Toddler-ness

Before I start, let me correct myself from my last post. I originally started that post two weeks before I published it and I neglected to proofread it - otherwise my first sentence regarding *wow* moments would have been removed. As mentioned, Ellie walking and buying our first home are definitely wow moments in my book! So yeah - my bad.

So. On to this week. I think my baby is a toddler. I don't want to call her that because it sounds so grown-up! But I think she's a toddler. And she makes me laugh. A lot.

Yesterday Ellie and I were having applesauce for our snack. I was in the mood to sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in mine...but I couldn't find the cinnamon anywhere. I figured Ellie had put it somewhere - she takes my spices all over the house. But since I couldn't find it in a 10 second sweep of three rooms...I ate my applesauce without cinnamon.

10 minutes after we ate, Ellie was sitting on the floor with the recycling bin dumped out at her feet. Inside the recycling box was my cinnamon! I was just glad I found it before sending the recycling out to get picked up today.

Next Ellie was carrying around a goldfish box (from the recycling bin). I was lying on the living room floor writing in my journal when she spotted me - she ran to me, stood above me, tugged the hair out of my ponytail and climbed on top of me...all while clutching that goldfish box (trash).

And speaking of the recycling: there are a few special moments at our house during the day. When the mail comes each day and each week when the trash and recycling get picked up. The trucks are so noisy that Ellie typically rushes to the window, stands on tippy-toes, and watches in fascination. (I love our low windows - they're just her height!).

Today we went to signing story time at the library. Remember two months back when I tried to take her and was heartbroken that it was cancelled?? Well, today we went! I thought it might not happen when Ellie slept longer than usual - but we got out of the house pretty quickly and hit mostly green lights all the way there.

It was a fun little adventure. I met some other moms with babies/toddlers, learned some new signs, and Ellie sure loved being able to run around, touch other kids, and push other babies' strollers. She was pretty hilarious. She loves watching the bigger kids and chasing after them.

Well, I'm off to try a little treat I found on Pinterest that I whipped up this morning...

Life Lately

I really wanted to blog. But then I realized I have no fantastic stories to tell. No *wow* moments. So I'll just share what's been going on at our house...

Ellie is a walker! She's started taking five or six steps at a time about 2 1/2 months ago. Shortly after that, she finally discovered crawling - and we thought she might skip that step all together. She definitely never preferred crawling...it was a necessary evil for her. Mostly, though, she would cruise around the house holding on to walls, furniture, and people.

A few weeks ago, she got more daring and would gauge the distance between two points to decide if she thought she could make it. She usually figured she could - even if she ended up falling just before making it to the couch, piano bench, or other piece of furniture.

Some of her battle wounds

It never stopped her, though! Now she runs everywhere and anywhere she possibly can. It's pretty hilarious to watch.

And naturally, her favorite places to play are in my kitchen cupboards and bathroom cabinets.

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We bought a house! Yep. Just last week. It was kind of a long and semi-stressful process...but we are glad to say everything worked out and we are in our own home. It's just right for our family. We love our neighborhood - we are super close to several parks, an easy drive from the library, Walmart, and the bank (priorities ya know), and our neighbors are friendly. 

In front of our house on closing day

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We've had some cooler days and nights this month. One Saturday we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and visited a park and lake near our house. It has a walking path all the way around - I have a feeling we'll be going back often!

And just for fun:

Ellie gets more and more fun every day! And her mama does more and more runnin' around after her...