Small Wonders

Today was rough. I could go into all sorts of details as to why, but I won't. I'll just say this: Ellie was not her normal happy, mellow, sweet self. Naps were nearly non-existent. Attitude was high and tolerance was low.

It was rough.

Bedtime couldn't come early enough. Early bedtime, that is.

As Ellie and I went through her bedtime routine of singing a Children's primary song and reading from the Book of Mormon stories together, even that didn't go as smoothly as normal. I was tempted to hurry through in order to get my little girl to bed. The sooner the better. I needed a time-out.

Then it was time for prayer. As I faced Ellie and knelt down to pray with her, she took my hands. I wasn't sure what she wanted because normally I take her arms to help her fold them. So before I took her arms, I asked her if she was ready for prayer. And she folded her arms!! It was beautiful. It made me tear up. It amazes me that a 10-month-old baby can understand and recognize the routine of something as simple as prayer.

As she sat there with her tiny arms folded, I gaped at her. She was ready for prayer! I waited a few seconds for her to open her arms back up; then I tested her by asking again, "Can you get ready for prayer?" and again, she folded her arms. It was not a fluke!

So I jumped up, commanded her not to move from her spot on the couch because I had to grab the camera - she grinned at me like she knew she just made me the happiest mama in the world. (I swear she knew!) And this is the short video I got.

 For two minutes, I was blissfully happy.

Then we went to put pjs on and there was screaming, crying, and thrashing. *sigh* Moment over. But. Ellie is now sleeping peacefully (or at least quiet in her crib) and I can say it was a good day because my girl knows how to get ready for prayer :) A small but significant success!

Weekly Funnies

Ellie makes me laugh...all.day.long. Seriously. She is at such a fun age where everything is extremely interesting to her. She's into everything. She wants to walk by herself in the worst way...but unfortunately she is still dependent on us or the walls and furniture to get her where she wants to go.

This is what she's been up to the past week:

Ellie turned 10  months old. I still think she's a tiny baby...until I hold her and her legs dangle. Dangle! That's not allowed - I'm not sure how that happened...

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I walked in the living room from the kitchen and couldn't find Ellie. Hmmmm...

 I think I spotted her.

 Yep, those legs look familiar...

 So do the miniature chubby arms...

 Peek-A-Boo!

 

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One day last week, we planned to go to an event at the library - it's the only thing she's old enough to go to, so we were pretty excited. Then we got there and it was cancelled! Talk about a bummer. So we checked out some books, threw a quilt down in the shade on the balcony, and had our own story time.

And she's quite the little reader! As is evidenced by the next two photos:

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Ellie doesn't always like being by herself in the other room while I cook. But if she's in her high chair, she thinks she needs snacks. So last night she hung out on the kitchen floor playing with measuring cups while I made dinner.

 This was her in the midst of playing...

...and when I turned around a minute later, she was whining because she was stuck under her chair. Ha ha! Not bad for a little one that doesn't crawl...

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And last but not least:

 

She has been contentedly sitting here playing with the contents of my purse for at least 15 minutes. An eternity for a tiny one. She's been working on getting my lotion open as I grimace each time I think she's about to master tearing off the lid. I envision Sweet Pea lotion splattering all over everything. Just as I think she's about to succeed, she loses interest for a minute and goes back to jangling my keys and digging around in my purse for other fun toys to play with.

And now I can smell her - Guess what fun I'm going to do next?