Aaaah. Downtime.

Okay, so other than spending a couple of hours a day working to finish an online technology class, doing a few household chores, and getting caught up on bills and paperwork, I've actually had some downtime this last week.  I read the last Harry Potter book again so that I'll be ready to watch the final movie this weekend.  It feels nice to only have a few things on the daily agenda, and the biggest item is playing with Ellie!

We've tried to go to lots of different parks early in the mornings (when it still a bearable 90 degrees). Ellie loves to try out different slides! She's only face-planted once and she was ready to get right back up and try it again. She asks me to take her to the park by saying wheee! and making a sliding motion with her arm. She even asked right after getting her immunization shots the other day! She just learned how to say "go" a couple of days ago, and says it at the top of the slide. Pretty cute.

She really is trying out a lot of new words.  I'm excited to hear her start to talk. My favorite new word is "Wow!" which she says with lots of enthusiasm.  So far these are the words she says spontaneously: mama, dada, more, tickle tickle, dog, meow, moo, neigh neigh, cheese, duck, yeah, no, ee-i-ee-i-oh, wow, hi, E (the letter), 2, 9, go, bok bok (chicken sound), baa baa.  (I know I'm forgetting a few...)  She can point to the correct number if you say a number between 1 & 10.  She knows at least 70 signs beyond her spoken words.  It is fun to figure out what she is trying to say, although Dave has a harder time than I do.  She loves making the signs of animals.  I am excited to take her to the zoo this summer so she can see some of her favorites in real life.

She is 22 lbs and 10 oz, and is still pretty small for her age, but she is growing! She is starting to be a pretty good eater. She likes to feed herself, and isn't interested in the sweet potatoes that used to be her dietary staple.

I took her to McDonald's to play on the indoor playground for the first time this week. She liked the toddler slide, and had fun going up into the big kids area, but I had to go up with her, and it is definitely too small for me up at the top. I'll have to wait till Brianna can help her before she goes up there again.

Okay, so most of this is for me to remember. I hope I didn't bore any family members that might be reading. Here are some pictures for you.

Ellie playing with her little cousin Libby on July 4th.

Ta-da!

A bath? Outside? Can it get any better than this?

Time for a haircut?

Getting my new dress all dirty on this filthy grill. Yuck!