Friday, November 10, 2017

2 Years.

Look who is TWO!

I can't believe we have reached the two year mark. As always, it has come upon us so quickly! In the last six months, Ellie has grown in many ways. 
Her language is developing every day as she adds more and more words to her vocabulary. She is naming most things these days, repeating what she hears us saying. For the first time, I can see her satisfaction of being able to verbally express what she is trying to tell us. Seeing that light bulb of recognition go off saying "Yes! They understand me!" is such a cool thing to witness. With the growth in vocabulary has also come the process of learning how to string together words. This is another neat progression to see as you can literally see the wheels spinning as she slowly puts the words together. So far she has a handful of two to three word phrases she can regularly throw out. These include goodies such as "sissy cying", "yuh you mama (or dada, or sissy)". I also love the moments when her mind is working overdrive and all of the words come tumbling out in a jumble of nonsense. My most recent favorite that I don’t want to forget is how she pronounces “snow”. Saying “s’s” are hard for her so she concentrates real hard and says “no-sss” when she is saying “snow”. 

Ellie made leaps and bounds quite literally over the summer in regards to her legs and low muscle tone. In June we started her at a new physical therapy office. We were very happy with the direction and care at the new facility. Our new therapist recommended Ellie be fitted with SMO braces from the start. These are to help with supporting her ankles, creating an arch, and forcing underutilized muscles to work and gain strength. Soon after being fitted with the braces, she was released from physical therapy as she was hitting two year old milestones, 5 months ahead. It has been so awesome to see her confidence grow as she runs, jumps, and climbs everything. For the long haul, it looks as though she will be in these SMO braces until age 3 or 4. Her right ankle is still leaning in quite obviously, although it doesn't appear to bother her at all. Finding the correct shoe to fit the SMO brace with her feet being so little was a lot of trial and error. We have found the Tsukihoshi brand has been our favorite so far because of the width they provide.

Ellie is consistently hesitant about anything that is new to her. In order to get her to try something it generally takes a few demonstrations and goading in order to get her to buy in. This can be anything from trying a new food to putting on mittens. Once she decides she is into something then she is all in and fully invested. Recently, she refused to wear mittens, screaming and crying over them despite her red, frozen hands. She eventually warmed up to them after realizing that everyone else wearing them, while they were also excitedly encouraging her to try them. Once she finally allowed them on, she refused to take off the "ittens", even inside. She then wore them all around the house calling out "-ittens! -ittens!". These are the moments that Adam and I often find ourselves shaking our heads to each other and muttering under our breath..."this girl....is gonna give us a run for our money...”

In the last six months, Ellie has been working her way out of her sweet, calm infant shell into a stubborn, outspoken, feisty little being. She is everything that two's are known for and then some. There are many times I feel like I'm dealing with a moody twelve year old instead of a teeny little two year old. She puts herself in time outs regularly when she is mad, crosses her arms, frowns, and pouts to express all those tough to handle two year old emotions. I think her ability to be so obvious with how she's feeling is exacerbated by the fact she has a big sister who she idolizes and copies incessantly. She has learned so many ways to show "I'm mad right now!" and loves to make sure we all know it. She is also insanely stubborn and insistent. The girl knows what she wants and refuses to accept much less. She typically spends her days finding anything she can to feel as though she is the one in control and making the decisions. These personality traits sure will come in handy when she is older and ready to rule the world.

With these strong emotions has also come an increased aggression. Ellie has struggled with biting, hitting, and kicking, none of which her older sister ever did. In fact, Adly is usually the target for these forces of aggression. (Don't worry, Adly is rarely innocent, she loves stealing her little sisters toys). As Ellie heads into being two, these things appear to be going away ever so slowly. I've read all the parenting books trying to figure out how to best approach it. I honestly think it is something she will just have to grow out of as her vocabulary increases. She is also different from Adly when it comes to punishments for such acts. Adly was fiercely against time-outs and refused to sit in one spot for any given amount of time. Ellie, however, takes the sentence handed to her with dignity and sits and waits until she is released from her jail cell of a time-out chair. It is usually followed by a "sa-yee mama, or sa-yee sissy..." and a few bats of those beautiful blue eyes, which makes us all melt to the floor and forget.

On the flip side of her little outbursts, Ellie continues to be our biggest snuggler. She still loves to cuddle up and watch a show or read a book. Her nighttime routine includes a song before bed where she snuggles right up into our neck and pops her thumb into her mouth while Adam or I sing to her. Every night that she does this, I feel like it could be the last, so I continue to soak each and every one up. She is also a huge hugger. She will always offer a hug when anyone is sad, coming home, or leaving.


Her sister is her absolute best friend and I hope they always stay this close. They love to play together (and then fight, and then make up and play again before fighting again). She absolutely adores Adly and does anything and everything her big sissy does. In the last month or so, Ellie has also adapted her own version of a "nye nye" blankie and 2 stuffies (Hoo-Ha the monkey and Doggie the dog). This is stemming from Adly's obsession with her own night-night blankie and snuggling with it for our bedtime TV watching. Now they both run into their rooms grabbing their lovies the second they hear that it is time to "watch a show" at bedtime.

She continues to go by mostly Ellie, with her full name, Eleanor coming out usually when she has been naughty. I so love the name Eleanor. I hope that as she continues to grow, it begins to stick more. For now though, she continues to be our little Ellie Bellie.

As much as Ellie likes to keep us on our toes, we sure love her to bits. I cannot wait to continue to see her grow, change and thrive into her own little person as she ventures into the land of the twos. To my sweet Ellie girl, you are a constant ray of sunshine for our family. We love you so.

Here's a little about Ellie at 2:

-favorite toy(s): Doggie and Hoo-Ha the monkey

-favorite food: pancakes and oatmeal w/raisins

-favorite book: Dance Me Daddy, You Are My I Love You, & Goodnight Moon

-favorite animal: dog

-favorite show: Wee Sing

-favorite movie: Sing

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