Ellen Update

It has been a little while since I have done an Ellen Update. She has really blossomed over the past few months. She amazes us everyday with her vocabulary and memory.

The way she pronounces certain words makes us laugh but for the most part, she speaks clearly. It occasionally takes her repeating a word or phrase a few times before we catch on. She gets frustrated when we can't understand what she is saying. Good thing it doesn't happen too often.

She is creature of habit and an independent woman :) I am glad that we are able to provide both the structure and freedom that she wants and needs.

Bathtime has become a special bonding time for us. She talks about her day at school and tells us who listened to the teacher and who didn't. It is so cute!

She is singing a lot more now too. We sing a lot of Bible songs along with the classics. My current favorite is her version of Baa Baa Black Sheep. She just recently started making up little songs about current events in her world. On our way to daycare this morning she was sweetly singing "Daddy go to Target and to work..." [unfortunately I can't remember all of the words]. It was priceless.

This girl loves her books. We read Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever every night - she calls it "big book". We also read "princess book" a lot (we have a few of those for her to choose from).

Snow White is her favorite movie (kind of by default since it is only 1 of 2 kid movies that we own, the other being Sleeping Beauty). She would watch it every day if we let her. I got her some Snow White dress up shoes for Christmas that she is really going to like.

A few more favorites: Color-Purple, Bible Story-Noah and the Ark, Cereal-Fruit Loops, Restaurant-Blue Coast Burrito (which she calls Taco-Burrito).

She is still shy around people she doesn't know very well and in certain public situations. It is funny because we know how she is at home - it is night and day sometimes.

Bedtime has been pushed back to around 7:45 making our evening routine more relaxed. We have more time to play after dinner and we are able to read several books before she goes to bed. Since I get home about an hour after Ellen and Phillip, the later bedtime allows me to spend a lot more quality time with her.

All in all we are doing well. The daily grind sometimes gets the best of us but life is good. God is good.