Halloween meltdown

We were going to take Ellie to a couple of houses for trick-or-treating, and then let her stay up with us a little bit while we handed out candy. However, before doing this we wanted to take some pictures of her in her costume. Well, that didn't happen. I think Ellie was a little hungry and, therefore, she became quite fussy when we tried to complete her outfit. Long story short, we have no pics worth sharing. Sorry.

-ED

Update: Ellie ate a little and we were much happier. We didn't go trick or treating, but Ellie did the next best thing- play with candy. She was impartial to the doorbell ringing, but she said "Bye" to each and everyone of them as I shut the door.

This was the best costume picture we could get- she's a ladybug.

Ellie was very content playing with candy. Is it wrong to pick candy up off the floor to give to the trick or treaters?

-EM

Unphased

We took Ellie to get her flu shot the other day. EM held Ellie as the nurse administered the shot. While this was going on I distracted Ellie with one of her favorite stuffed animals, Duke. The whole thing, amazingly enough, went off without a hitch; I mean, not even a whimper. We were quite impressed with our little one, the nurse and ourselves.

-ED

Hugs and... kiwi?

Ellie is really starting to display more affection. She kisses her toys. She hugs her toys. She has her toys kiss one another. She has her toys hug one another. Although, she doesn't kiss us nearly as much as she kisses her toys and her toys kiss each other. However, she does hug us as much, if not more than, her toys. In fact, her latest thing is to ask for hugs while she's eating.

Now I won't complain one bit about hugging, or being hugged by, my daughter; and, the more hugs the better. It's just that in this phase some hugs are easier to handle than others. For example, if I'm feeding her yogurt and she wants a hug... great! It's when she feeds herself... spaghetti, blueberries, and so on... that's when things get a little iffy. Let's just say that with each passing day we are getting more and more practice on removing stains.

-ED

Let's talk

Ellie has been talking more and more these days. Most of it is gibberish (at least to us); however, some of it we can actually understand. It seems as though for the last week or so, her favorite words, at least the ones we understand, have been "help", "book", "open", "up", "hug" and "hat":




-ED

Obsession

Ellie is obsessed with her belly button. I suppose every child has gone through this phase to one degree or another. However, Ellie has gotten so bad about it that we are putting onesies on her (even though they aren't our favorite article of clothing) in an effort to block her access thereto. She even got noticeably agitated with me yesterday when, after changing her diaper, I snapped her onesie shut thereby putting an end to her belly-button-probing-fun.

-ED

Defiance

Ellie has known how to say "no" for a while now. She has also begun to exercise a bit more independence from time-to-time. However, until today she has never combined the two; at least not with me. That's all over now.

After spending the morning at the Tanglewood Heart and Stroke Walk, we came home in desperate need of thawing out. In doing so, I wanted Ellie to wear some thicker socks. So with socks in hand, I said several times "Ellie come here so we can put your socks on." I think after the third time I said it, she looked me straight in the eyes and said "no."

Huh? You're telling me no?! You, the light of my life, my darling little girl, told me no. What the frick?! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seriously, I had to think for a minute about what to do.

Once I recovered, I quietly walked over to her, grabbed her arm and walked her over to where I wanted her so that I could put her socks on. She resisted a little. She fussed a little. But, in the end, the socks went on her feet and order was restored.

-ED

Thought for the day:

The Fair

For months now, Ellie has been working on her animal noises - introduced to her through various books and toys - and she is quite good at many of them. So, naturally, we've been looking forward to her seeing some of the animals that she has not yet seen in person. Our wait was rewarded as Nanny and Grandpa joined EM and I in taking Ellie to the Dixie Classic Fair on Tuesday.









The weather was nice, and as we entered the fairgrounds we headed straight to the livestock displays. Ellie saw - and recognized - chickens, sheep, goats, and horses, among others. She got all her noises correct, and laughed and laughed as she watched the rabbits in particular. It was so wonderful to see all of these animals through her eyes and to witness her make the connection between what we've talked about at home and what she saw at the fair.









Of course, no trip to the fair is complete without taking in the food which we did. We saw AK there, too. All in all, this was a nice and relatively inexpensive (thanks AK) way to spend the evening. However, I couldn't help but think as I watched the other families mill around... it's gonna get much more expensive for us in the years to follow. Sigh.









-ED

P.S. - Thanks for the pics, Grandpa.

Chance Encounter

Ellie and I were at the library today for storytime. Today's theme was firefighters since today is the beginning of fire prevention week - a fact that had escaped me. The local chief handed out badges and helmets and coloring books - we picked a great day to go as far as entertainment goes. The event was well attended and a photographer was onhand to capture some of the moments. Well, the photographer just happened to also be at the music under the stars event we attended in August. She instantly recognized Ellie and approached me to introduce herself and tell us about how she got some great pictures of Ellie that night. She posted the pics on her website, so you can judge for yourself.

-ED

All signs point to...

...October. There's a chill in the air, and the fair starts today. We'll be there next week and we can't wait to see Ellie react to all the animals.

Also, Ellie has really enjoyed being scared as of late. That is, we'll hide around a corner and jump out to surprise/scare her and she just laughs and laughs. She's starting to do it to us, too, and it's sooo cute. This, of course, coincides nicely with the fast approaching Halloween (or should I say Shalloween).

Finally, EM bought some Ellie-sized pumpkins the other day and Ellie adores them:

-ED

P.S. - This time of year also includes a celebration of AK's birthday; or, as we like to call it, K-tober. Happy Bday!!!