123... ABC

Oh, and D.

With everything that's been going on we neglected to post about Ellie counting. For probably two weeks now, she gets to three (most of the time) all by herself. However, what's really new is her alphabetical skills. I picked her up from Nanny daycare today, and seemingly out of nowhere she is repeatedly saying to me "A...B...C...D." The thing is I don't think I totally realized it until we got home and she did it in front of EM. The look on EM's face made me more fully aware of what was happening. Our little girl is growing up so fast and learning so much. (And she's seems to have effortlessly adjusted to Nanny daycare.) It's all pretty cool.

-ED

Toys in the attic (and the basement)

Prior to Christmas, EM and I were amazed by the amount of toys that Ellie has. Now that Christmas is over, we are speechless. This girl has more toys than anyone has a right to. Some of the bigger hits: anything Dora-related, anything Elmo-related, her stroller for her babies and her grocery cart. Thanks to everyone who added to the madness that is our daughter's toy collection!

Merry Christmas

Hugs and Kisses to All!
Love- Ellie, EM, and ED

PS- We finally got our computer back.
We will give a more detailed update of Ellie's Christmas adventures tomorrow.
Now off to bed to recover from chasing an 18 month old all day.

Update

Here's a brief glimpse of what's been going on:

1. Still no computer. I'm typing this on Nanny and Pa's computer (thanks).
2. Took Ellie to surprise EM at work on her birthday, Friday. Ellie was wonderfully behaved. She even sat at the grown-up table, as I fed her, while EM was treated to lunch by her co-workers.
3. We went to my sister's house last night for a Christmas party. Ellie was lavished with gifts and she thoroughly enjoyed Sheena, the dog.
4. We got the news, yesterday, that daddy daycare will officially come to an end immediately. Nanny gets Ellie tomorrow so that I can do some preliminary work, and EM is off the rest of the week. After that my new adventure begins in earnest as I open my own business. Scary.

-ED

Computer problems...

...are preventing me from posting more. Sorry. I'll do better when, and if, we get up and running.

-ED

Daycare

Still no details to offer up, but this will no doubt be the last full week of daddy daycare. EM has some days off next week, and at least one the following week. So this is it. Kind of sad, but kind of ready.

-ED

Parade

If all goes well today, we will be taking in Ellie's first Christmas Parade. More info to follow....

-ED

UPDATE: The parade started at 3pm. It is now 3:20 and Ellie is still asleep. No parade for us. That makes us 0-for-2 on holiday themed events as we were rained out last week on the day we planned to attend the Festival of Lights.

UPDATE 2: We attended the Festival of Lights on Tuesday night with Nanny and PaPa. It's hard to say whether she enjoyed it or not as she was too busy fidgeting, etc. Oh well. We tried. It'll be better next year.

My cutie

I guess in honor of a fast approaching Christmas, here are of few of My Favorite Things:

-Ellie's really cute words - please = "peas"; spoon = "poon"; and, Dora (her favorite character as of now) = "Doe-wuh." Also, her very simple sentences - "Hi Mama," "Hug Dada," and "Hand peas."

-Her insistence that every dog is "Bubba" (our nickname for Q), and that most every color is "green." In fact, we get into some heated debates on colors:

• Me - "What color is that?"
• Ellie - "Green."
• Me - "No, honey, that is pink."
• Ellie - "Green."
• Me - "Pink."
• Ellie - "Green!"

-Ellie's need for hugs during mealtime. There is virtually no other time of the day that she asks for hugs. However, about every third or fourth meal she will, several times during the meal, stop and ask for hugs.

-And her apparent need to, from time-to-time, take her crayons one-by-one and place them under herself so that ultimately she is sitting on all of her crayons and has none to color with.

-ED

Clean

Earlier this year, I tried to make light of the fact that Ellie didn't like us cleaning her. Well, as with seemingly everything relating to growing up, this too was a phase. Her new phase is to tell, and in some instances beg, us when she is ready to be cleaned. It's kind of funny. For example, when she's done eating, or just unhappy about the amount of food on her hands, she'll hold out her hand(s) and say, "clean."

-ED

Addition: Over the weekend Ellie and I went shopping. She held onto a Dora the Explorer (her new favorite character) coloring book while we were in AC Moore. She opened to a page where Dora's face was dirty from eating something. She became very upset. She wiped and wiped at her face crying "clean, clean, clean." I finally had to turn the page to make her feel better.
-EM

Conversation

For the last couple of days, Ellie and I have had the same "conversation" several times per day:

Ellie: MaMa?
Me: She's at work.
Ellie: PaPa(Grandpa)?
Me: He's at work.
Ellie: NaNa(Nanny)?
Me: She's at her house.

I guess she's just warming me up for the "why" phase.

-ED

Looking back

Nearly a year ago, I made this brief post. There was no need then, and there is no need now, to go into the details. Suffice it to say, the events leading up to that post left me with the very uneasy feeling that daddy daycare would come to an end under terms not of my choosing.

Well, in the last few weeks that feeling has been confirmed and I can now state with certainty that daddy daycare will be coming to a premature end. An exact end date for daddy daycare is not yet known, although it will almost certainly end in the next four weeks.

Everything is, and will be, OK; and, of course, the blog will go on. Still EM and I are very disappointed by the turn of events. Mostly we are sad for our next child (whenever he or she comes along). As for Ellie, I think more and more we have accepted, and come to believe, that the change - in whatever form it takes - will be good for her and her development.

Sorry if this is a bit cryptic, but it has to be... at least for now. Wish us well.

-ED