"About Ellison....."

Our sweet "baby girl", who is anything but a "baby" these days, is quickly approaching 22 months old. Where oh where have the past nearly 2 years gone, why have they gone by so quickly, and how did we get here in what seems like a blink of an eye?  Given all that our family has endured over the past 2 years, it isn't hard for me to answer the questions above, but as I see my girl growing and changing daily, I realize how much of her 1st year I missed.  I didn't miss it intentionally, but life circumstances during her first year created a dense fog in my head. I tried hard to remain "in the moment" last year and I took thousands of pictures - which now, I am very thankful I did - but as I look at the pictures, so much has happened, and so much has changed, and now here she is 100% toddler! The fog is beginning to lift somewhat now - not vanish completely, but lift abit - at least for tonight.  I thought tonight might be a good time to write down some things specific to Ellison.

Ellison is a lover. She is quick to show affection to her family, and does not withhold love or affection. She wants to hug us, kiss us, and hold our hands nearly all of the time. She pats me on the back or plays with my hair to show affection also. She is alittle slower to be affectionate with others, but with her family she wastes no time. She loves us deeply and shows it constantly. She loves to hold her brother's hand in the car - he is not always as quick to want to reciprocate, but usually complies! Whenever Ellison holds our hands, hugs, or kisses us, she will always say, "Awwww, fweet"!  It is adorable to hear her say it, and we hear it alot!

Ellison is a joyful child - at the core of her being she exhibits joy. Her joy is consistent and contagious! I hear the words, "your child is so happy" most everywhere I go - and she really is. She has a grin that would melt the hardest of hearts.

Ellison has a reticent side to her, in addition to her exuberance. She loves people, but certainly has alittle bit more of a cautious spirit around new people. She warms up to them, but she does it at a slower pace than her brother did at this age.  She will stare at a new person for several minutes, give them a look like she really wants to smile but just isn't sure yet, and then will eventually drop her guard.

Ellison is curious, about everything!  She can usually be found in, underneath, or on top of something. She attempts to satisfy her curiousity in ways none of the rest of us would have never dreamed of. She really will try anything, at least once!

Ellison is thoughtful. She is always wanting to make sure that I am being taken care of - whether it is making sure I have a seat somewhere, or my food, or drink, or a hand to hold.  She looks out for me.

Ellison is compliant. She is easy to reason with now that she understands more. I have always spoken to our children logically, realistically, and matter-of-factly. They both seem to respond to this approach.

Ellison is flexible and easy-going.  She has "rolled with the punches" from day 1, and she still does.

Ellison is determined. The phrase, "where there is a will, there is a way", I think was coined by her! She will work at something as long as it takes to master it. She does not give up easily. I pray that God will use this determined spirit for His glory.

Ellison enjoys helping me with whatever chore I am doing at the moment. She loves to sweep, mop, vacuum, scrub, stir etc....  She is my little side-kick when it comes to chores. She enjoys coloring so much! Any chance she has to sit down and color, she takes it and will stay focused on it for awhile. She loves going to bed and gives us not one second of trouble once she is in her bed. She sometimes even asks for bed. She does love her paci now, so it may be a different story when paci goes "bye bye" in a few months, but for the past 2 years, she has been the easiest baby to put to sleep. She really does love going to bed both for bedtime and naptime - she is so, so, easy. In the mornings, she can be heard humming in her bed in the dark - she likes to take her time waking up.  (Okay, so I have to interject something here, since I am writing this posts over several days.  The night after I wrote the above sentence about her being easy to put to bed, the next night she climbed out of her crib for the very first time (Oct. 22, 2013).  She climbed out not just once, but 8 times!!  She climbed out 4 times the next night, and tonight she hasn't attempted it again yet.  Maybe she realized that mommy and daddy weren't going to back down, so she might as well just obey)!   But, I will say that she proved the "easy to reason with" trait very well over the past few nights as we have tried to help her through this new phase. She understood her actions, she understood the consequences, understood that we love her but we weren't going to give in, and she understood that she needed to pray and ask Jesus to help her.  After she climbed out a few times and was very fretful, she looked up at me and said, "mommy, pray pweeeez"???   I prayed for her, she calmed down immediately, got in her bed and didn't get out.  Update - she hasn't attempted it again!  She seemed to legitimately understand.

She loves to sing, and sings everything. She especially loves "Jesus Loves Me", and all of her Kindermusik music.  Speaking of Kindermusik, she loves her class! We go once a week together and she loves it. She and I have also started a community bible study and she also loves being dropped off in her class there. The teachers pray for the children before, during, and after class, and each Wednesday I can tell she has been prayed over. Her spirit is so calm and contented each Wednesday. It's amazing. She loves to read books - her favorites right now are any of the "Baby Einstein" books, "Twinkle Toes", "Alot of Otters", "10 Little Rubber Ducks", and any of the Sandra Boyton books. She can almost count to 10 - her big brother has been teaching her this and it's precious to listen to him teaching her. She loves fruit, cheese, yogurt, cereal, and oatmeal and could make a steady diet on just those 5 items.  I don't let her, but she could! She asks me to pray alot - haven't really figured this one out yet, but any time she asks me to pray, I do.  Who knows what God is already doing in her little heart?

She is talking non-stop now, in short 3 or 4 word sentences and I understand nearly everything she tries to tell me now.  It would be impossible to write down every word she says, but here are some I want to remember:
Ellison - "EC"  (this is what she started calling herself)!
Orange - "Osh"
Orange Juice - "Osh Ju"
Milk - "Miok"
Chocolate Milk - "Cha Miok"
Water - "Wawa fwesh" (fresh water)
Cereal - "Cio"
Cookie - "Cook Cook"
Cracker - "Cah cuh"
Love You - "Wuv uuuu"
Table - "Tay Tay"
Color -  "Co Co"
Okay - "Huhkay"
Pray - "Pwray"
Alright - "Ahhhwhite"
Apple - "Abble"
Outside - "Outshy"
Inside - "Inshy"
Upstairs -"Uh tares"
Blanket - "Beep Beep"
Sweet - "Awww fweet"
Popsicle - "Pahsio"
Lemonade - "Nade"
Snack -"Nack"
All Done - "Ah Duh"
Callie, our cat - "Cah yee"
Bracelet - "Brace"
Hungry - "Ahmee"
Sure - "Ummmm, shuh"

Thank you Ellison, for bringing such joy to our lives, and for loving us so well. You and your big brother bring us unspeakable joy. We love you both!

Daddy's shoes

Playing with brother on the stairs 

After bath time, "Cheese"! 

Yep, that's my girl!  This picture just about captures her personality.  Sitting on a pumpkin before church, in her finest church clothes, giving me "the look"! 

And personality #2 - "calm and reserved" Ellison 

And here is her biggest smile - we see this alot thankfully! 

Not a care in the world  :)