We haven't been busy

So since I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and my back is killing me, Ellie and I haven't been very busy the past week. Both of the little friends she plays with have been out of town a lot so it's just been me and her chilling around the house, running a few errands, and playing in her baby pool. Since my back is behaving so badly, I can't really take her to the big pool we have a membership to... however, it's been super-nice outside and a bit too chilly for it anyway (a totally new concept for us Louisianans, it was in the 60's a few weeks ago! In July!). She doesn't seem to mind, though, most days she's been in her baby pool twice.

Ellie is singing to her new sparkly blue ball she got for doing so good on the potty.

Here is something I wish every establishment in America had... a kiddie restroom. Our mall has a family restroom with a child toilet & sink, an adult toilet & sink, and a changing counter. It also has a nursing room, heck, even our Macy's has a nursing room.

See that girl running up? She kept following Ellie around trying to "help" her on top of all the play equipment in the play area. This made Ellie very uncomfortable and she kept running back over to me jabbering away (probably about the little girl...).

About two seconds after I took this picture, the boy in the blue shirt football-tackled Ellie and continued to lay on her until me and his mom removed him. Very shortly after that incident, Ellie came up to me and said "I done playing" and began walking out of the play area.

Yackady Yack! Another Update.

Dan and I were talking about all of the stuff Ellie says now days, and it's a LOT. There are times when she'll repeat the same phrase (or command/request) over and over and over until you repeat it back to her. And then she'll repeat it a few more times, just for good measure. She's turning into more and more of a talker these days!

- Go fast!
- No, stop that! (with a pointed finger, usually in my direction)
- So Much (supposed to start with an "I love you..."), then hug, kiss and exit the room
- Pool open, mama (her attempt to convince me we need to go to the pool!)
- Come here momma (self explanatory)
- Do this (means she'll do it)
- Read boops please (books)
- Need T.T.
- Ets go! (let's go)
- Getchu (get you, meaning I want you to come and "get" me)
- I go downstairs k? (usually
- Lil bit movie (wants to watch a little bit of a movie)
- Week Up - wake up!
- Sorry sorry sorry
- Stop that momma/daddy
- Mommy do it
- You go get; I go get
- Levi, come here
- Beast (what we call Levi sometimes)
- Night Daddy, so much (wants Dan to leave so I can put her to bed...)
- Baby sister coming
- Wooooow

She's also taken to singing the bed time song with me lately. It's either Sunshine or Jesus, Lover of My Soul.

Can't think of any others...

E 26 mo

Outdoor Painting

Call me a bad artsy mom, but a few days ago I realized Ellie had never painted before. She's used water on chalkboards, dot paints, done water paint books, but never actually used paint and a brush on paper. Eeek. We had to remedy this, so I took her easel outside and strapped a smock on over her beloved horsie shirt and she went to town. She only tried to paint me once :)

Water Girl

The bun she requested (and no, it didn't stay put).

For the past several months I've become increasingly more confident in Ellie's blossoming independence. She has proved herself to be quite the responsible 2 year old (Hey Luke, is that an oxymoron?), continuously occupying herself if I leave the room. So today I was doing some squirreling (see this post) in my guest room/sweat shop and Ellie was busy playing in a sink full of water. A few minutes went by and I heard giggling coming from the bathroom and then Ellie yelled "momma, hair wash!" So I peeked in, laughed, and then labored over the decision to make the trip downstairs to get the camera (obviously, I made the trip). She was repeatedly dipping the front of her head in the water and laughing hysterically. Much fun much fun.

Ellie & Levi drinking from the pool

Later this afternoon we went to Wal Mart (to pick up my new glasses - first new pair in 7 years) and I made the mistake of browsing in the garden center. Ellie spotted the plastic pools and went ballistic. She loves loves loves to swim and asked me several times after her nap if the pool was open. I have been pregnantly tired today and wasn't up to taking her to the pool for 30/45 minutes of entertainment. So we didn't go to the pool and I had been feeling bad for not taking her. Since I felt bad and I also know it's going to continuously become more difficult for me to take her to the pool and hop in and out with her... I bought the darn plastic thing. She held onto it all the way home and talked about her swimming suit and pink swim shoes. When we got home, Ellie grabbed her suit and started stripping in the kitchen. I filled up the pool while Dan got her dressed and she was off! She swam in the pool, we all ate our dinner on the patio, Ellie swam some more, and then it was time for bed. Whew!

P & O

The past two weeks we did our best to cover P & O in the alphabet. I made lesson plans and we were up in the playroom either in the morning or afternoon completing whatever tasks I dreamed up. Ellie has had a lot of fun, but she hasn't shown much interest in the recent letter O.

She made muffins, did all sorts of crafts, made a purse, did dot painting, played with her new ABC beanbags... and a lot more that I can't remember right now (because I'm finishing this post a week late!).

Currently, I have decided that Ellie isn't very interested in the alphabet, rather she's interested in animals, colors, and concepts (like wet vs. dry). Plus, Dan came home a few days ago and told me that a developmental specialist was telling them (at work) that at Ellie's age ABC's and 123's are strictly memorization. What I need to focus on is comprehension, such as Ellie being able to tell me the difference between colors. Things she's actually learning and interested in learning. So I have decided to do more research and make some animal activities for her to do and ditch the alphabet for now. Maybe I'll try it again in a few months, or wait until she's 3 like Montessori recommends. Who knows!

I've been busy!

Want to know where all of my blogging and documenting time has gone? I had a long list of things I wanted to do before the baby came and when I crossed off almost all of the things on it, I made another one. Hah! So, I've been doing my best to speed through the second list as fast as I blew through the first one. I'm losing steam, however. But check out my other (somewhat more crafty) blog to see what I've done. Or what I can actually take pictures of, anyway. So far I've cleaned out Ellie's room and clothes, rearranged the playroom & storage, totally trashed my guest room & sewing quarters, vacuumed my house daily (thanks to Levi's shedding habit), straightened the garage, put all baby stuff in drawers, potty trained my child, done a LOT of sewing projects, and somehow managed to cook and do the bare minimal house cleaning (because I just hate it so).

Visit: www.plumdandy.com

Pizza!

It's official; Ellie likes pizza as much as her mom does. Can I just tell you that it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to know that my child likes pizza as much as I do? Man. Anyway. This afternoon, I took Ellie to the park and we met up with Dan to grab some dinner. We went to Smashing Tomato and got a pizza & salad combo. The portions aren't huge, and apparently our entire family was famished. There are 5 pieces of pizza (large slices and usually plenty) and tonight Ellie ate 3 of them. THREE. Read it again: Ellie ate 3 of the 5 pieces of pizza. She even ate salad. Needless to say, Dan and I both had a little something to eat later tonight, but Ellie is currently soundly asleep with a very full belly.

By the way, Ellie has been picking out her clothes lately and the necessary ornamentation is an animal. If it has an animal on it, she'll wear it (this one's from her Aunt Katy). I'm having to scrounge and make her some applique t-shirts, even though she has plenty of others.

Bracelet

When I was picking Ellie up from Kids Day Out on Wednesday, the workers thought a pink ponytail holder they found belonged to Ellie (so it was in her pile of things to bring home). I tried to leave it there, but when she saw it left on the table she freaked out. So... like any good mother would do, I avoided a tantrum and stole the pink ponytail holder (can you tell we've been dealing with tantrums lately and I'm t-i-r-e-d? It's reduced me to stealing! haha). Anyway. Before we left the parking lot, Ellie had me put her hair in a ponytail sporting her new pink holder. Half way home, she took her hair down and dubbed the ponytail holder a bracelet. Why, I don't know, but she put it on her wrist on Wednesday and hasn't removed it since (and it's Friday). It's actually a little too small for her wrist, but she doesn't seem to care, nor has it restricted the use of her left hand, so I guess it isn't too tight. I tried to buy her an actual bracelet yesterday in Gymboree, but she would have nothing of the sort! She had a pink bracelet!

35 Weeks

2 Years ago: Katy took a few pictures of us when I was pregnant with Ellie (how do you like Dan's attempt to make me look skinnier? Sticking his belly out... he started marathon training at the time and actually lost weight while I gained. Lovely)

Last night

I am now in the middle of my 35th week of pregnancy (that's 245 days for those of you who are counting...). Things are still going well and uneventful, unless you count the braxton hicks I've been having non-stop in the evenings. I go see the doctor in a week, so hopefully I'll have made some progress by then. We'll see!

Nemo Fish!

Well, for being so "accomplished" in her potty endeavors (she pooped in the potty), we decided Ellie needed a prize. I found this bath toy at the grocery store a few days ago and deemed it the perfect potty prize for our Nemo-loving daughter. Since Dan hasn't been home as often lately, he got to play "bestower of gifts" to Ellie and give it to her one evening when he got home. She flipped. Absolutely flipped. It's a little on the cheap-o side, so it doesn't really swim well in the bath, but she does not care one bit!

First Shave...

I know what you are thinking, girls aren't supposed to shave their face... but when they are in a whiny mood and you can't think of anything else to do, then let them shave with Dad! And if you are wondering if little kiddos eat shaving cream even when you tell them not to, they do.

Do these glasses make me look smarter?

So, I've been shopping for my first pair of glasses in over 6 years here lately in efforts to mark some of the "to do's" off my list before the baby comes. We stopped in a vision center one day that Dan was off and he let Ellie try on a bunch of glasses, which she loved (because I hadn't let her touch any glasses up until that point). She was being coy that day and I didn't get any good pictures of her in them, but we all thought she looked both ridiculous and hilarious. Oh, and needless to say, I still haven't found any glasses yet... I need to hurry up!

Potty Update!

The new shirt

We have emerged from our 3-day potty training bonanza (and almost 4-day because Ellie has a fever today - Friday), victorious! Here's how things went:

Day One
The first morning was a bit rocky, we went through 9 pair of panties before lunch. Yes, I said 9. BUT, just after eating lunch, it clicked and Ellie used her little potty for the first time! She was ecstatic and even forgot about her potty candy - which she remembered promptly once I reminded her. Nap time was a nightmare, however. I didn't put her in a diaper and she was so uncomfortable that for an hour and a half she tried to sleep, then when I put her in a diaper, she wouldn't sleep. Lesson learned, she's now wearing a diaper when she sleeps. After her nap time, she used the toilet twice again before bed and we were all super-excited. For some reason she kept saying "I TT, so funny!" I guess because I freaked out the first time she went on the potty and she thought it was funny.

Day Two
MUCH better than the first day. She stayed in the same pair of panties from 10 in the morning until bed (with the exception of her nap, which she took!). Sorry if this grosses you out, but she even pooped on the potty once before her nap. By the end of the day I was super-pumped because she had done soooo well.

Day Three
The last official day of training and she made only one mess, which was a #2 mishap. By the end of the day, I consider her okay enough to leave alone.

Friday - (Sorta Day Four)
Not one single accident! Even with her fever! She got a new horsie shirt today for doing so good using the potty!

My Notes:
Most of my thoughts came from a PDF I found online about potty training your child in three days. The point is to put them in panties/undies and tell them to keep them clean and dry. You give them as much liquid as they can possibly drink and wait for the training to begin (if you want the pdf, email me and I'll give it to you). You basically plan on doing nothing for three whole days and never take your eyes off your child. Ever. It's exhausting. We did frequent "pop quizzes" where we check to make sure she's dry. Really emphasizing the dryness, and not so much emphasizing using the potty, has really given her incentive to use the toilet versus a diaper. The "big girl" concept doesn't seem to matter to her... Also, I repeated over and over (and over, especially the first day) "make sure to tell mommy when you need to go." By day two, she was hopping up from whatever she was doing and saying "mommy, tt." So off we went as fast as my pregnant self could move! She tells me every time she needs to go now, I occasionally ask, but she always says "not yet."

Note about the potties: Once we started "fo' real" Ellie didn't want to use the big potty any more, I suppose it was just too big. We no longer have little potties to give away. Sorry.

One Fun Day

We seriously do not go anywhere without our "sunglass" as Ellie calls them.

There's a white alligator that you can (sort of) see behind the plexiglas.

More plexiglas... Ellie was fascinated that she could get this close to a monkey.

The baby giraffe that Ellie became obsessed with, she's still talking about it.

Dan took the day off (two weeks ago today, my post is late...) and we decided to take Ellie to the Louisville Zoo for some fun! We got to the zoo around 11:30 and started on our tour. This particular zoo was the perfect size for us, very compact. We basically saw all of the animals in the zoo an I could bore you with pictures of all of them, but I won't. We had a blast and Ellie enjoyed her first trip to the zoo!

Since Ellie took a nap from 3:00-5:35 (which NEVER happens), we decided to go to the pool, then to Pazzos (pizza) and cram as much fun as we could into our day.

Stop... potty time!

My-my-my-my Ellie hits me so hard makes me say oh my Lord
Thank you for blessing me with a girl who can get "it" in the po-tty.
It feels good when you know you're down
A superdope homegirl from the Lex-town
And she's known as such
And this is a beat uh u can't touch

Okay, if you aren't saying to yourself "can't touch this" by now, then you were born before the 70's or in the late 80's. Anyway...

Tonight was the FIRST time Ellie used the potty!!! I am so stinkin' excited I could explode! Now, let me just say that we've had little potties around here for quite some time now (over 6 months) but they've never been used. Ever. (does anyone need a blue or green little potty chair??) They've been sat on a lot, but not used. Ellie prefers sitting on her "cushie tushie" seat that fits on the big potty. That's fine with me, one less transition to make in the long run.

Today, we decorated two small candy jars that now hold skittles (otherwise known as potty candy). I was completely against this at first, but Ellie really didn't have any incentive to use the potty. I mean, really. Who wants to stop what they're doing to use the toilet anyway?? And honestly, Ellie didn't mind being wet. So we created some incentive!

Last week I put Ellie in panties for a day and a half and it did NOT go well. She never actually used the potty and we ran a few too many errands. I think I did 3 or 4 loads of pee laundry during that day and a half. So, I quit and decided I would formulate a plan (moo-ha-ha). Tomorrow is going to be the first of a three day potty training bonanza. (Only she wanted to sit on it tonight before the bath. So I guess we started tonight. Anyway.) We aren't leaving the house for three whole days and she's not leaving my side, seriously, not once. I've collected toys and activities and puzzles and outdoor games and crafts galore... we'll be busy and drinking lots of watered down juices. She's been dying to wear her purple panties again, so we're just going to throw on the panties tomorrow and make another go of it! Wish me luck (and a cooperative 2 year old!).

34 Weeks

I am now 34 weeks along! Only 6 weeks left now... Nothing new to report these days, my energy level seems to be picking back up a smidge and I'm completing more of the never ending list of projects I want to have done before the baby gets here. I just finished my diaper bag (to see it go to plumdandy.com) and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm now moving on to my moby wrap, Ellie's ABC beanbags, a few baby blankets, cloth diapers, and of course childrens clothing. Hope I get it all done...

Newbie's Quilt

My grandmother (my mom's mom) is quite a quilter! She's always working on a quilt, or collecting fabric for another quilt... the life of a quilter, you're never really done. When Dan and I got married, she made one out of my dad's old ties, Ellie has a Christmas quilt (my favorite holiday!), and now Newbie has her very own quilt too! Although you would have thought Ellie got a new quilt the day the package (she pronounces it Pak-Age, like it's two words) came in the mail. The fabrics are representative of our family: blue is Dan, pink is Ellie, baby fabric is Newbie, and I am the floral fabric. Thank you for hours spent on the quilt! I can't wait to use it!

Did you miss me??

If you've been wondering where I've been lately... it hasn't been blogging! I've had a big project that's taken all of my free time. Check it out!

http://plumdandycom.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-diaper-bag.html

This Weeks Activities - B

Peanut butter "kisses" from one of my favorite kid cookbooks given to me by my friend Elizabeth.

Who cares if the knife is upside down??

Cleaning up from muffin-making and peanut-butter-kiss-making.

See my sad little herbs grown from seeds in the oval pot? I started them too late.

bean counter...

Just some of the stuff Ellie produced this week. I'm putting it all in a binder so she can look at all of her handiwork.

I wanted to make Ellie some sort of sandbox to play in outside and Dan suggested (since he had an almost full 25lb bag of feed corn) I make her a corn box. So I did.

It was actually a little cool this week, which was a nice change from the humid Louisiana-ish weather we'd been experiencing last week.

This week I actually made a "lesson plan" for the week and was able to stick to it fairly well. The first letter we're focusing on is B, so everything centered around the letter B. [Side note: Ellie actually already knows several letters, but I decided to focus on one per week, that way she really learns about it and isn't just regurgitating information]. I never realized how many words start with the letter B! There was no shortage of examples to use this week. This weekend, we went up into her playroom/schoolroom and showed Dan all the stuff she worked on, and she walked around rattling off everything she had learned. She showed Dan the balloons, bean pouring, books, b artwork on the wall... and probably more that I can't recall because it's late and I'm tired.

Other fun stuff we did this week:
Made peanut butter kisses, made muffins, practiced cutting, washed dishes, watered the plants, played with corn, played on the swingset, rode the tryke, took care of all the baby dolls, harassed Levi, picked out most of her own clothes (and requested ponytails to go along with it), went swimming, ate at Chick Fil A, watched Finding Nemo (Memo, as Ellie says), and worked on potty training (while wearing panties) for 2 days before I decided to try again next week.

Whew! We've had a great week!