The Zoo

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to the zoo with our friends Dan and Becca and their daughter, Eleora. Eleora is 3 1/2 and Ellie adored her!

Ellie chasing the geese - getting the zoo trip off to a good start!

Ellie and Eleora holding hands. Ellie wanted to hold Eleora's hand the entire time. Eleora wasn't too sure about that, but she was a good sport!

Walking to the giraffes and then looking at them together.

Riding in the wagon together.

Becca, Dan, Eleora, Ellie, and Tim.

Ellie was fixated on this water bottle that Dan and Becca were kind enough to share with Ellie.

Eleora holding a parakeet with Dan.

Fun For Mama

Saturday afternoon and evening I was able to take a few hours for myself and get out with some friends. Tim was home with Ellie from nap time to bath time by himself. He did a great job (and appreciates even more what it is like to be an at-home Mama)!

My neighbors Hailey, Jenn, Rhea, and I, along with four other ladies went rafting. We had an amazing time and it was so much fun for all of us wives/moms to get out for a bit.

I feel so lucky to have such amazing neighbors, whom I count among my best friends. You gals rock!

Post rafting pics. We were split up in two rafts. The guide in front was ours (Rhea, Hailey, and I) and the one in back was Jenn's and the other ladies' guide. No, the dog didn't raft (but if you know me at all you would know that I wouldn't have complained if he had).

The First Fifty

Ellie will imitate any word that we say now (not sure if that is a good thing...), but she also has a lot of words that she uses appropriately without prompting. I've been keeping a running record of her "everyday" words for her baby book. Yesterday she officially hit the fifty word mark. So, here they are, in the order of acquisition:

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. uh-oh
4. dog
5. rock
6. ball
7. hi
8. eye
9. wow!
10. whoa!
11. that
12. all done
13. Ellie
14. out dogs
15. upstairs
16. hot
17. rub, rub, rub (when washing hands)
18. hello
19. hat
20. sock
21. wa-wa (water)
22. owboo (owie + booboo = owboo)
23. bye-bye
24. nose
25. no
26. yes
27. go
28. bike
29. mo-mo (motorcycle)
30. well
31. I know (When we tell her what something is, this is her response!)
32. hi Dada!
33. juice
34. pool
35. nurse (as in breastfeeding)
36. hush (as in be quiet dogs!)
37. please
38. trash
39. mess
40. close
41. shoes
42. step
43. paci/pass (pacifier)
44. lovoo (lovie blanket)
45. yuck
46. up
47. ice
48. box
49. boobs (as in mine...)
50. bath tub

And then, here are the new ones since yesterday:

• baby/babies
• home
• wash
• mush (move)
• Mox (Moxie)
• Bast (Sebastian)

For those of you in Idaho, we are heading your way on the 4th. Grandma and Grandpa B. may want to be ready with earplugs!

Fearless

Fearlessness is the character trait that landed Ellie (ever so briefly) at the bottom of the swimming pool on Friday. Ellie and I were playing in the shallow part of the pool when Ellie decided to get out. She started walking towards our towel, to get a new toy I assumed. At the last second she changed course and made a bee-line for the deep end of the pool. I immediately began "running" through the water to get to the pool edge before her, but failed. I saw she would get there before me, so I yelled for her to stop.

She looked at me, smiled, crouched down, yelled, "JUMP" and flew off the edge and sunk.

I was only about five feet away by that time and was able to scoop her off the bottom quickly, but those were the longest few seconds of my life. Ellie didn't seem fazed at all. The lifeguard arrived just as I pulled her out. He just shook his head and said he couldn't believe that she jumped. He saw her going toward the edge, saw me heading that way, and figured she'd wait for me.

Wait for me? Not my daughter....

Here are some pictures of a less eventful trip to the pool with our neighbors.

Ashlyn in the background.

All I can say is that I can predict Ellie and Jamison getting into trouble together in the future... Look at that smile! He's going to be a heart breaker for sure!

Lesson Learned

Don't take clear plastic Tupperware containers to the pool.

Sure, they are great for your toddler to play with in the shallow end; but when an eight-year-old takes them to the deep end and sinks them, they are really hard to find again.

Could It Be...

...that Ellie has slept through the night four nights in a row???

...that there is a light at the end of the tunnel???

...that my sanity is returning???

Seventeen Months Old

The word to sum up this month: BUSY! As a family we have been busy outside enjoying the summer, and Ellie is always busy playing or making up "jobs" to do.



How Ellie has changed over the past month:

• Ellie loves putting on shoes. Her shoes, our shoes, your shoes - she makes no distinction.
• She does a great job picking up. She always tries to put away all of her toys before we leave the room for another activity. Who did she get that from?!?
• Along with the picking up, she is constantly on the look out for "tash" so she can put it in the trash can. She will come running up to us, with something microscopic pinched between her thumb and forefinger, screaming, "Tash, tash, tash" at the top of her lungs until we open the lid on the trash can so she can throw it away.
• Ellie loves going to the pool. We had a rocky start with lots of tears, but after a trip or two just to "look" at the pool she finally got in. Yay!
• Still two naps, but looking forward to dropping to one a day in the next few weeks.
• Talking a mile a minute. She uses so many words now. She'll also imitate about any word/sound you say, even if she doesn't know what it means.
• I'm sure there is so much more, but I can't think right now. What hasn't changed is Ellie's horrible sleep patterns, so I'm a tired, brain-dead Mama at the moment....
  

Events of the past month:

• A couple of fun hikes. Ellie enjoyed getting out of the pack and "hiking" a little herself.
• We took a short trip to see Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Bob over the 4th of July.
• First haircut.