Ella-isms (Vol. 1)

I just wanted to capture a few of the sweet and silly things that Ella has been doing lately.  My intent is two-fold.  First, I want to be able to remember her at this fun age.  And second, I want to be able to share the joy that she brings me through these antics with those of you who have helped and supported me along the way to where we are now.

Snack Stack
She is getting really good at stacking things...including her banana slices.  Yesterday at breakfast, I caught her stacking the little round discs of banana one on top of the other.  She had gotten to three slices before she got hungry and decided it was better to eat them.

Sock Hop
Now that it's cooler (at least by Arizona standards), I have retired my flip-flops and have been wearing socks and shoes.  Ella was quick to pick up on the sign for "shoes", but now she also does it for "socks" (despite our attempts to teach her the proper sign).  She is fascinated by socks, and wants us to put our socks on her feet, sometimes even over her shoes.  They look more like leg-warmers, coming up to above her knees, but she's happy to run around the house like that (we have yet to take her out in public with them).

Part Billy Goat
When we were in Hawaii, my husband observed that my family must be part billy goat, because we climb everything--trees, rocks, you name it.  Well, Ella must have gotten the same billy goat genes from me, because she tries to climb anything she can--the back of her little chair, the footrest, the ottoman, her activity table, and even into the dishwasher.  The girl is fearless, and I hope it lasts.

Sharing is Caring
After she started feeling better from this most recent bug...I started feeling not-so-good.  Sure enough, Ella shared her germs with me.  But that wasn't all she tried to share with me.  While I was laying on the ground, she kept coming over to me and sticking her teething cookie in my mouth, as if to say "this makes me feel better, I want to share it with you to make you feel better too".  I've noticed her sharing at other times too--especially with snacks that she enjoys.  She'll often take a few bites, and then hold out a piece for me so that I can have some too.

Pity Party
I'll admit it--my precious baby throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way.  But she does so in a very careful and calculated way.  She ends up laying prostrate on the floor, but she doesn't just throw herself down on the ground.  Oh no--she very carefully leans back--first on her hands, then her elbows, then her shoulders, then finally her head...crying her "woe is me!" cry the whole way down.  But she's smart enough to know that it would hurt if she threw her fit any other way.  We can get her smiling soon enough, but it's pretty dramatic in the moment.

Big Girl Potty
We are teaching Ella baby signs, so when I bring her in the restroom with me, I often show her the sign for potty.  It's not that we're trying to potty train her at 13 months, but rather, I'm just simply telling her what I'm doing throughout the day.  A couple months ago, I was pleasantly surprised on a trip to the restroom when I hadn't made the sign, that she looked right up at me and did the sign herself.  The next morning, while I was nursing her, she farted...and made the sign for potty!  The morning after that, while my husband was still in bed, he farted...and sure enough, she looked up at me and made the sign for potty.  Sounds cute, right?  Well, fast-forward a couple of hours to the end of the evening when I was putting her in the bath, and sat down to use the facilities myself.  In doing so, I showed her the sign for potty--meaning that mommy was using the big girl potty.  And what would you know--she stood right up and peed as well.

Okay...that's probably enough little Ella-isms for now.  I hope to share more in time--especially when she really starts talking.

Today's blessing was working with my husband during Ella's nap to finish one side of our rock wall in our back yard.  My parents started the project when they were here for Ella's birth (her actual birth--not her birthday, so it's been a year in the progress.  We still have a long ways to go before it's truly "toddler friendly", but it's coming along, slowly but surely.