Happy Birthday Ella!

 Happy 2nd birthday to our sweet and spicy firecracker, Ella!  Ella Jane, you have brightened our lives since the moment you arrived with your full head of black hair and big blue eyes!  You definitely keep us on our toes and we just love you to pieces!
Ella's 2nd birthday fell on a Monday this year but since we had a playdate that morning with friends and then decided to leave for Atlanta that afternoon we decided to celebrate Ella's birthday on Sunday the 21st (thankfully she didn't mind!)  With our decision to just keep our birthday celebrations to family this year we had a fun family day just hanging out together and celebrating Ella!  We were planning on going for a walk to see the ducks (her favorite) but she ended up taking a really long nap so really all we did was just hang out and play together for the day-it was perfect!  Oh, and of course, we had her favorite for dinner "cheese" (macaroni and cheese) and cake and presents.
Our little Ella Bean is so much fun and has such a sparkle to her.  She gives the best hugs and her smile and laugh are just contagious.  She just has this excitement about her-she is often found running from one end of the house to the other and always has such a huge smile on her face saying "ome, ome" (come) when she has something fun to show us.   I just wish I could just bottle her up and keep her this age forever (minus a few tearful episodes per day!) She is such a great sleeper right now.  She sleeps from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. on most days and takes about a 2 hour nap daily (still in the crib and we'll keep her there until she breaks free!)   She continues to use her paci for nap and nighttime and I told myself that after the holidays we'll work on taking that away but we'll see how that goes...like I said, she is such a great sleeper right now so hate to mess with a good thing!  She loves her siblings so much and really looks up to Joseph and is very sweet with Julia.  Ella can be quite clingy at times and will repeat "up" until she is picked up, but she is still very easily redirected so as long as we keep that in mind instead of getting frustrated with her then it normally works out well. We have used time out with her a few times and every time I put her in timeout, I have to try my hardest not to laugh.  She totally hangs her head, pouts and then will walk over to the spot by herself and sit there.  She normally doesn't cry but just has this pathetic (but oh so adorable) look on her face but it normally does the trick.  At her 2 year well check Ella weighed in at 26 lbs and 8 ozs (67th%ile) and was 32.25 inches tall (only the 10th %ile!!!)  She may be a shortie!  Her hair is down to the middle of her back (she has never had it cut) and she still won't let me put it up.  If it is a special occasion and we really talk it up she'll wear a bow but it normally doesn't last long.  It has been so neat to watch the difference in having a boy and a girl.  Ella definitely is active and a tough little one and loves rough housing and wrestling with Daddy and Joseph but she also loves walking around with purses, trying on shoes, pushing animals/babies in her stroller, nursing her babies and dressing up with my necklaces and bracelets.  She's well balanced :)

This is the first time that I asked Ella her favorites so here are her responses for her favorites at the age of 2:

Favorite sayings-She is definitely talking more and more each day. At her two year well check we talked with the pediatrician about her progress and my concern that she isn't quite where she is supposed to be so I have a call in to a private speech therapist and should be hearing back from them soon (early childhood intervention is still saying that she is within the normal range).  Our pediatrician isn't overly concerned though and thinks that she is most likely just a late talker but she said it couldn't hurt to have the evaluation done.  Some of our favorite sayings of hers right now though are:  "Peese" (please), "Ella, ella, ella" (she says this all the time whenever she needs/wants something and just sounds so cute saying it!), "Ju Ju" (julia)

 Favorite food-

"Cheese"

She continues to be such a great eater and loves "nacks" (snacks).   This morning for breakfast she ate almost two eggs with cheese and spinach, a yogurt, a bowl of cereal with almond milk, 1/2 cup of my shake and a mini blueberry muffin.  The only thing that she doesn't really like is bread, which I guess is kind of a big thing!  She just isn't into sandwiches so for lunch she normally eats turkey and cheese cut up into pieces with hummus-hoping this changes as she gets older because school lunches may be a bit more challenging if I can't send her off with a sandwich.  Often when she gets a little grumpy/clingy it is the result of her needing to eat-give her some food and she is much happier (like most of us!)

Favorite friends-

"ack" (Jack)  

Favorite color-

"Pink"  

Although she said pink, she most often asks for purple and orange.  And, the way that she says "orange" is just adorable!

 Favorite animal-

 -“umm, grrr” (with her hands up by her face in a "growl" pose)

Joseph had a little bit of influence with this answer because when I asked her, he chimed in by saying, "Ella, is a lion your favorite?" which is what prompted the "grrr" but really she loves herself some ducks!!  That and monkeys (or at least the 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed!)  

 Favorite song-

 “ah ah ah"which translates to the 5 little monkey song that we have on cd in our car that she could listen to over and over and over again!

Favorite thing to do outside-

 "jump"

She is a VERY active little girl!  She loves being outside, running, jumping, climbing, playing, etc.  She can totally hang when wrestling with Daddy and Joseph and loves to be in the middle of it all.  At bootcamp she never sits in the stroller anymore but will stay by me and do the workouts with me-she's got a pretty awesome lunge :)  

 Favorite drink-

"mulk" She is still drinking almond milk although she has had hot chocolate recently made by regular milk and haven't noticed any issues with it but since both Daddy and I drink almond milk we are buying it anyways so will probably just keep her on it.  

Favorite book-

e-"ah ah ah"  Back to the monkeys-we recently received a 5 Little Monkey puppet book from Nani and Poppa so she is loving it one right now.  Within the past few months she has definitely shown a greater interest in books (yay!) and will now sit still through them.  When going up for a nap she says, "night night, books, pa pa (paci)" so I am glad that she is realizing that reading is part of our routine.  

This is what she wore for most of the day on her 2nd birthday (with a necklace of mine from when I was a bridesmaid to complete the outfit!)

 She is such a great big sister

 Love her cheese face!

 I just love this picture of her!  Her smile is so contagious and seeing how excited she was about her cake was awesome!

 She chose a chocolate cake with purple icing and wanted "Maa Maa" (Molly) from Bubble Guppies on top.

A little help from big brother!

 She was so excited about getting more blocks to build with Joseph!

 The doctor dress up outfit was definitely a hit which we find somewhat hilarious since she cries the minute that we walk into the room to get weighed every time we go to the doctor.  Hoping that the role play at home will help overcome this fear!  She was so excited and gave us all "ots" (shots) and checked our ears immediately after opening.  Wouldn't it be awesome if she becomes a doctor when she grows up and we have this adorable picture of her to embarrass her at her graduation of medical school?!  We'll see!

 This sweet picture was taken the day before her birthday-Daddy went to get her from nap and she said "Pa pa" (paci) and was pointing behind the crib so Daddy moved the crib and found about 5 pacis down there!  She thought it was hilarious!

Happy Birthday Ella Bean!  We love you so much and are looking forward to this special year with you!