More milestones!

Ellie's vocabulary has exploded over the last few months. We're having tons of fun hearing the new words she picks up and trying to decipher Anabellese. It is such a relief to know that she can communicate when and where she is in pain! Here are some other things she's in the process of mastering:

-ABCs - she can distinguish letters from numbers and can sing segments of the ABC song.
-Count - she suddenly began counting her fingers the other day! She skips some numbers...
-Name recognition - she brought her sippy cup to me and pointed to where I had written her name, saying, "Elyee!"
-Singing - this one is my favorite! She randomly breaks into "Hi Ho! Hi Ho!" and the ABC song. She knows just how adorable she is, smiling from ear to ear and bobbing her head. She also gives song requests. "Me" is Jesus Loves Me.
-Possession - this is my least favorite :( She has started saying "mine." She lets me know which snack is mine, which is for Lucy, and which is hers. This morning while I was brushing her teeth, Ellie took her toothbrush from me and angrily said, "Ellie do it!"

She's very excited about school and can say variations of school and Ms. Whitney (her teacher). My family was thrilled that she was able to say each of their names. The cutest were "Tassy" (Cassidy) and how sweetly she said Henry. I was so glad to see her excited about a baby and more accepting of any attention I showed him.

Family Fun

Unkie couch.






Grumpa!




A walk in the park.








All the grand kids.




Blue Ridge retreat.














Country girls ride in the back of the truck.






Cousins


Cuddling with Unkie.


Playing pattycake with Henry's feet.




Wanting Henry to get up and go for a walk.



Strolling Henry.

Ellie hearts Jeremiah

Papa's Podigy

Loves her lunch box, but mainly because it has zippers.

School Days

Ellie started her Parents' Day Out (PDO) program yesterday! She attends each Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 2 at a local Methodist church. They have free play, circle time (where they talk about weather, letters, colors, and numbers), Bible lesson, snack time, music class, recess, lunch, and nap time. There are a total of six children in her little two year old class. She has her own little cubby and nap mat (with little teapots on it!) - I can barely stand it! I get to pack her little lunch, but I'm still searching for the perfect lunch box. Her teacher's name is Miss Whitney. I tried to snap a picture of the two of them, but Ellie was a little emotional ;) Hopefully I can get a good one to post later! Here are some pics from Ellie's first day.









All of the other kids playing together, while Ellie keeps to herself. This scenario is a pretty frequent one for Ellie and was the biggest factor in our decision to enroll her in a preschool program.


Already honing her social studies skills.

Goofy

What we do when it's 100 degrees outside

Naming animals