Ellis Update

Ellis has enjoyed riding in her bicycle sidecar. Mike has picked her up from daycare twice and has taken her on evening excursions a few times. During the last time, she found it so relaxing that fell asleep during the ride.

This Saturday, Ellis returned to soccer and did much, much better. It took a while to warm up, but she eventually gave it a try and enjoyed it. (See the video.) After soccer, we went to the park adjacent to the field where Ellis plays soccer. There are swings, slides, bouncy toys and a climbing wall...

Some updates:

• Ellis likes to explain things and, when she does, she gets a very serious look on her face. She also uses the word "because" a lot but she pronounces it 'decause.' She also says 'der' for 'their.' And she still says 'cahn' for 'can.'
  
• She also adds a 'd' to names that start with 'a.' So 'Aurora' becomes 'Daurora.' Sometimes she drops the first syllable of a name. So 'Hermione' becomes 'Mione.'
  
• She likes to know everyone's name, including characters in books and stuffed animals. If there is no name readily available, she makes one up. She either chooses one of her classmates' names or something truly made up like 'doko' or 'shimpa.'
• Out of nowhere, one day a few months ago, Ellis started saying 'ticka-ticka-ticka.' She just says it to herself while she is thinking about or doing other things. She also says it when she is trying to tickle you. She does it enough that Mike sometimes calls her Ticka Ticka.
  
• Ellis can almost count to 30. She just skips 15 every time. Sometimes when she want something for 10 minutes or 10 somethings, she announces she wants, "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 minutes." If you say, "10 minutes?" She will respond, "No, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 minutes."
• She likes to make thank you cards for people, with her drawing a picture and me writing a note. Hopefully, she will be better about thank you notes than I am.
• Ellis loves peanut butter and bagels for breakfast. She also adores strawberries. The two of us can sit down and eat an entire basket in a matter of minutes.