little things

well, it's been a busy few weeks, which accounts for the dearth of writing. it doesn't mean that nothing is happening. ella continues to amaze us with her understanding, her communication, and her sweet spirit.

elenora is saying two word phrases now. the most common are: "pick up." "come on." "all done." and my favorite: "oh dear."

she counts to 10. i realized this one day when i said "one" and she said "two" and i said "two" and she said "three" and i said "three" and she said "four" all the way up to ten. i didn't know she knew all that.



some other fun things she says include: pull, pat, hold, keep, cold, push, pull, tight, little, big, drop, carry, surprise, play, clean...

if i ask her what mimi's name is she says "ju-ju". if i ask her what poppy's name is she says "jaw". if i ask her what mamaw's name is she says "nona". and if i ask her what pop-pop's name is she says "roh". which is all close enough and fairly impressive.

her favorite books right now include the "little bear" series and "blueberries for sal" and a book called "noisy nora" and "a child's calendar" by john updike.

as far as her behavior, she is such a very good little girl. she doesn't really have to be told things over and over as far as what to do and what not to do. like with the hyacinth. when we first got it i told her she could pat it, but she can't pull or pluck at it. and when she goes over to touch it she says "pat" and is very gentle. and she doesn't go around pulling books off of the bookshelves in the living room. she knows that one holds "dadda's books" and one holds "mama's books" and they are not to be touched. oh, and we've made progress on the food refusal thing, too! a few nights ago she was turning her head away and saying "milk" and i said that i wanted her to chew on the bite i was offering her while i went to get her milk. she started screwing up her face as if to throw a little fit, but i repeated what i wanted and she opened her mouth and ate her bite while i got her milk. i was so pleased with her! and then last night i was offering her fish (which isn't something i often offer her, but i should do more of) and she was turning away her head and i said "ella, i want you to try this" and she opened her mouth and ate it and then i didn't have anymore problems with her on that. it's very rewarding to see consistency paying off.

this week we had one day where the temperature outside reached 59 degrees and all the snow melted and ella and i went to long hill to play with s. and aurora in the mud. we saw flowers poking their buds out of the mulch and elenora and aurora both sat in the crook of a tree.

today it's snowing and by tomorrow we may accumulate over a foot of snow. welcome, march.

we had a nice playdate with e. and penelope on tuesday afternoon. penelope and elenora are so sweet together. and i so appreciate being able to talk with e. about work issues.

work has really been a stresser lately. i really feel like i need a vacation, but i know i can't take one until things are more settled.

last night i went to j.'s concert at gordon. this was only the third concert of his that i've been able to go to since ella was born, and it was the first one that i've gone to alone.

we went to church today. as i left the nursery i peeked in through the glass window and saw her looking for me. she burst into tears. poor baby. she's just so used to being watched by j., myself, and momby. it's hard for her to be left with strangers. the nursery workers said that she calmed down and had fun until almost the time when we came to get her. church went an hour and a half--until almost naptime, and an hour past lunch--so it's understandable that she was upset. i don't know how to fix that whole timing thing. this church doesn't have an early service, so we don't even have that option without switching churches. i'm not completely in love with this church, although the people are pretty friendly and i like that it's not just all gordon students and gordon grads. but i want to give the church a fair shake before trying another one.

elenora fell asleep in my arms this week. monday afternoon she didn't take a nap for some reason. so i got her ready for bed a half hour earlier than usual. i rocked and snuggled her and sang to her and when i was done her body was so still that i carefully stood up and looked in the mirror and she had completely fallen asleep in my arms! this was the first time she's done that since i flew to WA last May for the cross-country trip, so it was so precious to me. i never get to hold her while she sleeps. i walked slowly to the living room to show j., and then he helped me get her into her crib. she was so exhausted she never woke up.

i think that about catches things up. i'm trying to remember all the sweet little moments so that i don't ever forget them. if i think of more, i'll add them.