bellies

Tonight I was reading Ella a little bedtime story while she sat on my lap.  She was only wearing a diaper and as I glanced down I realized our bellies are the same size!

5 visits in 2 months

 

Ella has been sick since November 2nd! Yes, of course there have been healthy days here and there.  There were actually 3 healthy weeks between her sinus infection and pneumonia diagnosis.  We finished her antibiotic for the pneumonia last Monday and five short days later (yes, the day of her birthday party) she had a low grade fever and a runny nose.  I figured she had another virus and gave her Tylenol.  She acted like herself and was sleeping fine so I wasn't too concerned.  I also was reassured by the fact that her 2 year old check up was Monday so I knew she would see a doctor and I could talk about how sick she's been.  Her fever was gone this morning and her nose hasn't been runny so I was surprised when the doctor looked in her ears and found that she has a DOUBLE EAR INFECTION!  This poor girl just can't catch a break.  She has been to the doctor 5 times in 2 short months.  This is her third antibiotic since the end of December.  I hope we can get over this and then finally stay healthy.  We did hear good news though.  Here are Ella's 2 year old stats:

Height: 35 1/2 inches - 89th percentile

Weight: 28 lbs. 11 oz. - 75th percentile

Head Circ: 49.7 cm - 93rd percentile

Ella has become quite a talker these past few months.  She speaks in 3-4 word phrases and sentences.  She can effectively tell us what she wants, needs, likes, and notices. I'm constantly amazed by her memory.  She is a very sweet girl, but is still full of spunk.  She loves to run and play.  She has also started to love watching movies.  Her favorite right now is Toy Story 3, but she loves The Little Mermaid ("Little Erdaid"), Beauty and the Beast, and all things Signing Time.  She constantly talks about her friends, neighbors, and family members.  She loves to read books and sing songs.  Every time we are in the car she asks me to sing songs from the minute we leave the driveway until we park at our destination.  She also dictates whether she wants me to sing loud or quiet.   She is learning her shapes and knows circle, heart, square, diamond, and star.  She knows the names of colors, but can't correctly identify them.  She counts "6,7,8,9,10" or "6,7,8,10."  She is fascinated with letters right now and loves to watch "the frog movie" which is Leapfrog's Letter Factory.  We are constantly surprised by the new things she learns.  We love our little two year old!

She's TWO!

Ella is trying to show 2 fingers.  It still takes a lot of concentration at this point.

Today we celebrated Ella's birthday with family and some friends.  As always, I wanted to do something simple, but even simple can be overwhelming with such a big family!  For days leading up to her birthday Ella loved to talk about her friends and family members who were coming to her party for cookie monster cupcakes.  Ella started getting excited about birthdays when "Five Little Monkey's Bake a Birthday Cake" was her favorite book.  She used to ask me to read it to her several times each day.  That is how she learned the birthday song and that on birthdays we eat cake.  Unfortunately Ella doesn't like to eat cake which is why I decided to have a cookie monster theme.  I figured that way we could have the cake she knew we needed and have cookies for her to enjoy.  I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to get any great pictures, but here is what I got.

 

Of course Ella kept with tradition and refused to even touch her cake again this year.  She did enjoy being sung to though.  Instead of wanting any of the treats I made she just wanted to sneak the valentine's day candy I set out.

 

Ella was shy until she opened presents.  Even then she didn't show much personality, she just told everyone "thank you" as she tried to open and play with the gifts they brought.

 

Before her all of her guests were even gone, Ella informed me that she was ready for a nap.  She had taken one earlier, but was worn out from all of the attention.  She took a nice long nap and woke up just in time to play with Makaylee for the night while John and Alysha went out.

 

The girls had a great time playing with Ella's new toys including this adorable tea set from grandma and grandpa Kramer.

Ella also convinced Makaylee to play her favorite game: run from the living room to the fridge as many times as you can, as fast as you can. Did you notice the adorable twosie birthday jumper Ella has on?  I saw the idea on another blog and got extremely excited when I saw the fabric on clearance at Ikea.  My amazingly talented mom helped me make it for Ella and I love it!