EVB: 3 Years + 8 Months Old!

Ellen is officially 3 years and 8 months old ... and still seems older and bigger to us each day. Our little lady has been loving the warm summer weather (now that it's finally here) and can't get enough of playing outside. Considering we still don't have a yard to call our own, we've been making lots of trips to the local parks and, of course, to Omma & Boppa's pool. Here's what Ellen is up to these days:

• Continuing to crack us up with the things she says. One of my latest favorites is if someone says something funny, Ellen will reply "Hey, that's my line!" (No clue where she got that one from ... ?!) And a few new Ellenisms: "Cavette" = Corvette and "Tall Bunkin" = Paul Bunyon. :)
• Being attentive to June's needs. Ellen is quick to help June if she drops something, needs help reaching a toy from a shelf, etc. She's so in tune with June's needs that she often notices June requires assistance before I do!
• Helping out around the house. Whenever I get out the broom to sweep, Ellen bolts to the playroom to get her little broom to help me. She's also great at setting the table and clearing her dishes after a meal without anyone having to ask her to do so. I love this!
• Getting excited about dance/tumbling class. Ellen's new class at the Y starts next week and she can't wait!
• Dressing herself and selecting her outfits all on her own. Ellen is still learning to coordinate tops with bottoms and pick out socks that match the outfit ... For now, there's a lot of "loud" ensembles going on with crazy accessories. She's so proud of herself when she comes out of her bedroom all dressed each morning that I don't have the heart to tell her what she's chosen doesn't match. :)

Happy Girl! (Notice the fish shirt, flower shorts and Christmas socks!)

JEB: 15 Months Old!

June turned 15 months old on June 15! Our little Bug is doing great, but boy is she FIESTY! We've decided that the best word to describe June is "intense" because every emotion she expresses is to an extreme. If she's happy/silly, she's really happy/silly. If she's mad or frustrated, she's really mad or really frustrated. Needless to say, this intensity can be either super fun or super challenging depending on June's mood. :) Aside from displaying a lot of ... ahem ... passion, June is doing swell as of late. She's literally running all over the place and her sense of curiosity keeps her busy opening cabinets and rummaging through just about anything she can get her hands on. Here's what else our fiery little redhead has been up to:

• Talking a little bit more. Recent additions to JB's vocab include "hi", "cah" (car), "cacka" (cracker), "mowh" (meow), "ah-ah-ah" (monkey sound), "Boppa" and "bubble."
• Sliding. June enjoys the toddler-size slides at our local playgrounds, but she wants NOTHING to do with a swing of any sort. She freaks out if she's within 10 feet of a swing, which is odd since she absolutely loved swings last summer. I'm hoping she gets over this phobia soon, because I can only lift her to the top of the toddler slides so many times in a single outing to the park.
• Dancing. June still loves "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and has a few signature moves (marching in place and spinning in circles) during the opening theme song and "Hotdog" dance. This usually results in extreme dizziness and stumbling into nearby furniture, which apparently June finds hilarious.
• Organizing/shuttling cups. June's favorite (and most accessible) cabinet is the one that houses all the kid cups and plates. June will spend serious chunks of time taking cups out one-by-one and lining them up in various locations throughout the house. Once she's done, she'll move them one-by-one to a different location and so on and so on ...
• Weaning? Maybe? June is slowly quitting being cut off from her morning and bedtime nursing sessions. At this point, it's just habitual because she certainly can't be satiating any thirst this way ... We're still working on increasing June's fondness for cow's milk; it's a work in progress.
• Eating varying amounts of food: Some days June is nothing but a picker; other days you can't get food in front of her fast enough. Fail-safe options seem to be yogurt, blueberries, fruit pouches and any shape of pasta smothered in red sauce. (Also, June recently sampled her first-ever mini donut and she was in heaven!)
• Still wearing a combo of 6-12 month and 12-18 month tops and 3-6 month shorts. (Poor girl needs some hips to keep her pants up!). Still in a size 4 shoe, but I should probably get around to having her feet professionally sized. And she's still wearing size 3 diapers.
• June goes to the doctor in a few weeks for a checkup where we'll get her official stats, but I think she weighs about 20 pounds.

15 Months Old!

Smiley duck

So big (and so cool)

So proud of herself for going down the slide, she's doubled-over with excitement!

June's cup stash

Lovin' the sunshine and water!

EVB: 3 Years + 7 Months Old!

Technically, Ellen is 3 years and 7 months old; however, if you ask her how old she is, she'll say, "I'm 3 and a half, but I have an old soul ..." So true! This past month, Ellen's maturity and intelligence seem to be catching up to the "big kid" look she's taken on recently. I'm amazed by all she seems to know and I often wonder where she picks things up. Here's what our little blonde girl has been up to lately:

• Letters. Ellen is obsessed with stating the letter that various words begin with ... This usually spins off into games like "let't name scary animals that start with [letter]," all orchestrated by Ellen. She also likes to practice writing letters on her capital and lowercase letter whiteboards.
• Numbers. Ellen is into number sequencing and identifying and repeating numbers on houses, signs, etc., when we're out and about.
• Patterns. Ellen has taken an interest in organizing items by size and color. For instance, I recently noticed that she had arranged her fruit snacks by alternating colors all on her own!
• Getting excited about preschool! Ellen screams with joy every time we pass "Briar Rose/St. Brambrose" (St. Ambrose), which is very close to our house. I keep having to remind her that preschool doesn't start until the fall. :)
• Making friends at the playground. We cannot go to a playground without Ellen going up to another child, introducing herself and asking him/her if they want to play. I love seeing this since this is something that would have been way out of my comfort zone when I was young. :)
• No longer napping. Ellen has completely done away with naps. I'm not sure how I feel about this one ... On one hand, I miss my solitary time to get things done around the house in the afternoon (and Ellen can get a little crabby in the late afternoon/evening when she's tired). On the other hand, by skipping her nap, EVB crashes when bedtime does roll around and sleeps very well throughout the night.
• Taking care of June. Ellen has traded much of the pushing, chasing she reserves for June for kindness in the form of reading her a book, calming her down by singing her a song, explaining why something is not safe for her, or just talking sweetly to June in a mom-like voice. Love it

We're hoping that the warm weather will finally come and stay so we can enjoy a fun summer with our sweet EVB!

Bath Buddies

Ellen and June recently took a bath together for the first time ... We had put this off previously I think out of fear for June's safety. However, since our inflatable ducky baby tub is on the fritz, June is getting bigger and Ellen has been acting a bit more gentle around her sister, we figured we'd give it a try. With Mom and Dad each responsible for washing one girl, it was pretty efficient. The girls seemed to enjoy it too!