Well, Ella certainly does make our lives interesting :) Most of the time, things are harder...but it is also VERY fun!
Having a kid is definitely harder and easier than I thought. The things I was really worried about when I found out we were having a baby...are easy. And the things I thought I could control and would be simple...are really difficult! I thought it would be so hard to know what is best for your child and just knowing what to do in a general sense. That part seems to be coming easy. The hard part is actually DEALING with a kid all the time! It is more time consuming and tiring than working three full time jobs. It also never ends. You don't get weekends off, or evenings, or holidays. In fact, those are the busiest times of the week. You also don't get a lunch break, a 15 minute break, or even a bathroom break! Most of the time it is a messy, noisy, frustrating job...but when your kid comes up and gives you a big hug - it is worth it. Difficult...but worth it :)
Ella is learning so many new things! She learns so quickly, it is amazing! Every day she learns about two new words and is trying to form sentences. She is also experimenting with potty training. She likes to go in the potty...but sometimes just wants to sit there...just to sit there. Then she always says "MORE!" And I'm like, "Um...you have to wait a minute - you just went!" Haha! :) Silly girl...She also has distinct ways of telling you which DVD she wants to watch. She says, "Pooh!" for Winnie the Pooh, "RAARR!" for Monsters Inc. (or she says "Boo", which is her new word) She says "Bee!" for Bugs Life, she moves her arms like wheels for The Wheels On The Bus. "Cars! Beep Beep!" is for Cars, obviously. And the best is when she goes "aaaaaaaaaah" for The Little Mermaid (it's supposed to be the part when she is singing and the Sea Witch takes her voice)!
She is such a happy baby, ah! she's not a baby anymore! She's such a happy child! She definitely knows what she wants, though. She is really stubborn and impatient. Sometimes it makes me laugh to see her get so adamant about something so quickly! I just keep telling her "Just a minute, Ella!" And she just gets so mad! Most of the time, though, she is all smiles. Her favorite toys right now include: a cardboard box, the flour tupperware container that she uses as a stool, and the DVD player. She also LOVES to empty things out. In one afternoon, she'll empty all the dresser drawers, her toy bucket, and anything else she can possibly open! Some days I can't keep up with her! Haha! She is a really big helper, though, and LOVES helping me put away the laundry. She tries to put it away before I can fold it, though, and I end up finding random clothes in random drawers! It's pretty sweet :) She also really likes helping me clean. If she spills something (which sometimes she does on purpose, just so she can do this...) she'll run and get a wash cloth and wipe it up! It's really funny :)
Her favorite things to do include: the pool, the AUC Playground, picking out DVD's to watch, coloring all over everything, and taking a bath. Grandma/pa Henderson sent her some "bath tub markers" that she LOVES. She colors the WHOLE time. She'll stay in the bath until the bath water gets cold! She drawers little squiggles and then makes an animal noise telling me what she drew. She draws a lot of snakes and lions...sometimes big and little dogs. It's very cute. She LOVES to play with me and Tom. She tries to tease us sometimes, and its funny to watch her watch our reactions. She also thinks burps are HILARIOUS and she always laughs really hard when she toots and grabs her bottom!
Sometimes she's too smart for her own good, though. She has a time out floor mat that she has discovered can move...so sometimes if she gets put in time out, she'll move the mat to wherever she wants to go and THEN stands on it. I'm not sure what to do! It makes me laugh so hard, and technically she's still in time out! Haha! She has also learned how to climb in and out of her crib. I'm not real sure how she figured it out, but she's really good at it. She also has recently decided she doesn't want to take naps anymore. Well, too bad for her. So now we have to pull one of the twin mattresses over her crib so she can't get out! It's kind of funny, in the mornings when we get her out of bed, she is sticking her head in between the mattress and the crib edge. Funny girl :)Anyway, I can't believe she is two already. It makes me very reminiscent and kind of sad, but I think that is just part of being a mom. I remember her being so small and having to carry her everywhere. Now she runs and jumps and says "No!" if I try and hold her hand! She is so loving, though, and shows her love more and more as she gets older. She gives big hugs and kisses and loves to cuddle while we watch a movie. I love her so much and it is so much fun being with her! I'm also glad I have someone to keep me company while Tom is gone all the time! Haha! :)
I love her so much and am so excited for my parents to come down so we can throw a huge party for her! We didn't do much today because Tom was studying pretty much all day. We took her out to lunch at Burger King, but of course our camera ran out of batteries, so I couldn't take any pictures! :( We're going to do more of a birthday thing tomorrow, too, though, since Tom doesn't study on Sundays. So I'll take pictures of that and post them! Camera is fully charged!
