Little Alien.

Yes, I am wearing a leopard print mumu. Yes, I am mouth breathing pretty heavily. Yes, this sort of nutty inside baby behavior happens several times a day. He's an active little guy in there!

Moment in Time.

I feel bad about how few photos I snap of Ellie lately. But it's hard with a toddler on the move. She doesn't like to pose for pictures (at ALL!) and I don't want to carry my fancy camera with me everywhere. My little point and shoot is always in my diaper bag, but it takes garbage photos in comparison. And my cell phone has a camera, but that piece of crap is utterly worthless 95% of the time. Unless you enjoy blurry photos, or like when your camera phone just flat out shuts down and then the whole phone restarts during a cute moment. 

But today, we were getting ready to head to Walgreens to pick up some other photos, and she was doing her usual cute and goofy act in the drive way, and my camera phone actually snapped a shot that I feel like captures exactly who Ellie is at this moment in her little life.

Bare feet, a tutu skirt, a shirt with a bund-dy on it, and some crazy pigtails. Plus a saucy stare. She is the best. 

Kiss Attack.

I went to bed last night with a little tickle in my throat, and I woke up this morning full out sick. Nothing that required me to take to my death bed (just a sore throat and a runny nose) but since I am over dramatic, I wished for my death bed. Or a fainting couch that I could lay upon while whining loudly. I did take the opportunity to lay on our couch for awhile, which is how I caught Ellie, still in her sleep sack, carrying Thor down the hall (she had him under his front armpits, and he was totally ragdoll limp.)

So I was basically whiny and obnoxious all morning, until Ellie looked at me and said "mama, you're crabby. You need to give me a kiss attack. You'll feel better." And she was right. Captured, thusly, on video:

Giving her the kiss attack truly does brighten my day.

Also a wonderful moment (which I wish I had captured on film) was when I woke her up from her nap, and we spent a half hour snuggling in her bed, talking about her brother. She demanded I pull up my shirt so she could "see" him, and she discussed all of the stuff they're going to do together (go to the petting zoo, ride in the carts at Costco, eat puffs) and she said that when he's born, he can wear her new purple tutu skirt and dance with her. Then she leaned in to my stomach and said "come out and dance with me!" I teared up at her sweetness.

I know it'll probably be a much different story when he's actually out and about, bothering her, but her enthusiasm for him now just slays me.

She also spent some time today being sweet to Bitty Baby. At one point, she picked up Bitty and said "it's okay. What's wrong? Let's just snuggle for a minute." And I also overhead her offering to breastfeed the doll, that dang little hippie!

But perhaps her favorite part of the day was going over to Gigi's house, and discovering that there's some new caterpillars outside, just waiting to get large enough to be invited in Gigi's home for wayward butterflies. When we were walking by the butterfly plant outside, Ellie exclaimed about caterpillars, and I thought she was nutso. And then I looked closer and realized she'd spotted the teeniest, tiniest new little caterpillars, not even the length of a penny, crawling all over. She made everyone come out and check out the caterpillars.

My favorite part though, was when Gigi squirted Ellie with a spray bottle, and Ellie goes "why did you do that?" in the most grievously wounded voice ever. I wonder where she gets it from. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to retire to my fainting couch.

35.

I am officially 35 weeks with our little guy, and it's interesting to compare this point in my pregnancy with Ellie versus how I'm feeling currently. When I was this far along with Ellie, I flew to Chicago for Kate's wedding. When I look back on it now, I'm so glad I was able to be there, but I also think "you idiot, that was not your smartest move." I felt unwell a lot of the weekend, and I didn't get to party the way I'd wanted to (but it was better than not partying at all!)

(Here we are, on yet another water break.)

35 weeks was also the last week I was able to wear my wedding ring with Ellie. Not so much this time around. It's amazing how much better I feel, having not gained double the recommended amount of pregnancy weight. I'm still walking five plus miles a day, four days a week, and going to the gym on the weekends. Sleeping solidly through the night most nights, though if I do wake up, I tend to be awake for an hour or more, which pisses me off. And then the next day, Ellie usually takes a terrible nap, which pisses me off even more. Hormones + sleeplessness usually = weeping, and then wondering how I'm going to handle the newborn phase (answer: I'll handle it because I have to! And because on bad days, I take Ellie over to my parents and they all play blocks while I sulk in the corner, like the mature adult I am.)

Otherwise, things are good. I'm honestly getting a little sad about the idea of not being pregnant any more ever again. I love feeling the baby kick and roll around and react to my voice. I know he hasn't gotten as much one on one time as Ellie did, but I hope he's enjoyed going to music class with us, and swim class, and dancing around in living rooms throughout Orange County. Ellie still doesn't get what's going on, but she likes to talk about how they're going to play blocks, and ride in the cart together at Costco, and she will pretend to give my belly a sweater for the baby, so that "he feels so happy!" I keep trying to get good video of Lambeau rolling back and forth in my poor stretched stomach, but the second I turn on the camera, he usually simmers down. He is a fart, just like his sister.

Tonight we drove out to Chino for a farewell party for Tim's cousin Trevor, who is enlisting in the Marines this coming week and heading out to boot camp. Ellie was a little hesitant when we entered the party, up until she saw Mimi. Then it was on like Donkey Kong, which is good, because every day for the last week she's been telling me "Mimi is always nice to me. Mimi takes good care of me and she grabs me. Mimi loves me." Which is totally true and very sweet, but can get a little grating if she's just been whining or being a turd to me. GO LIVE WITH MIMI THEN! (Ellie also said she wanted to stay at Diane's forever and ever and I offered to let her, but Diane said we had to take her home.) I also can't really complain, since she has stayed overnight at Mimi's house a bunch of times in the past year, and Tim and I have a "babymoon" weekend away coming up in March, thanks to Mimi and Pa. You can't beat it!

While at Diane's Ellie colored, ate a bunch of orange slices that had been cut for Blue Moon beers, and when left unsupervised for 90 seconds, climbed all the way to the top bunk of Joey's bed. PERFECT! She is a troublesome little monkey. She was also thrilled with the new tutu skirts that Mimi bought for her, as am I, because it saves me one less fight every day (I let her wear those tutu skirts until they're dirty, and then spend the rest of the week trying to convince her that whatever back up outfit I want to put her in is just as good. Now I should be able to go a solid two weeks without doing tutu skirt laundry. Thanks Mimi!) New tutu skirt time was of course, followed with "beautiful dancing flower" time. The best time of any day!

Sizes.

The knitters gave me a surprise mini-baby shower yesterday while they were here to check out my new kitchen and otherwise fabulously renovated house (including the front and back yard, of course!) Today I was folding all of the tiny clothes and it blows my mind to think that before too long, I'll have a baby who might actually not even FIT in them yet, because they're too big. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? I mean, Ellie was never that size, was she? HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE?

It's also funny because then last night I was out with a group of mom friends and we were comparing weights and measurements for the two year olds, and everyone kept saying how big Ellie seems, and to me, she doesn't. I mean, obviously she's bigger than a newborn, but I don't think of her as a particularly beefy two year old. She's always been in the 50th-75th percentile for height and weight, so larger, but not massive. And she's always been in a clothing size that matches her age. Until now. I realized recently that her dresses aren't really fitting her because unless they're extra long, or come with matching underpants, her diaper hangs out. But all of her 2T pants still fit. Verdict - the kid's got a long torso like me (seriously. Despite my stumpy little legs and overall shrimpiness, I have a lot of real estate in the torso area. I think it's why I enjoy being pregnant so much - there's generally plenty of room for babies to float around.) Today at Target I went on a 3T tee shirt buying spree, seeing as I'm unsure if the cropped top look is right for Ellie. Especially with the weather we've had lately, I think it's best if we keep her belly button covered. Hopefully some of her summer dresses will actually fit her when the time comes. Worse comes to worse, leggings!

Adventures in Imagination.

Tim's company isn't open on Presidents Day, which meant he got an extra day with us, the lucky duck! It's funny - on Friday night we had nothing going on for the weekend, and yet the past three days have been totally action packed. Lots of family fun (she woke up on Saturday and asked who was coming to our house and I said no one... and then we saw all four grandparents over the next few hours) and lots of fun just the three of us.

Today we decided to meet up with our friends Sara, Todd and Whitney for a trip to Pretend City in Irvine. None of us had been before, and we figured it'd be a good way to kill a few hours. Yeah. We were not the only people who had that idea - the place was JAMMED. Hard to find a parking space, and then we had to stand in line before going in. The entire place is one big dress up space with all sorts of things for kids to play in: a bank, an art studio, a farm, a grocery store, etc. There's lots of props and costumes and activities. And today, there were a ton of small children and parents. Ellie was a little overwhelmed at the beginning but quickly warmed up. I was a little overwhelmed by the end. The place was crowded (and people were trying to push giant strollers around!) and I was thankful Tim was there to chase Ellie, so I could focus on just lugging my belly around and finding a place to park my butt. Lambeau liked it. At one point when I was sitting he was jumping around so much that my whole stomach was visibly moving.

Ellie's favorite part of Pretend City was the Marina.

As you can tell. She is mad in this picture because I told her she couldn't try to climb in.

Tim enjoyed the dental office.

Perhaps a little too much...

We had a good time, though I suspect Ellie might be a smidge too young. And that she would have been equally as happy if we'd brought her wading pool out into the backyard today (because Pretend City charges a bunch of real money for admission.)

Also, this is from a week or so ago. We were over at Gigi's and Ellie had been out playing ball in the back yard. Then all of a sudden she climbs into the lounge chair and sighs and says "I need to rest now, mama." The difficult life of a California cutie.

Burrito Baby.

I must say, I'm very thankful that our transition to a big girl bedroom has been this smooth. After her first weekend, we haven't had any protestations about going to bed or her new bed or wanting us to sit with her until she falls all the way asleep. It is funny to see how different her sleeping is now. In the queen sized bed, she had two pillows, and slept with her face crammed in the crack between them. The twin bed doesn't have enough room for two pillows, so she consoles herself by sleeping with her face crammed against the wall. I mean, why wouldn't you?

SO COMFY!

She is also very intent on having all of the blankets on her, after two years of just sleeping in her pjs, or pjs and a sleep sack. Last night it was 73 degrees in our house when I went to bed, and when I went in to check on her, she was wearing fleece pjs, her fleece sleep sack AND had pulled my flannel dorm quilt over her. The best part is she doesn't unfold the blankets, so she had four layers of flannel over her. It looked a lot like this:

Yep. Somewhere in that pile is a baby.

Oh, there she is. Off the pillow and smushed up with Smelly Cat and her UCLA quilt. On some level, I can't blame her. When I lived in Toronto, I'd sleep with both corners of the dorm quilt in my hands, tucked under my body, like a perfect little burrito. It was a hard habit to unlearn when Tim and I moved in together. He apparently thinks covers are for sharing (he's wrong, and we still are working on compromising.)

It's been unseasonably warm these past few days, and so this morning I laid out a sun dress for Ellie. I have half a closet filled with 2T sundresses that I fear she'll outgrow before getting a chance to wear. Those long legs are getting longer by the minute, and if the dress doesn't come with bloomers, her diaper hangs out beneath her hem (so unladylike!) Ellie of course, asked Tim for her tutu skirt, but he told her no and put her in her VERY cute polka dot dress. When he put her down off the changing table, she ran into our room, looked at herself in the mirror and screamed "I don't like this dress!" and ran crying to me. Tim asked me if this is what it's going to be like to raise a teenaged girl. Sorry buddy, but yep. She was quickly distracted though, by trying to stuff a small stuffed bunny rabbit down the front of her dress so he could "drink some milk."

This afternoon she also spent a lot of time snuggling with my belly, and saying things like, "the brother is cold, I will give him a robe. How does he feel now? He feels happy! Oh, I love my brother, can I see him now?" We'll see how she feels in six weeks.

Hearts and Flowers.

You're my funny Valentine(s)

Sweet, comic Valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable

Unphotographable

But you're my favorite work of art

Rigged.

As I mentioned, the last fix on our kitchen was the trash cabinet. It wasn't originally designed to hold the trash cans. Once I saw the drawings, I suggested to Glen that we take out some drawers so I could have a place for the garbage, and he said sure. But then it didn't happen, and four drawers showed up at my house on cabinet day. If we'd done a better job of planning it, the cabinet would have been an inch or two wider, to accommodate two average sized cans. It ended up being about 12 inches wide, which is not very big at all. HOWEVER, I did realize that most cans are tapered, so the bottoms fit fine two deep, but the handles and edges are what make it impossible to push the cabinet in or out.

But, because I am solution oriented, and because trash cans are about functionality over looks, I fixed it today, using some kitchen shears for the cheap can I got at Big Lots, and some garden shears for the durable Sterilite that's been housing our recycling since we moved in.

Awww yeah, who wants to come and throw things away? I know I do. PLUS I left one handle on the recycling bin, thus insuring that Tim will have no complaints about taking out the bottles and cans (though, if he knows what's good for him, he'll save his complaints. Management don't care around here.)

In other news, we had to buy wet cat food today, so Ellie got to pet a rabbit at the pet store. She was about as cute as could be, and the rabbit actually seemed excited to see her (we were there early, so he was getting his cage cleaned.) Then at music class, during one of the quieter songs, she and Lexi stood embracing for a good two minutes, complete with a couple of kisses. After class they were sharing some snacks, and Ellie goes "Lexi loves me. She's holding the blueberries so I can eat them," and Lexi goes "yeah, I love Elizabeth!" They are true love forever.

Lastly, today during music class, our "play along" song was about playing in the kitchen, so Miss Elena brought a bunch of pots and pans to bang on. Ellie was initially sad that there was no triangle to play, but she later found a funnel, but it on her head and solemnly said "it's my birthday! This is my birthday hat!"

Dr. Ellie Dolittle

The best errand we run on any given week is a trip to the pet store. There's one near our house where we can get wet food and cat litter. That place usually has several rabbits for sale, plus a binny pig or two and some fancy rats. It's smaller, and so a lot of times if it's quiet, one of the ladies will let Ellie pet an animal. She thinks it's the best ever. But some weeks, we have to drive up to PetSmart to get the cats their fancy new dry food (good news: Thor hates the prescription diabetes food, so that saves me some dollars. Not going to pay a premium if he won't eat it!) PetSmart has plenty of binny pigs, with the bonus of birds and fish to stare at. And yesterday, it was a super thrill - the doggy day care dogs were out in a big glass room playing.

Ellie probably stood there for ten minutes, hollering with joy at all of them. The Springer came and sat right next to her on the other side of the glass, and she wisely declared "I love him, he's my favorite." Not her favorite - the giant German shepard who ran over and barked at her. I can't blame him; she's a tender morsel.

It's the best way to kill a half hour. She gets to wander around and smile and squeal delightedly at all the animals, I get a chore done, and she has stories to tell everyone for the rest of the day.

This morning during cat snuggling time she once again informed me "he's not your baby kitty mama, he's my baby kitty." Fine kid, then YOU learn how to inject him with insulin twice a day. It still blows my mind that six months ago, I couldn't get she and Thor in the same room. But now it's true love forever.

Also, she loves her some Timothy Joseph. I do too, but I just didn't get a sticker.

Amusement.

Our new going to bed routine has really been working well for all of us. Ellie gets a lullaby, we sit with her for a few minutes and then pat her on the back and head out. She's not even whining about it any more. At nap time, I usually lay her UCLA blanket over her to keep her warm. At night, not so much because she's in fleece jammies and her fleece sleep sack. Her blanket is folded at the end of the bed though, and for the past few nights, sometime after Tim leaves, she's been crawling down to get it and throw it over herself. It ends up bunched up by her head, more as a security blanket than a warmth provider, but it's pretty cute.

We continue to talk a lot about the impending arrival of her new brother, which she doesn't really understand. I mean, she's two and I don't expect her to get it. But we talk about how things are going to be once he's here. The other night I was changing into my pajamas, and since she has no concept of privacy or personal space, she was about four inches away from me, yapping away. Then all of a sudden she goes "I used to drink milk from you. When I was a little baby. But now I'm a little girl. I drink cows milk." GOOD TO KNOW. She also sees little babies nursing at our mommy class lately, and will tell me that her brother is going to drink milk too. Hopefully she'll be as cool about it when it actually comes time for me to nurse him, instead of having her in my lap all the time.

She also continues to obsess about "what are we going to do NEXT!" She likes to discuss the day the minute she gets up, and will continue asking about what we're gong to do NEXT as I'm getting her ready for bed. Lately she also likes to ask questions with really obvious answers - every morning she asks me "is that a bird house?" when she looks into our back yard. We're currently working on turning the questions back to her and telling her "if you know the answer, you can just tell me, you don't have to ask!" Because otherwise, she will happily ask me the same question a half dozen times in rapid fire succession. And she's impossible to ignore. The best is that when I say "what do you think it is?" she always ends up just doing her "I don't know/I don't want to tell you" grunt, and then goes "it's a birdie house. For little birdies."

Moving on, yesterday was my college roommate Pari's baby shower. She's due with a little girl less than two weeks before Lambeau's expected arrival, so that's been very exciting for the two of us. Just like always, she makes me do something first so I can later talk her through the process. The party was up in LA and started at 2, so we ended up leaving Ellie to nap at Gigi's house (not Grizz's house, GIGI'S HOUSE) and Tim and I had an afternoon and an evening out. We did get crap from Pari's parents for not bringing along their favorite two year old. It was a fun time though, and the first time that I've seen our friend Chris in a million years.

The old crew, now with three out of the four of us as parents (or almost parents.) Fluff, Megara, Asshead and Loser. We are very good with nicknames.

Tim and I ended up getting dinner at a Salvadorian place just down the street from our old apartment. No matter what, we always seem to end up in Culver City when we head to the Westside. Sure, there are fancier places to eat, but somehow visiting our old haunts always makes us happy. It's been raining here and when we drove in it was so clear that I knew we'd have been able to see the Hollywood sign from our old apartment window - we joked about going up and knocking to see if they'd let us check out the old dump. Maybe our old keys would even work! Funnily enough, on New Years Eve Tim got a call at 3 in the morning and I answered it because it said something about "home/downstairs" and in my sleep addled state, I thought it might be his friend Cory, because it was a 310 area code. It was actually just someone standing outside of our apartment building, trying to find someone. Apparently his cell phone is still in the code box, if you punch *75.

Wednesday.

Wednesdays are usually good days around here. We have music class in the morning, but not until 10:30, so that gives us plenty of time to get up and get ready, without any crazy rush. And most mornings we get to the community center early enough to head up to the play ground and play for awhile. Today Ellie must have climbed up and gone down the big tunnel slide a half dozen times. She is a brave little monkey.

Then music class, which is always fun. Today we even got to use the parachute, which meant Ellie and Lexi were underneath, screaming with joy. Plus we played with sticks and had our usual play along (the second to last song, where Miss Elena dumps out a huge box of instruments and the kids go nuts. Ellie has wanted the triangle the past few weeks. I prefer to play the spoons.)

We usually get to spend lunch with the knitting ladies, which is especially nice since Ellie's nap conflicts with actually going to knit. Today Kristen and Lexi came along too, so double fun.

Right now we're hanging out at the house because Ricardo is fixing up our yard, but then it's off to Gigi and Grizz's for a little doot doot doo, perhaps some Poppy Cat, and maybe building the TALLEST TOWER EVER SEEN! And then dinner with dada when he gets home from the office. Doesn't get much better than that.

Amusing: lately Ellie is obsessed with who goes to work and who doesn't, and what they do at their office. She knows that Grizz doesn't go to an office, so she likes to check if he's at golf or at the gym. The only other option for Grizz is that he's at Gigi's house. Not his house, GIGI'S house. That he gets to visit. And while she doesn't bother the rest of us about it, should Grizz state his intentions to use the restroom, she runs after him, stands outside the door and yells "don't forget to wash your hands Grizz!"

Also funny in "things Ellie talks about" she is very excited that her brother will be able to play with her soon. He's going to play blocks. And poop. And she's going to help change his stinky diaper, and she'll get him a little table for changing.

This whole post started out so nice, and now is all about bathroom functions. Probably best if I end it here then.

Good on All Counts.

Missy Moo is officially loving her big girl bed. Or if not loving it, no longer whining to be put in her other bed. The only one disgruntled with this arrangement is Orange, who enjoys all aspects of Ellie's big girl room - sleeping on her bed, wallowing around in her tent, parking her large rear in the little green chair. I can only imagine how pissed she's going to be when the nursery door is closed to her again too and she can't sleep on the changing table or in the crib either. I don't know why she complains - the other morning I woke up and rolled over to discover that she was sleeping with her head on my pillow, about a half inch from my face.

Anyhow, she's been doing well. Going down before nine, and lately sleeping until almost 8. Which means I'm sleeping 9 hours a night, easy. I love being a lazy pregnant woman. I'm also thankful that I haven't reached the stage yet where I have to wake up if I need to roll over, and where I can sleep 9 hours without having to go to the bathroom.

Today I had my 32 week check up with the doctor, and we started with a quick ultrasound to check on the baby's growth, and to check on how everything is going in the old baby factory. Excellent marks on all - my insides are the ideal growing conditions, and the baby is right on track. In fact, he's even a touch ahead. He's measuring just under five pounds, which puts him in the 60th percentile. So not enormous, but healthy. And surprisingly (to me) he's head down. I figured he must be transverse, because at night he pushes so hard under my ribs on both sides of my body, that I thought he had to be the wrong way. Turns out, he's just aggressive and likes to make his mom grunt in pain.

Like his sister, they can already see hair on the ultrasound. And like Ellie, he appears to have the cutest little button nose.

The top of his head is on the right side, and then that little oval on the left is his hand, up right by his nose and mouth. It's single digit weeks now until we get to meet him!

Music for the Morning After.

Well, we survived the night. E was up twice, which was better than expected, and both times she went back to sleep fairly quickly. I get it - it's a big change, and it's hard because her old bed is right next door. It's not like we're on vacation or some place where there is no other option. But I'm confident that she'll be happy as a clam in her new room come April. This morning we had a lovely talk about how her baby brother will need the crib soon, and we discussed all the things she can do with said brother (play blocks with him, hold him, change his stinky diaper, ride in the cart with him at Costco.)

This morning Tim took her on a walk and I tackled the bags of baby boy clothes that my girlfriend had passed on to me. All of the 0-6 month stuff is ready to be washed and sorted and put away, and everything else is sorted, sealed, and shoved under the bed for later. That feels like a great job done.

When Tim got back, I had him help me putting up frames in Ellie's new room, so that there's finally some decor. She likes it so far.

Here is her fancy new room! (featuring the same old orange cat. She loves the new bed, of course.)

Her new little closet space, featuring super cute curtains made by Grandma Rosie. The closet bar is hung on the inside, but I haven't moved any clothes over. Her dresser sort of smells like old person (it's an antique) and so I want to air it out and get some shelf paper before transferring all her clothes.

Her smelly dresser and all of the framed albums. I love this part of her room, and I hope she will too as she gets older. Then we also have the masses of toys. It's okay toys, we will just throw you in the room and close the door.

Speaking of closing the door - today I put her down for a nap, sat with her for a few and then stepped out. Listening over the monitor, I could hear her playing with the little door stops on the back side of her door, and so I went to go open it, put her back in her bed, etc. Yeah. The little turd had locked her bedroom door. And of course, the hinges are on the inside, and the lock is a turn lock, not a quick pop lock. Tim used his many brain skills and was able to get a screw driver in and turn the knob, where we discovered Missy Moo crying with a big dump in her trunks. PERFECT. This is exactly the smooth transition I was hoping for.

Thankfully, with a quick diaper change she was back and asleep within minutes. I didn't realize that her door locked, or I probably wouldn't have latched the other side. Of course, Tim and I's door doesn't lock. I mean, why would parents need privacy? That never happens. So when she gets up, Tim has one more manual labor project - switching the door knobs out.

Big Girl.

Oh, our little Buster boo. Tonight is the first night we're trying her in her new bed. I have been trying to talk it up as much as possible, while also being careful about what I say, because I don't want her to turn it on me (ie: "you don't want to sleep in your old bed like a baby, do you?" "yes I AM a baby!") While also just acknowledging that this is a big transition, and that it may not go as smoothly as we'd like.

The good news is that we've had a break through in the past few weeks about going to bed. Up until recently, in order to get Elizabeth to go to sleep, someone had to sit in her room with her. Now, this may seem insane until you realize that it's actually a step up from the first 18 or so months of her life, when someone (usually Tim) had to actually lay in bed with her and hold her until she fell asleep. Now at least whoever is putting her to bed (usually Tim) can sit in a chair and read the internets on a tablet/phone. But still, it's always taken her a long time to settle down and fall asleep. The other night he got fed up with her (after an hour) and said that he was going to go, but he'd be right outside. And after a little whining, she fell asleep, and since then we've only had to sit with her for ten to fifteen minutes, and then she fall to sleep herself. It is a MIRACLE. I am of course, terrified that with this move we'll be back to square one, but she's going to need to figure it out, and figure out how to sleep in her new bed, because there's going to be a new screaming poop machine on the block, and so those of us who understand English and can listen to reason are going to have to make some compromises.

So I'm a little nostalgic tonight. I can't believe how big she is! We've got her starting to climb into the car and the car seat on her own. She sits in a regular person chair for all meals, and is working on clearing her place at the table when she's done.

Her talking is funny too - I feel like she's picking up more phrases and idioms, which cracks me up. She still puts things together on her own, which can lead to hilarity. Yesterday she asked me "do they have octopus at Home Depot?" and wanted to review whether or not kitties go in the fireplace (they do not, obviously.) She has finally started calling yogurt by the correct name, which actually makes me a little sad. I hope she never stops callings guinea pigs "binny pigs."

She's just such a joyful little person, and I've really been enjoying her lately. If we're about to do something fun (you know, like go to Mimi's house, or go see the bunnies at the pet store) she will say "I'm so excited!" and then tell me "I'm so happy!" (she's very interested in everyone's feelings as of late.) She's obsessed with wearing her tutu skirt lately (thank goodness we have several) and will do her "beautiful dancing flower" dance whenever the moment strikes her.

She is also very interested in what people's names are lately - usually by asking me "what's his name?" as we pass someone on the street. I am working with her on saying "my name is Ellie, what's your name?" if she wants to know who someone is. I also think it's funny to hear her call herself Ellie, because for the longest time, any time you mentioned the idea of "name," she'd call herself Itty Bitty. If Grizz asks her, she still says Itty Bitty, because she'll be his IB forever.

Even if she is getting so big already.