Ella-isms (Vol. 3)

My baby girl is now a full blown toddler!  I wanted to share some of the things she's been into lately:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...and Bikes
Ella is totally into anything that moves and can get her from Point A to Point B.  We live relatively close to a train track, so we hear the distant whistles a couple of times a day.  Since she was about 8 months or so, we've been doing the sign for "train" when we hear it go by, and make the "chugga chugga chugga chugga choo choo!" noises for her.  She has now totally adopted the noises as well, and makes them--along with the motions--whenever she sees any type of train.  She also likes to point out the planes in the sky, and "car" is now one of her favorite words.  But her favorite mode of transportation is by far the bicycle.  They get to ride little tricycles at her school, so I got one for the house as well:

Sorry...I don't know why I can't turn the picture!

Monkey Business
Ella LOVES the monkeys at the zoo.  So I bought her some Curious George books, brought her to see George when he appeared on campus for a character story time, and bought her a George stuffed animal.  She does the sign for "monkey" while making an "oo oo oo" noise at least a dozen times a day.

There's No Crying in Baseball
We drove up to Phoenix for a Spring Training game last weekend, and like any good mother, I smothered Ella in sunscreen.  Unfortunately, Ella immediately had some sort of reaction, because her skin turned pink (while we were still in the shade) and tears started rolling down her cheeks.  I could tell that it was bothering her eyes because she kept rubbing (and not in the sleepy sort of way) at them, which only made the problem worse.  Luckily, our seats were in the shade, so I wiped off as much of the lotion as I could.  (Needless to say, I threw out the sunscreen and bought a new organic version that I hope will work better with her skin).

Again..not sure why I can't rotate the picture...

Jabber Mouth
The language explosion is starting!  Ella is talking more and more each day--some of which is truly distinguishable words from the English language!  I love our half-hour drive into town each day, when she just jibber-jabbers away to herself in the backseat, pointing out cars and trains, as mentioned above. She will repeat back what we say, answer for herself when we ask her questions, and pipe up with a declaration of what she observes.  Her vocabulary includes but is not limited to:  Mama, Dada, dog, duck, apple, diaper, tickle, book, white, blue, red, purple, neigh, moo(ooooo), baa, meow, mine, water, milk, magnet, cracker, cookie, potty, car, help, more...and the list goes on!  We're still introducing some new signs here and there as well, and she still uses them to point out things that she wants us to notice.

Book Worm
My New Years Resolution was to read to Ella every day.  I was pretty good about reading to her in the first 15 months, but truly wanted to be intentional about helping her develop a love for books, as my parents did for us.  So books are now always part of evening routine, and I squeeze in a few more throughout the day whenever I can.  Ella has totally responded to the increase in our reading time together, and interacts with her books, pointing out the familiar objects and asking for more whenever we finish.

Tickle Monster
Is there anything better than hearing your child laugh?  Very little compares to hearing Ella giggle, so naturally, I tickle her.  And she has now started to tickle us too.  If she ever gets fussy in the car, I can reach my hand back and give her a quick little tickle, and she now grabs a hold of my arm and tickles the palm of my hand.  When I laugh and squirm, she laughs even harder!  It's the sweetest thing ever!

Yesterday's blessing was the chance to share some of my gently-used maternity clothes with my colleague, who I really enjoy and admire...and is now developing the cutest little baby bump after also struggling with PCOS and in/fertility.  She has been such a great friend and colleague, and it's so great to be able to share in some of these little aspects of her pregnancy.