EVB: 4 Years + 5 Months Old!

Big Girl Ellen continues to grow like a weed ... The poor thing grows out of her clothes on what seems like a weekly basis and I just realized that her toes are crammed in her too-small shoes. (A trip to the shoe store confirmed that her feet are nearly two sizes larger than the size I've been having her wear; I feel awful!) So, aside from growing and waiting for some new shoes to be delivered by the UPS man, here's what Ellen has been up to:

• Writing more words. In addition to her name and June's name, Ellen can now write Mom, Dad, Omma, Fox, Cow, Benscoter and just about any other word you help her spell or she's willing to spend enough time concentrating on to write. Ellen is officially the new card signer for our family.
• Swimming. Ellen has been doing a great job as an Eel at the YMCA. We'll probably take the rest of spring and summer off in terms of official lessons, but she should have plenty of time to improve upon her skills at Omma & Boppa's pool during the next few months.
• Enjoying special one-on-one dates with Mom or Dad. EVB's weekly swimming lesson is typically followed by a stop for a treat with whichever parent accompanied her to her lesson. Ellen & I also went to Sky Zone for the first time recently and she LOVED jumping on the trampolines!
• Obsessing over "Frozen." EVB loves the characters and songs from this movie and requests to watch it quite often now that we own our own copy. (I hear the Easter bunny is on a mad hunt for "Frozen" products, which seem to be sold out everywhere ...)
• Overcoming her fear of "scary" movie and book characters by laughing her way through scenes or simply facing her fears head on. (See photo of Ellen's library book selection below)
• Adopting some of Mom's OCD-like tendencies. (See photo of Skittles below)
• Getting antsy to be outdoors. Like most Minnesotans, Ellen cannot wait for spring/summer. She's constantly asking when she can ride her bike, play with her T-ball set, run in the backyard, etc.
• Prepping for summer sports. Speaking of T-ball, Ellen is super excited about playing T-ball in June and soccer in July with Dad through the Parks & Rec pee-wee program. (I'll make sure she's wearing tennis shoes that fit!)

Dad, Mom, Ellen, June

 

Benscoter

Ellen needs to work a bit on lowercase "e" and "s," but I LOVE her "B."

Ice cream after trampoline jumping!

Overcoming her fear of scary snow monsters via school library book selection

Ellen sorts her Skittles just like I sort my M&Ms!

The Name's June ... Just June

Mom (to June): Hi, Sweetpea!
June: I'm not Sweetpea; I'm June!

Mom: Good morning Doodlebug!
June: I'm not Doodlebug; I'm June!

Mom: Hey, Junie Goonie!
June: I'm not Junie Goonie; I'm June!

Mom: Hi Scooby-Doo!
June: I'm not Scooby-Doo; I'm June!
Mom: Are you sure?
June: I'm not sure; I'm June!

Sleepless in Woodbury

We successfully broke June of her paci habit during sleep time, but it must have messed with her "great sleeper" status. A few days after removing the paci, June (for whatever reason) completely protested her afternoon nap. She worked herself up into a tizzy so I thought it best to let her cry it out in her crib, assuming she'd tucker herself and fall eventually fall asleep. Well, no sooner had I closed June's bedroom door and walked into our bedroom to get something did I hear a HUGE crash. It was June. She had catapulted herself from her crib and landed head-first on the floor.She did a repeat crib-jumping performance a few minutes later on Adam's watch while I was out running an errand.

So ... goodbye crib and hello toddler bed after a mad dash to Buy Buy Baby with two rowdy kids in tow. (Side note: if you purchase a crib that claims to be "4-in-1" and convert into a toddler bed, do not wait 4+ years to makes sure this is true. Apparently our crib has a design flaw that prevents it from converting ... and it has since been discontinued by the manufacturer.)

June seems to think the idea of her new "big girl" bed is just great. Until it's time to sleep in it. We've been up at all hours of the night returning June to her bed and trying desperately to get her to stay in it. It's like the nighttime anxiety of life with an infant all over again. Hopefully someday soon we'll be able to get a good night's sleep!

June and the world's tiniest bed.

"I Ate Ollie"

BIG NEWS! June has kicked the paci habit! With Adam out of town for a few days the week after June's birthday party, I decided it was as good a time as any to try to put her down for a nap/to bed without a pacifier. June protested a bit and took a pretty poor nap the first day (and woke once or twice at night), but lo and behold, the paci is gone and we are not turning back! June even took it upon herself to "throw her paci in the trashy," which, apparently, June thinks is behind her crib since she deposited her paci between the slats. (I had to retrieve it later and put it in the real trash.)

After June slept for the first time paci-free, she woke up saying, "I ate Ollie." I wasn't sure at first what she meant, but soon enough I figured it out. June had resorted to sucking on one of the tentacles of her beloved stuffed octopus, Ollie. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess!

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

We had a "Daniel Tiger" party for June on her actual birthday since it fell on a Saturday. "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" is June's all-time favorite show (she's literally obsessed), so there was no question when it came to the theme for her party. June had a ton of fun celebrating with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Just about everyone was able to make it and it was a great day honoring our new 2-year-old.

JEB: 2 Years Old!

Not sure how it's possible, but June turned 2 years old on March 15. TWO YEARS!?! I love that she's growing and developing, but it makes me sad that she's creeping further away from babyhood and inching her way toward big-kid status ... Regardless, June is such a peach and we find so much joy from just being around her. It's nearly impossible not to smile when she's around; she's the perfect antidote if you're having a less than stellar day. Here's was our big 2-year-old is up to these days:

• (Still) asserting her independence: "I do it myself!" is one of June's favorite phrases. And, we're learning that you're often better off letting June do things the way she thinks they must be done even if it seems completely illogical. (For example, if you mistakenly take June's banana peel from her while she's eating at the table and throw it into the trash,  instead of uselessly arguing with June and trying to explain that she can throw it away next time, it's best to retrieve the banana peel from the basket, return it to June and then bring the waste basket over to the table so June can throw away the peel herself.) We jump through ridiculous hoops sometimes, but if it can prevent a 30-minute tantrum, I'm all for a minute of pure silliness. 
• Trying to wean from her paci. We've been talking a lot about giving her paci to babies, throwing it away, etc., and June seems to get that big girls don't use pacifiers, but we're still a ways away from completely pulling the plug (literally). We've worked our way down to keeping the paci in June's crib only, but have yet to have a nap or nighttime slumber without it. I know 2-years-old is our pediatrician's  threshold and, believe me, I'd like the paci gone more than anyone, but I don't know if we'll be able to go cold turkey anytime soon. Stay tuned ... and wish us luck!
• Stacking. Right now June loves to stack blocks, build towers and sort things from biggest to smallest.
• Counting. June is improving upon her counting skills by actually starting to take the time to count each individual item instead of just rattling off numbers 1-20.
• Working on letters. Now that June has mastered colors, she's moved on to letters and is beginning to recognize more uppercase letters. "R" is still the only one she always gets right. Go figure.
• Singing. June loves to sing, especially little songs from her favorite show, "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood." My favorite is her rendition of a song called "Grownups Come Back" about missing Mom & Dad when they leave, but knowing that they always come back. It goes, "Grownups come back to you ... Grownups come back they do ... Gro-ooowwn-ups come back." June recently sang this song to herself through tears when she was sad about being left at childcare at the Y. It was the cutest, saddest thing ever!
• Still eating pretty well and sleeping about 11-12 hours at night with one 2-3 hour nap each day after lunch.
• Wearing size 18-24 month clothes with a few 2T sizes starting to make their way into the mix. June is wearing size 6 shoes, but was recently sized at a 7. Although size 7 shoes still seem huge on her, I'm sure that's what we'll buy as we plan for the warmer weather.
• Wearing size 4 diapers even though they're a little roomy on her tiny buns/waist.
• We'll get the rest of June official stats next week at her 2-year-old well visit.

This was the best we could do for a monthly chair picture ...

June has zero interested in sitting still and wanted only to see pictures of herself on the camera.