Ellis Update

It occurred to me today that I have not given a real update on Ellis in a while, and there are tons of things going on. For one, Ellis roams around the house singing songs and singing the words, as far as she knows them. They are rarely the actual words. Then other times, she will just make up new words on the spot. One of the popular ones lately was "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." She sings in missing several of the words and it puts her in a loop, making the song go on and on and on.

Ellis is bossy. There is no other way to explain it except that she is really, really bossy. She orders people around in terms of what she wants, what to play and how you should play that game. She also particularly enjoys disciplining those beneath her, which generally includes the cat and her toys. She yells, "Cat, don't do!" It has nothing to do with him misbehaving, it has to do with her wanting to exert her authority. And I think living with no one but two parents, she rarely feels anything but the brunt of our authority. Sometimes, I here her instructing her toys and it sounds a ton like me. Things like, "If you take your medicine, you can have some milk."

Speaking of cats, one of our cats (Bear) ran off. She got out of the house and slipped under the porch. She was meowing and fussing but would not come back in the house, not for food and not to avoid water from the hose. After several attempts, we let her stay there and went to sleep. The next day she was gone and we haven't seem her since. Here is hoping another family took her in. She is absolutely adorable, if incredibly stupid. Ellis still talks about her sometimes.

Ellis has been talking about her cousins a lot lately. And she views her cousins very broadly. She told me last week, "Mama, I am sad and I want my cousins. I want my cousins to come to my house." Then she listed Zoe, Allison, Madeline, Baylee and Baby Ian. Today she said she wanted to talk on the computer to "the cousin my size, Allison."

On Christmas Eve, Ellis got a fever and has been fighting it ever since. When the fever goes down, she is bouncing around the house, playing with toys. But when the fever spikes, she just wants to wrap up in a blanket and lay down on the couch with me or Mike. A lot of parents are conflicted about when their kids get sick because it is the only time the hug and cuddle. But Ellis hugs and cuddles with us all the time. It is wonderful. While there are downsides to having a sensitive child, the upside is that Ellis is a super sweet, affectionate little girl. Sometimes she even will announce, "Mommy, I want to cuddle!" Music to a mom's ears.

She has recently started trying to read books. I was reading "Dumbo" to her and she wanted to read every page before I did, saying "Mama, I want to read the news first." I guess she sees us read the newspaper more than any other one thing. She mixes gobbledygook with a decent narration of the story at that point, all the while tracing the words with her hands -- though interestingly, right to left.

Ellis stills loves drawing and painting. Mike got her finger paints, which she adores. She especially loves to coat her hands and make hand prints. I always mean to send them off to people (usually grandparents) but am terrible about remembering to follow through. Ellis has been enjoying the colored pencils that Mike's mom got her for Christmas and has since had little interest in crayons. She holds the pencils quite well, I must say.

That is all I can think of for now but will try to keep better track of her cute little Ellis-isms and share more soon.