Convicted by the Words of a 2 Year Old

I woke up this morning, feeling grumpy and a bit ungrateful, thinking about my aching back, how tired I am, and the many things on my "to-do" list.

My 2 year old woke up this morning running around the house shouting, "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the LORD!!"

Many times I get so caught up in teaching my daughter that I forget the Lord is using her to teach me, too.

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

The 10 Week Countdown! (& A Funny)

This is dolly all decked out in her wedding attire. The other day Ellie took a sheet off our bed, wrapped it over her head and declared, "I'm getting married!!" Then she got her dolly and declared that dolly was getting married. Too funny.

Yes the 10 week countdown is on! Yikes. I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. This pregnancy has been amazing...I feel SO good (most days) - Praise the LORD! I have so many things I'd like to get done before the baby arrives, but I'm honestly not sure how much will actually get accomplished between the potty training and sleep deprivation. Oh well...I can makes lists anyway, right? A major to-do list post will be coming soon.

By the way...the Ellie sleeping thing...it's still not going so well. Still trying to figure it all out, but regardless, I'm managing the fatigue most days. Most days. As of this moment, she is fast asleep on my lap, so it's the perfect time to type out a blog post. We had been "practicing" for church (something I'm trying to help her learn to sit still better) and listening to a sermon by Paul Washer. She was doing well and reminding herself to "face the front." Then suddenly...she was out!

Part of the problem with the sleep thing is the vicious exhaustion cycle. I can stick it out 3 hours to put her to bed if I have to...but when it comes to the middle-of-the-night, it's another story. Last night I was determined. So I thought. If she got up and came to our room, she would go straight back to bed. No conversation. No discussion. Nothing. Just keep it up until she gives in. That was the plan and I was sticking to my guns this time. Ha. Well that worked fine and dandy until it wasn't working anymore. An hour or two later, I was too tired to continue and caved by crawling into her twin bed. Usually after that, she'll fall asleep. Last night...not so much. She proceeded to toss and turn for the next few hours, keeping me awake in the meantime. Thus today I'm very tired wondering if I'll have the gumption to stick it out tonight should Round 2 (wait...we're on more like Round 9047) commence... and so the vicious cycle continues. Boo.

Oh...and the potty training thing...well we are on Day 2 of no diapers/pull ups except for naps and night time. We've had mostly accidents so far, but I'm determined to stick it out this time for at least this whole week. She is becoming a bit more aware of the process I think, so we'll see what happens.

Oh...and we've come down with another cold or something like it. Yay for us. I'm sure the sleep deprivation isn't doing our immune system any favours.

Oh...and we had the first snowfall of the year today. Ellie got really excited. Hubby took her outside to touch the snow. It was terribly cute.

10 more weeks (or so)! I can hardly believe it!

Ellie at 2 Years Old

If you're looking for her birthday party pictures, you can find them here.

How does a little girl go from this...







To this....



And then to this...



In just 2 years!!?

Ellie at 2 Years Old

A little about you at 2...
You are a very bright, very sweet girl. You are also very stubborn and strong-willed. (I have no idea where she gets that from ;-) ). You are mostly outgoing and have an aggressive, go-getter personality, but you don't like strangers much. You are compassionate and like to give hugs and kisses and get concerned when others are hurt or look sad. You are a bit of a girly girl and often ask to wear "pretty dress?". Although you don't like to have your hands dirty or make messes inside, when you get outside you LOVE playing in the dirt and sandbox. You also enjoy sports, especially hockey and love to play it with your Daddy and watch hockey highlights on the computer. Throwing and kicking a ball are some of your favourite things to do with Daddy. You recognize the Flyers' logo and when you see it, you yell, "Go Flyers!" You are starting to become interested in playing with dolls and pretending to be a mommy. You also like to do simple puzzles and colour. Mommy often hears you singing throughout the day because you pick up on songs very quickly - everything from Jesus Loves Me to the ABCs to To God Be the Glory and Standing on the Promises. As far as sleep goes, you are an extremely light sleeper, which has made switching you to a toddler bed and getting you to stay there a challenge. Mommy doesn't even want to think about potty training until we get you sleeping better in your own bed :-).

The Stats:
Height: 33 inches
Weight: 25 lbs

Favourite Foods:
chicken, steak, roast beef, toast with rhubarb jam, peaches, oatmeal, things she can dip, tomato soup, most soups, cucumbers, perogies, sour cream, yogurt

Least Favourite Foods:
ground beef, meat balls, casseroles, rice, sausage, carrots

Favourite Activities:
colouring, playing with stickers, helping bake by mixing things, singing, dancing, listening to stories, splashing in the bathtub, talking on the phone and pretending to talk on the phone

Least Favourite Activities:
sleeping, sitting still, being by yourself, eating meals, brushing your teeth

Vocabulary:
Your vocabulary is growing quickly along with your ability to structure sentences, and you are becoming a little chatterbox. You repeat everything you hear and have lots of songs memorized. You ask questions, such as "Who's that?," "What's this?" "Where are we?" "How are you?" and one of the strangest ones, "So, why do we eat so much?" (from a Veggie Tales movie. It took me a LONG time to figure out where she got that one from!). You make comments such as, "I don't like that," "No thanks", "That's cuuuuute!" "Thank you for supper, Mommy", "I'm just playing", "I'm hungry."

You are learning how to...
Sing your ABC's (almost perfectly)
Count to 10 (sometimes you skip the #5 :-))






We love you so much our sweet "Ellie", our "God answers prayer" blessing.

Bedtime Prayers of a 2 Year Old

If you know our Ellie, you know she's sweet, she's stubborn, and she's busy. As my parents have said, "She's got more salt and vinegar than all you kids had combined." (Or something like that). We're on Week 2 or 3 of training her to sleep in her toddler bed instead of in her crib. It has been rough. Most days (and nights) have been very rough. Perhaps we had a breakthrough tonight, though. I'll try not to get my hopes up, but for the first time she fell asleep in her own bed without having to have me in plain sight or sit in her room (and still taking over an hour to get her down for naps and bed). Tonight it took 2+ hours, but finally she gave in. She has woken up once or twice since then but has not yet got out of bed. We shall see how the night goes. Anyway, she said the sweetest prayer tonight. She has just started saying her own prayers, and it just melts my heart. Tonight her own personal bedtime prayer went something like this:

"Dear God, Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for blessings. And...ummmmmm...Thank you for Gerry (her stuffed giraffe). Stay in bed. Thank you for ____(her cousin). Thank you for Auntie ______. And....umm.....Uncle __________. And....Grandpa and Grandma. Thank you for Mommy. Thank you for....Daddy. Thank you for food. Amen.

:-)

Ellie Turns 2!

It was a busy and fun-filled weekend as we celebrated Ellie turning 2. I hope to do a more in-depth journal post about Ellie at 2 years old, but for now, the pictures will have to do the talking. :-)

Before I forget...I had my first midwife appointment today, which was fantastic! I am SO thrilled to switch my care over to them as they are very pro-VBAC. More about that another day. :-)





She was thrilled when everyone sang Happy Birthday!

Picture Post - Part 1

Here's a picture post for you all. Most are from our Sunday School Picnic. I got some really cute pictures of Ellie with her cousin, who is only a month younger than Ellie, but I'm not posting those for you - Sorry! Ellie is about 21 months here.






Wearing a silly hat Daddy created out of our latest garage sale find.
Daddy reading a bedtime story from the Toddler Bible. She refers to this book as "Jesus?" or "Bible."


First time jumping on a trampoline. She absolutely loved it and wasn't afraid at all!


I have another picture post coming soon from Ellie's stay with her grandparents.

Ellie at 18 months

I'll be the first to admit that I'm terrible at keeping up with baby books, photo albums, and scrapbooks. I've almost completed her baby book for her first year, but time has a way of getting away on a person. So, here are a few things about our sweet Ellie at 18 months old that I hope to one day write down in her keepsake book. For now, I'll just blog it while it's on my mind.

Ellie at 18 months

Weight: almost 23 pounds
Height: about 33 inches long
Eyes: They have turned less blue and are more of a grey/green/blue right now. Not too sure what colour they are right now!

Favourite Security Object: Gerry the Giraffe and a plush flower blanket from G. Grandma K.
Favourite Colour: yellow (when we ask, "what colour is ___), the answer is always "yellow!")
Favourite Games: hide and seek, running, "stop and go", spinning, cramming inoto small spaces, doing anything Mommy or Daddy is doing (stirring, hammering, wiping tables, sweeping, unloading the dishwasher, etc.)
Favourite Foods: toast, creamy and cheesy pasta, milk, sweet potato fries, pineapple, oranges, cheeseburgers, and of course "choc-it" and "cookies". You were an extremely picky eater for awhile and would only eat grilled cheese and mac n' cheese for a long time. Mommy and Daddy were more stubborn (most days) than you, though, so you finally learned to expand your palate a little bit and are eating much better. There is still room for improvement :-)
Least Favourite Foods: mashed potatoes, peas, corn
Favourite Bedtime Book: Thankful Together
Favourite Phrases: "Pooh Coo", "See you later"
Favourite Chores: helping unload and load the dishwasher, cleaning up toys, helping with the laundry, stirring things in the kitchen

Sweet Ellie, at 18 months old, your vocabulary is exploding! You are learning things every day, and we are often amazed at what you pick up. For example, today Grandma brought over an ABCs and counting poster. After we counted to 10 a few times, you were suddenly filling in the numbers; we would say 1, you would say 2, we would say 3, you would say 4. I could hardly believe it! You understand so much and are getting to be a very good helper :-). Some of the ways you help Mommy are by unloading & loading the dishwasher (with help, of course), load and unload the laundry, bringing your clean laundry to your room, helping me in the kitchen by stirring and "pouring", cleaning up your toys, and dusting the tables with your own cloth. Mommy and Daddy are trying hard right now to teach you to obey and not throw temper tantrums. We are also trying to train you to sit still for awhile, so that you can sit better in church. Right now you are practicing this at home and also practicing "blanket time", playing on a special blanket with your toys for 20 minutes. You are climbing on everything! Once when Mommy wasn't looking, you were suddenly standing on top of the kitchen table! You climb up on the piano stool all by yourself to play the piano. You can climb into your high chair and pooh chair all by yourself. Nothing is out of your reach! We are very surprised you have not tried climbing out of your crib yet. Pretty soon we want to try potty training again and maybe switch you to a toddler bed. You tried potty training a few months ago, but gave up after awhile. Lately you've been taking your potty out and sitting on it again, so Mommy thinks it's time to give it a go again. You love music and often ask me to turn on a cd by pointing to the cd player and asking, "push?". You even sing along to your lullaby cd and sing certain words at the right time; that's how well you know the songs. Lately, you've really been enjoying colouring on paper and often ask me if you can "colour? colour?" You really do not like going to the doctor and scream the entire time the doctor examines you. I can't really blame you - you've been poked and prodded far more than most year-and-a-half year olds!

At just over 18 months old, you have an about a 200 word vocabulary. Here are more of your commonly used words and phrases (in addition to your earlier words listed here at 15 months.) For the most part, you regularly use and also understand what these words/phrases mean*

63) is it?
64) there it is!
65) love you!
66) glasses
67) coming!
68) blessing (from her lullaby cd, she learned this one)
69) rocking
70) shirt
71) socks
72) pants
73)slippers
74) sorry
75) water
76) hungry
77) thirsty
78) ketchup
79) yogurt
80) carrots
81) tower
82) empty
83) kick it
84) Gerry (her stuffed giraffe that she is very much attached to)
85) tasty
86) stand up
87) sit down
88) sweep
89) cloth (coff)
90) teeth
91) close it
92) orange
93) brush
94) teeth
95) wash
96) bounce
97) stop
98) freeze ("feeze")
99) go
100) cold
101) ready
102) dolly
103) "night night"
104) "side" (for outside)
105) snow
106) Sierra (her cousin)
107) phone
108) hair
109) open
110) close
111) auntie
112) yes
113) fruit (often "frook")
114) boots
115) shoes
116) bib
117) walk
118) run
119) dizzy
120) hamburger
121) cheese
122) dance
123) pooh coo (her favourite phrase BY FAR right now!) - from a Winnie the Pooh Book. She says it all the time
124) "ann-nan-na" (this is how she refers to herself!)
125) "num num"
126) dog
127) kitty
128) helper
129) fries
130) see you later
131) juice
132) monkey
133) coffee (used to be "caw caw" but now is more closely resembles coffee)
134) chocolate ("choc-it")
135) sweet
136) Bible
137) breakfast
138) supper
139) blocks
140) morning
141) taco
142) colour
143) pretty good
144) mittens
145) jacket
146) watch
147) necklace
148) tickle
149) thanks
150) beep beep
151) honk honk
152) hug
153) high five
154) two
155) diaper
156) knock knock
157) tweet tweet
158) bonkers
159) silly
160) cockadoodledoo
161) oh NO!
162) thank you (" tank you")
163) birdie
164) touque (tooky)
165) meow (mau mau)
166) whoa
167) morning
168) grandma (gwah-ma)
169) tummy
170) ouch
171) keys
172) truck
173) horse
174) nay (horse sound)
175) fish
176) house
177) table
178) chair
179) banana ("banan")
180) head
181) "poke it!" (especially with regards to punching down bread dough. LOL)
182) "tip it" (with regard to drinking out of a sippy cup)
183) bread ("bed")
184) toast
185) tv
186) story
187) "at-choo!" (when someone sneezes, she says this. Even in church. LOL)
188) zip it
189) toes
190) buttons

What a blessing you are, little girl! How we pray you might come to a saving faith at an early age. We love you, little Ellie!

Learning New Words Every Day

At about 15 months old, here are the words our Little Ellie can say, and she's learning more each day! Last week when we saw the pediatrician, I estimated that she could say about 20-30 words. I finally decided to take some time to write down all the words she uses (that I can think of, anyway!). I think I underestimated just a little! These are the words she says on a regular basis, and she knows what they all mean, for the most part.

1) Dada
2) bye bye
3) turtle
4) Mama
5)hi
6)uh oh
7)apple
8)pie
9)bright ("bite")
10)cracker ("cacka")
11)cookie ("cucka"
12)blue ("boo")
13)red
14)yellow ("ellow")
15)purple ("purpa")
16)hello
17)uncle (for some reason, whenever she sees a picture of anything, she says "uncle!")
18)auntie ("aunta")
19)grandpa ("papa")
20)pray ("pay")
21)amen ("ah-men")
22)Jesus
23)my (she sings this from her favourite lullaby...when she's tired, she often starts singing it!)
24)ears
25)eyes
26)mouth
27)nose
28)puppy ("puppa")
29)hat
30)hot
31)no
32)up
33)all done ("all dah")
34)book
35)bath
36)duck
37)cat ("tat")
38)car
39)please ("peeze")
40)milk ("muck"
41)pretty ("pwitty")
42)baby
43)ball
44)potty
45)poo poo
46)pee pee (think we're ready to start potty training ;)...gonna give it an try after Christmas!)
47)pants
48)dirty
49)cereal50)tractor
51)toot toot
52)boo
53)Dora (" Dowa") (from her cup...she's never actually seen the show. Lol.)
54)grover ("gwowa") (her puppet)
55)sit
56)blanket ("bank-ah")
57)peekaboo
58)mess
59)good girl ("guh-gahl")
60) snack
61) push
62) yeah

*At 18 months, here are more of her commonly used words and phrases in addition to her earlier words listed here. For the most part, she also understands these words*

63) is it?
64) there it is!
65) love you!
66) glasses
67) coming!
68) blessing (from her lullaby cd, she learned this one)
69) rocking
70) shirt
71) socks
72) pants
73)slippers
74) sorry
75) water
76) hungry
77) thirsty
78) ketchup
79) yogurt
80) carrots
81) tower
82) empty
83) kick it
84) Gerry (her stuffed giraffe that she is very much attached to)
85) tasty
86) stand up
87) sit down
88) sweep
89) cloth (coff)
90) teeth
91) close it
92) orange
93) brush
94) teeth
95) wash
96) bounce
97) stop
98) freeze
99) go
100) cold
101) ready
102) dolly
103) night
104) "side" (for outside)
105) snow
106) Sierra (her cousin)
107) phone
108) hair
109) open
110) close
111) auntie
112) yes
113) fruit (often "frook")
114) boots
115) shoes
116) bib
117) walk
118) run
119) dizzy
120) hamburger
121) cheese
122) dance
123) pooh coo (her favourite phrase BY FAR right now!) - from a Winnie the Pooh Book. She says it all the time
124) "ann-nan-na" (this is how she refers to herself!)
125) "num num"
126) dog
127) kitty
128) helper
129) fries
130) see you later
131) juice
132) cracker
133) coffee
134) chocolate
135) sweet
136) Bible
137) breakfast
138) supper
139) blocks
140) morning
141) taco
142) colour
143) pretty good
144) mittens
145) jacket)
146) watch
147) necklace
148) tickle
149) thanks
150) beep beep
151) honk honk
152) hug
153) high five
154) two
155) diaper
156) knock knockd
157) tweet tweet
158) bonkers
159) silly)
160) cockadoodledoo
161) oh NO!
162) thank you (" tank you")
163) birdie
164) touque (tooky)
165) meow (mau mau)
166) whoa
167) morning
168) grandma (gwah-ma)
169) tummy
170) ouch
171) keys
172) truck
173) horse
174) nay (horse sound)
175) fish
176) house
177)