6 months???

How in the world have I neglected this blog for 6 months?  Oh wait...I have a toddler!  Ellie turned 20 months old yesterday.  How that's possible, I just don't know!  Time seems to be flying by at warp speed.  Each stage just gets more and more fun.  I think God must do that so we don't miss the previous stage so much.  That's not to say I don't miss by bitty baby rocking and snuggling with me for hours on end.  Oh how I miss that!  But, right now I love my wild, crazy, sweet, and sometimes sassy toddler.  We must say no less than 10 times a day how much fun she is or what a great stage she's in.  I seriously could not love a child more than I love her.  Sometimes I just watch her and smile and my heart feels like it's going to burst it hurts so much with all the love I have for this amazing child.  God sure got this right!

She says more words and phrases than I can count these days.  She loves her baby dolls and Elm0.  Oh how she loves that guy.  I tell Barry all the time I think he must be crack for toddlers.  She has an small stuffed Elm0 she carries with her all over along with her baby doll.  We bought her a new bike (radi0 f1yer tricyc1e that we can also push) that she is in love with.  We take her for walks around the neighborhood. 
The pool was a HUGE hit this summer.  She loves it and has no fear of the water whatsoever.  She would spend the day in the pool if we let her.  She'll look out the window and say, "pool, pool."  How can you say no to that? 

Ellie is still so little.  Well let me clarify that.  At her 18 month checkup she weighed 21.8 lbs. Last week I actually had to buy 24 month shirts because the 18 months were showing her belly.  The 24 months are huge around, but just the right length.  She has a long torso...she's going to be tall.  She's still wearing 12 month pants though.  She actually wore a pair of jeans last night that were 6-12 months and I had the adjustable straps pulled as tight as they would go.  The bottom half of her is just tiny.  Her waist is so small. 

Picky eater doesn't begin to describe what our girl has turned into.  She will eat any fruit you give her, but that's about it.  ha!  Well, she will eat chicken and steak as well.  But nothing with ground beef.  She hates most veggies and will spit them out and cry if I try to get her to eat them.  I still put them on her tray every night.  I've talked to my OT and Speech Therapist friends and they've given me lots of suggestions.  Some of it I think is a texture issue and some of it is a control issue and I'm sure some of it she just doesn't care for.  So far our pediatrician isn't worried.  He said she's little, but has stayed on her own curve so that's good I guess. 

Our bedtime routine is still the same....books, books, books.  We also read a bible story and say a prayer each night before bed.  I could read 20 books and she'd still want more.  Now that I'm back to school, she's in bed by 6:30 or 7:00 each night and I wake her up at 6:40.  She naps 2.5-3 hours a day and will ask for her nap if she's ready to sleep before our normal nap time.  She still gets her pacie when she sleeps (don't judge me!)  I'm sure I could break her of it, but I didn't do it this summer so I'm waiting for Christmas Vacation.  Yes, it's all about my convenience.  Well, that and the fact that she loves it and sleeps so good with it.  She calls it her "pappy"...she knows she only gets it at "night night" times and usually is fine with that.  Before we had Ellie, I would have been sure that thing would be gone long before she was 6 months old, but guess what I've learned....you do what works for you! 

I need to do lots of updates with pics from probably all the way back to last Christmas.  I'll get to that someday, but I do want to start keeping this blog updated if only so I can remember all the cute little things my girl does. 

Here are a few pics from recently all the way back to the summer...

First sucker after her flu shot on Thursday

Lake Michigan in July.  Would only walk on the sand with these water shoes on.

Trying to catch butterflies at Grandma's house

Fresh from the bath

Pool time in May

Family Pics the end of July...it was 109 the day we had these done.  HOT!

June

June

Lake Michigan in July

First time to visit our new yogurt place in town.  It was a hit!

I guess that's a little more than a few.  Some of these are from my iph0ne.  I've been bad about using my regular camera because by the time I get it out, she's over the moment and on to something else.  Photographing a toddler is not easy.