!  But I am SO happy with the results!  She looks adorable and so grown up in her little summer bob. 

Of course, she was less than thrilled to have a photo shoot this morning.  :)

Here's the side view (although she had just mussed it up right before this pic, so it's a little messy.)

And the back...

Now, prepare yourselves -- I did not take any pictures of the actual haircut.  Our visit was semi-spontaneous, so I didn't have my camera with me and forgot my cell phone in the car.  Shock... horror... sadness.  I really feel like it's the first milestone I've completely missed!  Oh well... I'll bring the camera next time and we can reenact it.

I took her to a sweet little salon called Pigtails and Crewcuts.  If you click on the link, you can see what it looks like.  Elli chose to sit in the yellow taxi cab (which she called an airplane) and got to watch Dora the Explorer while she was having her hair cut.  Even with all of that fun she was still kind of fidgety, but I was thankful we made it through!  Her stylist braided her little curls before she cut them off, and I of course am keeping them.  I do miss her little baby curls a little bit, but soon we'll have some more sweet ones to kiss. :) 

Celebrating Three

Now that we're in the final countdown to G-Baby's arrival, I am getting more and more sentimental about our last days as a family of three.  I have no doubt that being a family of four will be even better, but these past (almost) two and a half years with just our sweet Elli have been so special.

  

Instead of getting all sappy and weepy (not unusual for my hormonal, nine months pregnant self), we decided to celebrate!  Daniel and I wanted to celebrate God's goodness to us in the gift of Elinor Faye.  We often look at each other and smile, amazed that God gave us her! What a privilege to be her parents!

So, we celebrated!  After a Saturday morning Daddy-daughter IHOP date (while Mommy got her hair cut), we took her to ride the train, which runs through our zoo and park.  Even though Elli and I visit the zoo almost weekly, we have never taken her on the train.  Simple and sweet, Elli had the time of her life and can't stop talking about it!  From the moment we told her our plan, she was ecstatic with anticipation!  After purchasing our tickets, we had a fifteen minute wait for our train, and she was wide-eyed with expectation the entire time. 

And when that train finally chugged its way into her sight, she could not contain her excitement.

In fact, she was so overwhelmed, she didn't know what to do with herself, and nearly had a meltdown!

Maybe she thought the train was not going to stop, because she did not smile until it did.

But boy, she sure made up for it once we started! 

Twenty minutes of sheer joy to celebrate the time we've had just the three of us!  

Here's to the years ahead of making memories with this treasured little girl!

My Big Girl!!!

We are so proud of our Elli!  A few weeks ago she decided all by herself that she was ready to be potty trained, and is doing great!  I wasn't even going to try again until after the baby came, but when she started to tell me that she wanted to use the potty, I wasn't about to argue.  She was almost immediately successful with number one, even at nap time.  Number two has been more of a process, but we'll keep working on that.  On the days when she is home with me, she only wears a diaper at night, and has had very few accidents for the last week or so!  

I love seeing the look on her face when she "goes."  She begins with a look of surprise, then gets a big smile on her face as she announces, "I go pee-pee, Mommy!"  Often she will jump up and give me a big hug as we both cheer and celebrate.  And of course, after saying 'bye-bye' to her pee-pee, washing her hands and dressing, she runs to the kitchen demanding "Two gungi-bears.  Two gungi bears." Gummi bears, in case you don't speak Elli. :)

So it's official: my baby is no longer a baby.  And just in time, I suppose.

Birthday Girl

Sheesh... I have some major catching up to do!  Bear with me as I try to get all the birthday/Christmas/amazingness documented!

 I cannot believe that Elli turned 2 on December 23rd...  seems like yesterday that she was the one having soccer practice in my belly!  We drove late into the night on the 22nd to make it to Daniel's hometown, so Elli had a surprise breakfast date in the morning!

I think they were both just a little excited to see each other.

After breakfast, we drove the final three hours to my parents house for Christmas, and Elli's aunt and uncles came over to celebrate the birthday girl.
Elli wore her pjs and ladybug tutu, because you can do that when you're the birthday girl.

 Elli opened all of her fabulous gifts:

She is one spoiled two-year-old!

Yes, she had a Toy Story birthday cake:

Notice that Woody and Buzz joined Elli on the high chair while she gobbled up the yumminess.

What an awesome start to another year of Elli!