Time Out

My due date is two weeks from today. Soon I will be writing about our new baby so I wanted to post about Ellie. Lately I've been blown away by how much my little girl is growing and changing. She makes Michael and I laugh all the time with her quirky humor and the funny antics and copycat stage she's in. She surprises us every day with her personality and character.

She's also stubborn and entering her toddler "terrible twos," but there are so many fun things that trump the tantrums (usually.) Like our fun play dates in the park:

Or exercising together:

Or walking to the library:

We've started using time outs for Ellie and a chance to chill out seems to help in many situations. We try not to overuse the word "no," but it seems to be Ellie's favorite word to say and to hear. (Yes, we are in full blown toddlerhood). The time out corner and "no" often overlap.

A few days ago Ellie was playing and told me "no" and then went and put herself in time out. I couldn't stop laughing, although I tried to hide it. It made me realize that maybe the time out corner is making some kind of impact (although the jury is still out on what kind of impact).

 

 Today Ellie was playing with her doll and suddenly told her "no" and carried her over to the corner. It took her some effort to get her doll to sit in the corner, but she did it. She bent over, cocked her head to the side, and told her doll "no" a few more times.

(Ellie emphatically telling me "no.")

Ellie is very much into soccer ("skocker") and loves to play with and kick her ball, especially with daddy. She knows the difference between soccer and football. We recently taught her to kick the ball instead of picking it up, and she's getting better. Here's a little video of our mini Mia Hamm, although I accidentally deleted the better video:

We're having fun watching Ellie grow up but it feels like it's going too fast. I was writing in Ellie's journal recently and I found myself suddenly overcome with emotions and tears. My baby is growing up and her life is about to change, as is our whole family's. She's going to be a big sister!

We're excited for the changes and are ready to embrace life as a family of four.