Mornings With Ellie

For some reason Noelle has not yet said "Noelle" when we ask her what her name is.  She can say "no" and she can say "el" but won't combine the two sounds.  I don't know if it's just a harder combination for her to make, but for some reason she just hasn't put the two together.  

I've always given her the nickname Ellie and call her both that and Noelle, and she does answer to both names. Recently she has been saying that her name is Ellie when I ask her what her name is, and she will say things in the third person when I ask possession questions.  (When I say, "whose book is that?", she responds with "Ellie's book".)

Jonah sleeping in his crib

One of the more consistent parts of Jonah's routine is that he will take a longer nap in the mid-morning.  About an hour-and-a-half to two hours after he wakes up in the morning, he will be ready to go down for a nap.  That nap usually lasts somewhere around two hours, and very rarely is shorter than an hour.  I often use this time to get something done- throw in laundry, prep for dinner, make phone calls. etc.  

"helping" me sweep, aka spread everything around

But I also try to make sure that I spend a good amount of the time doing one on one things with Ellie. She has really become great at playing independently, but she also loves being read to and playing with her kitchen.  I worry sometimes that I've jilted her of quality time with me because Jonah has been so high maintenance.

During our time together, we'll make breakfast and sing songs.  If I am putting in laundry, she'll come down to the basement with me and make a mess of pulling books off the bookshelf.  If I'm working on the computer, she'll sit next to me and color.  Which of course turns into "help please", meaning I should color in the Hello Kitty picture for her or trace her hand 10 times in a row.

eating some breakfast while I make mine

When the weather is nice, we'll sit out front and race back and forth across our super short yard, or play with bubbles.  I'll paint her nails and do "Ring Around the Rosie".  I'll push her in her little car back and forth in front of the house, or we'll follow the cat around until the cat gets tired of us (which is usually pretty quickly!)

Looking back at pictures from around the time Jonah was born, I can see how much she has changed physically.  She seems like so much more of a little girl than a toddler now!  It definitely makes me appreciate being home with my kids more so that I don't miss out on this short time of littleness.

from a few weeks before Jonah was born