Fun with the dog

I'm trying to show Ellie how to throw the snowball to the dog. She did throw a few but they typically didn't clear her own feet.

When she would wind up, Snickers would go bounding across the yard as though Ellie's last name were Manning rather than Mastilak. Poor dog would just stand there looking for a throw that never made it that far.

Ellie making a snowball

Ok, I made it and she's just holding it. She didn't seem to notice the cold on her hands. Perhaps, unlike her mother, she actually has circulation to her extremities.

Ellie & Papa in the snow

She had snow-proof pants on.

I didn't.

Ellie in the snow

Today was the first time there was snow on the ground yet it wasn't too cold for Tina to take Ellie outside. They both had a good time out there.

My mom will be happy to know that Ellie had plastic bags on her feet inside her shoes.

Ellie feeding the dog alphabet soup

Dog doesn't seem too thrilled, does she?

Where's the balloon, Elizabeth?

Note: do not adjust your set. The balloon isn't really round anymore.

Developmental update

OK, Ellie's got some more things to say lately. She said "ice cream" after seeing a picture of a cone. (Plus she licked the card.) She's all over "owl." She also says "Frosty" -- not as in the frozen treat, but the snowman. OK, it's more like "Drosty," but it's Frosty. She's added "Oh no" to "Oh shoot."

She can pick out and identify Jesus in a picture -- I'm wondering if she's picked up on the fact that He's the center of attention in pictures. It must be something because there are usually six bearded guys in robes and sandals and she can pretty much always tell which one He is.

She's also doing pretty well at Memory, the upside-down card picture-matching game. She remembers about half the time where an upside-down card was to match the one in her hand.

And she's doing really well with puzzles too. She has some with animals and little knobs to hold, and some with squares, circles, etc. and no knobs, and some with letter or number pieces. And she's putting them in place really well.

She's also doing animal impressions (hissing like a snake, waving her arm like an elephant's trunk, flying like a bird).

She gives kisses and hugs on request.

And best of all, when I say "do you want to go nighty-night?" she kisses Mama goodnight, jumps into my arms to get carried upstairs, polishes off her bottle, gives me a hug, points to her crib, and goes to sleep. Just perfect.

I'm sure there's more -- it's really a whirlwind of development, too fast for us to keep up with. We're guessing (conservatively) that she's probably in the top 0.00000632% of most smartest babies ever.

Ellie's Ikea igloo

So Ellie has this igloo-tent from Ikea. She really loves it. All her stuffed animals and the punch-ball balloon have to go into it and stay, as do we.

Unfortunately, the door is a little bit shorter than we are. I can't tell if my back is hurting from shoveling snow or from continually crawling through the eye of the needle.

Ellie finding a chair

She must think her papa always needs help identifying things in books, because he always asks her to point them out to him.

And she usually does!

Ellie, sharing her tea

...with a gorilla, in an igloo.

What's so weird about that?

Sipping her tea in an igloo

Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Inside joke.

All ready for a tea party

If you can believe it, her tea set is made of Melmac.

Ellie loves her stuffies

Here she is hugging her cow. She loves her cow big-time.

Elizabeth being cute

She doesn't always like when we put a hat on her, but she loves to put this one on.

Mama likes her to wear this hat.

Ellie's vocabulary

So people have been asking us what words Ellie can say, and we can never think of them all on the spot. So here's a more-or-less comprehensive list of her more reliable words. A lot of the time other people might not recognize what she's saying, but that's the way it goes with toddlers.

• Mama
• all gone (she holds her hands up in the "baby sign langauge" way)
  
• clock (sounds more like "ca" but we know she means clock)
  
• cat
• dog (sounds like "doh-doh," in a sing-song style, but we know it's "dog")
• cheetah (she has a toy that names animals and a cheetah is one of them)
  
• duck
• moo (upon seeing a cow or a picture of one)
• meow (really, "nleow" but it happens when she sees a cat or a picture of one)
• baby (sounds like "mommy" but we know better)
• teeth, cheek, cheese, Jesus (these are all mostly the same sound but it's used in context so we know what she means)
• eyes
• shoe or shoes
• Oh shoot (seriously -- when she drops something or pulls her mitten off her hand or does something similarly unexpected, she says something very much like "Oh shoot." It was really funny when I realized what she was probably saying)
• Elmo (it really doesn't sound that much like Elmo but it's very consistent when she sees him, which is pretty often because he's on some of the diapers she wears) Oh yeah, just to warn ya, the link has annoying an Elmo voice)

I think that's all for right now. I may have forgotten something but I'll put it up as soon as I'm reminded of it.

Ellie just being cute

She's as happy as that chair behind her.