Party in the USA...

20 months already!

Okay, I know that I am biased... but look at that adorable face! We decided to do Ellie's 20 month pictures in her PJ's because bedtime is seriously one of our favorite times with Ellie. She has the cutest little attachment to this stuffed cow! She loves to rub her nose with it's tail. It's super comforting to her. Very cute. And when Daddy and I put her to bed each night, while we are praying for her she will rub her nose, then Mommy's nose, then Daddy's nose with the tail. It's just precious.Some other night time favorites are her bath, her blankie, her "baby" which is actually her pacifier that she only gets at night cause we tell her she is a big girl and pacifiers are for babies - therefore she calls the paci a "baby". :)
We also can't get enough of these SMILES! We love it when she smiles SO big that her eyes close. It's hilarious. And she's become such a ham lately...just cheesin' it up for the camera!

Other fun facts about our 20 month old.

• She has just broken through 4 new molars - and she didn't even cry a bit!
• Lots of new favorite words including I Love You (pronounced "I U"), bath, diaper, poopie and pee pee (I think we might be getting close to potty training time!), night night, plus she can now say almost every one of our staff's names (Beppy for Betsy, Mamie for Macie, Tracy, Kyle and Bob is definitely a favorite to say!)
• She is tall enough to reach doorknobs now and even let herself out the front door last week. Yikes! Everything is now locked from the inside to prevent this from happening again.
• Still a dancing machine! Her new favorite move is spinning in circles with her left arm extended straight out in front of her. It's hilarious. Kind of looks like her own version of the sprinkler. :)
• She has what we like to the call the "naughty corner". It's where she runs and hides under our coat rack whenever she has something that she knows she is not supposed to have. A few days ago I found her there with an entire pack of gum that she had opened, unwrapped every piece of gum and started eating them.
• When she is caught doing something she is not supposed to do, she looks at you all sweetly, reaches her arms out and says I U (or "I Love You") and then puckers up for a kiss. Where do they learn these things? Don't worry, she still gets disciplined, though it's very hard after that. :)
• The list goes on...but these are just a few of our favorite things about our Ellie at 20 months.
  
  
  
  
  

Oh the joys of a toddler...

Any other parents out there excited for spring weather? I know the Johnson's sure are! And it looks like we might get our wish here in Kansas this next week. Ellie is just getting so stir crazy in the house and she's ready to play outside! We got a little taste of it last week when the temperatures warmed up and now she is just itching to get back out there!

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So until then, we've been embracing what is called "make your own fun". Ellie has been running around like a wild woman, unloading every book shelf, every toy from her toybox, every drawer, every non-child proofed cabinet, etc. Now if we could only teach her to put it all back!!! I think I spend a third of my day just putting everything back in it's place, but it's all worth it. Today I walked into her room when she had been quiet for a little too long and saw that she had pulled every book out of her book baskets - but then was sitting and quietly "reading" one of them! It is a rare occasion that this girl sits still long enough to look through a book! Ha!

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We're having a really good time watching our little girl explore her world. Looking forward to exploring what's outside the house in hopefully not too many days!