Ellie continues to confound us all in many ways. She now loves playing the ipad (hello...I don't think I even touched a computer until I was 8, but that was way back in the 1800's....). She plays "monkey game" with fervor...which includes a matching game which takes her all of 1 minute to master, colors, numbers, letters, shapes (which is different), etc. She flies through the games as if they are easy as pie asking for a "high-five" upon successfully completing one. It is amazing. Puzzles are another easy task for her...she can master any puzzle in minutes, with little hesitation on where the pieces go, even if she's never seen it before. She also loves books and we find her in her room recreating the stories that we've read to her at bedtime with specific details, even if we have only read the book once. Amazing, amazing. Now, ask her what color something is and she'll say "green" without fail. Scott thinks she might be colorblind....
Ellie's transition to a bed was MUCH easier than Nate's, I think in part due to the fact that she can't turn the knob to her bedroom door. Nathan had a handle on the door and it was so easy for him to escape, that was part of the problem. We have had some protests, some sleeping on the floor, some middle of the night wake-ups, but overall she has done really well and the transition was smooth.
Now we are tackling preschool and gymnastics. Ellie goes to a mom's day out class on Mondays and is known as the "aggressive" one at school. She pushes, hits, and does whatever she can to assert her dominance. She is not malicious...just an alpha female showing everyone who's boss. The teachers remind us each week to work on this with her and I struggle between recognizing that we don't want a pusher and hitter, and also realizing that I like the fact that she's independent and doesn't take any BS from anyone...some of this stuff brings me to smile, I have to honestly admit. But we are working on it....
Gymnastics is a whole 'nother story. Whew. What an exhausting event. Scott and I found (who am I kidding...I found) a gymnastics class at 4:00 on Sundays for both Nathan and Ellie and signed up immediately. Ellie's tot class requires parental participation. Our original vision was to alternate Sundays so each of us would get some quality time with kids while the other could get stuff done at home/have some alone time. But I wanted the four of us to go the first week to check it out. Ellie had other plans for us. While Nathan jaunted happily away to his class (he asked EVERY DAY when his gymnastics class was and I think out of everything he does, gymnastics is his favorite), Ellie screamed and tantrumed so many times we lost count and Scott and I BOTH had to participate in her tot class to keep her under control. Let's just say the class involved a lot of chasing Ellie, trying to get her back in line, trying to get her to "be patient and wait her turn," and time-out. Needless to say, Scott and I were more exhausted than Ellie by the end of it and I was ready to give up. I have to say that Ellie really did LIKE the gymnastics class and was very good at the activities. What she did not like was ANYONE telling her when or what to do....But given that it was her first structured class, we are going to stick with it, though our visions of one parent taking a break might be dashed for the moment. Oh this child is going to wear us out. And I say that with a smile.
Ellie's birthday was wonderful. It was a beautiful day and we had about 40 people - neighbors and friends - come to help celebrate. Ellie was the perfect hostess and mingled and smiled and loved all of it. The birthday cake befuddled her a bit in that she sat in her chair and tried to blow the candles out from afar so Scott had to help her with that.
Ellie's 2 year checkup was great as well. I feel like we are on a better path with her immune system in that she has fought off two bad colds without having to go to the doctor so that is a relief. She was 35 inches tall (80th percentile), 30 3/4 pounds (90th percentile) and her head was 19 1/2 inches (95th percentile). No issues to report other than her really bad eating habits but in spite of not wanting to eat much and when she eats , she is very picky, you can see where her weight is, so the doctor was not concerned....I think given her smarts, we are going to wait on the potty training and getting rid of the pacifier. I need a few more drinks before then. The good news is that she responded to her first time out pretty readily...only took three tries to keep her there for the full two minutes. I think she has seen her brother so many times that she knew exactly what to do and that mom and dad were not kidding around. A relief. Also of note, in spite of her toughness, she is quite sensitive, so when someone gets mad at her, it produces an immediate and irresistible pout face...also produced when there are "scary" parts in movies...we are a bit concerned about Halloween, but maybe we don't even need to go since Ellie's latest comment was "no trick or treat." : )
Nathan is doing well and back at school 4 days a week. He is also excelling at swimming lessons, learning soccer, and tennis. We have taken a break from speech therapy after much encouragement from the therapist that he was doing fine, so we'll see how the year goes. He has turned into quite a mommy clinger which we hope is temporary...very sensitive, easily gives up...a little bit of a personality transformation. He learned to ride his bike all by himself a couple of weeks ago, but has not tried again due to fear of falling...we are hoping that soon he'll try again. He can't wait for winter so he can go skiing again, and we are working to learn his letters. He knows 17 of the letters of the alphabet currently and learns a new letter every couple of days. It is very cool.
Nathan's latest obsession is Iron Man and Transformers. Hilarious. He also loves Scooby Doo. Scott can relate to all this, but I cannot, but I get the impression it is typical boy stuff. We have lots of Scooby Doo books, Iron man books, Transformer books...he can't get enough. He is going to be Iron Man for Halloween but has already worn the costume so much he ripped it so we had to take it to be repaired today. He and our neighbor Alexander are very close friends and spend a lot of time playing "good guys" together (no one wants to be the bad guy). Nathan is still the sweetest, most responsive, good kid imaginable and a joy to be around for the most part. With the added benefit that he is an excellent eater and goes to bed without issue. : ) I love 4 1/2....
So that's the news for now. Contemplated getting a puppy lately (since I would love to have another baby but that seems infinitely more complicated) but my allergies caused us a setback. I sneezed all the way home after petting a goldendoodle and I am quite upset about it. We will revisit the dog idea later, I suppose. I really hope we will be able to incorporate one into our family.
Ellie zonked out after her party
Hugging her baby doll
Cute Ellie wearing her Dora backpack, surrounded by presents. What nice friends!
Ellie and friends having snacks at her party.
Cute birthday girl!
Jumping with Daddy (one of my favorite pictures)
Daddy being silly...I love that about him (we all do). Note that I tried to do this and I skinned my knee...note to self...do not attempt things that have an age limit of 7
Mommy and her baby girl
Ellie's birthday cake! Princesses
Ellie's princess moonbounce...it was awesome
